CAGNEY JAMES: (1899-1986) American Actor, Academy Award winner. T.L.S., Jim, two pages, 4to, Verney Farm, Stanfordville, New York, 2nd September 1972, to Ann, on the personal printed stationery of Cagney. An informative letter in which Cagney enquires of his correspondent '…Did you see Sammy [Davis Jnr] throw his arms around President Nixon… I'll bet Richard was surprised. He didn't seem like the hugging kind.' Continuing 'Regarding my autobiography, as I told you I knew I would never get around to it, so my son-in-law stole the march on me… He drove me East and slipped a tape recorder between us in the car, and every time I opened my mouth he flipped the recorder on and I did 14 hours… The Regnery Press in Chicago has accepted a book written by somebody unknown to us entitled "Cagney". The lawsuits are building and I wanted to have the most prestigious company in the business backing up those suits so I called Ken McCormick… Please keep this all under your hat…' Further adding '…"Change Your Act Or Go Back to the Woods" was done by Victor Moore and Emma Littlefield and I saw them about 1925 or 26. Miss Littlefield died shortly after that I think. Then Moore went into "Of Thee I Sing" not too long after that. His last wife was an 18 year old girl. Do you suppose it was a love match?' Concluding 'P.S. Had a call from Art Carney yesterday. He's in a hit called "Prisoner of Second Avenue", and he told me that he enjoys going to the theatre nightly because the play is such a comfortable vehicle. You can't beat that.' EX