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Farley Granger (born July 1, 1925) is an American
actor.

Born Farley Earle Granger II in San Jose,
California, Granger was acting in theater in Los
Angeles, California when he was signed to a film
contract by Samuel Goldwyn.  He made his debut The
North Star (1943) and appeared in The Purple Heart
(1944).  Goldwyn was unsure how to use Granger,
and it would be four years before he was able to
make another film.

Goldwyn originally cast him in The Best Years of
Our Lives (1946) to play a character with cerebral
palsy, but before filming began Goldwyn had second
thoughts about the character, and felt that
someone suffering war injuries would be more
topical.  He therefore cast  real life World War
II veteran Harold Russell in the part intended for
Granger. 


Two more years passed and Granger later reported
that he begged Goldwyn to be released from his
contract, only to hear Goldwyn refuse.   In 1948
Goldwyn cast him in a supporting role in
Enchantment but the film failed to live up to
Goldwyn's expectations.  He was then approached by
Alfred Hitchcock to loan him Granger for his new
film.  The film, Alfred Hitchcock's Rope|Rope
(1948), based partly on the Leopold and Loeb
murder case, saw Granger costarring opposite John
Dall as two friends who commit a "thrill kill". 
James Stewart (actor)|James Stewart played the
part of their mentor.  The film was not a box
office success; its subject matter was dark, the
relationship between Granger and Dall had a
homosexual subtext, and Hitchcock's gimmick of
filming the piece in continuous scenes and in real
time produced a result that many critics dismissed
as "stagey".  Granger received very good reviews
however, and the film has achieved a level of
appreciation in more recent times, while stopping
short of becoming a cult film. 

They Live by Night (1949) was Granger's first
starring role. Film director|Directed by Nicholas
Ray and costarring Cathy O'Donnell, it was a film
noir romance story, that did well commercially and
once again brought Granger strong reviews.  
During this time Goldwyn attempted to create a
romantic couple in the eyes of the movie going
public and so paired Granger with Joan Evans in
Rosanna McCoy (1949), Edge of Doom and Our Very
own which also featured Ann Blyth (both 1950).  He
also costarred with O'Donnell in Side Street
(1950).  These films, with the exception of Edge
of Doom,  were all fairly successful but did not
achieve the result Goldwyn had been hoping for. 
Once again, he agreed to loan Granger to Alfred
Hitchcock.


Strangers on a Train (1951) was a genuine box
office hit, the first major success of Granger's
career.  Once again Hitchcock attempted to reveal
the troubled nature that lay beneath the surface
of a seemingly upright young man, in this case a
professional tennis player, when introduced to a
persuasive character.  This character,  played by
Robert Walker provides a homosexual subtext, one
of many similarities to Rope.  Walker's character
"Bruno" suggests to Guy (Granger) that they "swap"
murders, with Bruno murdering Guy's wife and Guy
supposed to murder Bruno's father. As each one is
a complete stranger to the intended victim, and
therefore without a motive, they would thus give
each other an alibi.  

Granger's subsequent films were box office
failures, and he entered into filming Hans
Christian Andersen (1952) with misgivings,
complaining about the poor quality of the script. 
Granger spoke out against the film after it was
completed and became uncooperative with Goldwyn. 
The relationship had been uneasy in the past and
Granger once again asked to be released from his
contract.  Goldwyn again refused, and instructed
Granger to honor his agreement.  Before long
Goldwyn realized he had no further interest in
Granger or his career, and let him go. 

Granger appeared regularly on television during
this period but his film career foundered.  The
Girl in the Red Velvet Swing was his only
mainstream success during the 1950s and Granger
made no cinematic films during the 1960s.  During
this time he achieved some success on Broadway,
appearing in several productions including The
Crucible and The Glass Menagerie.   From 1970
until 1974 Granger made a series of Italy|Italian
language films, that did nothing to further his
career.   In 1980 Granger returned to Broadway and
appeared in Ira Levin's successful play Deathtrap.

He has also appeared in the soap operas As The
World Turns and American Broadcasting
Company|ABC's One Life to Live, receiving a
Daytime Emmy Award|Daytime Emmy award for the
latter, for his portrayal of Dr. Will Vernon. 

Since the 1990s Granger has appeared in several
documentary|documentaries discussing Hollywood and
often specifically Alfred Hitchcock.  In 1995 he
was one of the people interviewed on camera for
The Celluloid Closet discussing the depiction of
homosexuality in film, and the use of subtext in
various films, including his own.  Rope for
example was based on the story of two gay men, the
actors chosen to portray them were both gay, and
one of the play's writers Arthur Laurents was also
gay, and claimed to have had a "fling" with
Granger shortly before the film was made. 

Farley Granger has a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame for his contribution to television, at 1551
Vine Street.

==External links==
*imdb name|id=0335048|name= Farley Granger
*http://www.geocities.com/farleygrangerscrapbook/b
iography.htm "The Farley Granger Scrapbook" -
biography and photographs
*http://film.guardian.co.uk/Guardian_NFT/interview
/0,4479,74591,00.html 1999 Guardian Unlimited
interview with Farley Granger and Patricia
Hitchcock O'Connell (daughter of Alfred Hitchcock)