Editing James Cagney (section)

===1919–1930: Early career===
In 1919, while Cagney was working at [[Wanamaker's Department Store]], a colleague saw him dance and informed him about a role in the upcoming production, ''Every Sailor''. It was a wartime play in which the chorus was made up of servicemen dressed as women that was originally titled ''Ever Sailor''. Cagney auditioned for the chorus, although considering it a waste of time, as he knew only one [[Dance move|dance step]], the complicated [[Peabody (dance)|Peabody]], but he knew it perfectly.<ref name="Warren, page 36">Warren, page 36</ref> This was enough to convince the producers that he could dance, and he copied the other dancers' moves and added them to his repertoire while waiting to go on.<ref name="Cagney27">Cagney, page 27</ref> He did not find it odd to play a woman, nor was he embarrassed. He later recalled how he was able to shed his own naturally shy persona when he stepped onto the stage: "For there I am not myself. I am not that fellow, Jim Cagney, at all. I certainly lost all consciousness of him when I put on skirts, wig, paint, powder, feathers and spangles."<ref name="auteur19">McGilligan, page 19</ref>

Had Cagney's mother had her way, his stage career would have ended when he quit ''Every Sailor'' after two months; proud as she was of his performance, she preferred that he get an education.<ref>Warren, page 37</ref> Cagney appreciated the $35 a week he was paid, which he later remembered as "a mountain of money for me in those worrisome days."<ref name="Warren, page 36"/><ref name="Cagney27"/> In deference to his mother's concerns, he got a job as a [[Broker|brokerage house]] runner.<ref name="Cagney27"/> This did not stop him from looking for more stage work, however, and he went on to audition successfully for a chorus part in the [[William B. Friedlander]] musical ''Pitter Patter'',<ref name="worldandi"/><ref name="auteur19"/> for which he earned $55 a week. (He sent $40 to his mother each week.<ref name="Cagney28">Cagney, page 28</ref>) So strong was his habit of holding down more than one job at a time, that he also worked as a dresser for one of the leads, portered the casts' luggage, and understudied for the lead.<ref name="Cagney28"/> Among the chorus line performers was 20-year-old Frances Willard "Billie" Vernon; they married in 1922.<ref name="worldandi"/><ref name="auteur19"/>

The show began Cagney's 10-year association with [[vaudeville]] and Broadway. The Cagneys were among the early residents of [[Free Acres, New Jersey|Free Acres]], a social experiment established by [[Bolton Hall (activist)|Bolton Hall]] in [[Berkeley Heights, New Jersey]].<ref>Cheslow, Jerry. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F02E1DD163BF932A25753C1A96E958260 "If You're Thinking of Living In / Berkeley Heights, N.J.; Quiet Streets Near River and Mountain"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107052740/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/11/realestate/if-you-re-thinking-living-berkeley-heights-nj-quiet-streets-near-river-mountain.html |date=November 7, 2021}}, ''The New York Times'', October 11, 1998. Accessed February 27, 2011. "Among the early residents of Free Acres were the actor James Cagney and his wife, Billie."</ref>

''Pitter Patter'' was not hugely successful, but it did well enough to run for 32 weeks, making it possible for Cagney to join the vaudeville circuit. He and Vernon toured separately with a number of different troupes, reuniting as "Vernon and Nye" to do simple comedy routines and musical numbers. "Nye" was a rearrangement of the last syllable of Cagney's surname.<ref name="auteur20">McGilligan, page 20</ref><ref>Warren, page 46</ref> One of the troupes Cagney joined was Parker, Rand, and Leach, taking over the spot vacated when Archie Leach—who later changed his name to [[Cary Grant]]—left.<ref>Cagney, page 29</ref><ref>Warren, page 48</ref>

In 1924, after years of touring and struggling to make money, Cagney and Vernon moved to [[Hawthorne, California]], partly for Cagney to meet his new mother-in-law, who had just moved there from Chicago, and partly to investigate breaking into the movies. Their train fares were paid for by a friend, the press officer of ''Pitter Patter'', who was also desperate to act.<ref name="Warren5254">Warren, pages 52–54</ref> They were not successful at first; the dance studio Cagney set up had few clients and folded; Vernon and he toured the studios, but there was no interest. Eventually, they borrowed some money and headed back to New York via Chicago and [[Milwaukee]], enduring failure along the way when they attempted to make money on the stage.<ref name="Warren5254"/>

[[File:James Cagney and Gloria Stuart in Here Comes the Navy trailer.jpg|alt=Cagney in a sailor suit with a smiling actress leaning on him.|thumb|left|upright|Cagney and [[Gloria Stuart]] (later of 1997's ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'') in 1934's ''[[Here Comes the Navy]]''. Cagney played sailors or naval officers several times.]]
Cagney secured his first significant nondancing role in 1925. He played a young tough guy in the three-act play ''[[Outside Looking In (play)|Outside Looking In]]'' by [[Maxwell Anderson]], earning $200 a week. As with ''Pitter Patter'', Cagney went to the audition with little confidence he would get the part. At this point, he had had no experience with drama.<ref name="Warren55">Warren 55</ref> Cagney felt that he only got the role because his hair was redder than that of Alan Bunce, the only other red-headed performer in New York.<ref name="Warren55"/><ref>Cagney, page 32</ref> Both the play and Cagney received good reviews; ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine wrote, "Mr. Cagney, in a less spectacular role [than his co-star] makes a few minutes silence during his mock-trial scene something that many a more established actor might watch with profit." [[Burns Mantle]] wrote that it "...contained the most honest acting now to be seen in New York."<ref name="auteur22">McGilligan, page 22</ref>

Following the four-month run of ''Outside Looking In'', the Cagneys were financially secure enough for Cagney to return to vaudeville over the next few years, achieving various success. During this period, he met [[George M. Cohan]], whom he later portrayed in ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'', though they never spoke.<ref name="Warren, page 57">Warren, page 57</ref>

Cagney secured the lead role in the 1926–27 season [[West End theatre|West End]] production of ''Broadway'' by [[George Abbott]]. The show's management insisted that he copy Broadway lead [[Lee Tracy]]'s performance, despite Cagney's discomfort in doing so, but the day before the show sailed for England, they decided to replace him.<ref name="Warren, page 57"/><ref>Cagney, page 34</ref> This was a devastating turn of events for Cagney apart from the logistical difficulties this presented – the couple's luggage was in the hold of the ship and they had given up their apartment. He almost quit show business. As Vernon recalled, "Jimmy said that it was all over. He made up his mind that he would get a job doing something else."<ref>Warren, page 60</ref>

The Cagneys had run-of-the-play contracts, which lasted as long as the play did. Vernon was in the chorus line of the show, and with help from the [[Actors' Equity Association]], Cagney understudied Tracy on the Broadway show, providing them with a desperately needed steady income. Cagney also established a dance school for professionals, and then landed a part in the play ''Women Go On Forever'', directed by [[John Cromwell (director)|John Cromwell]], which ran for four months. By the end of the run, Cagney was exhausted from acting and running the dance school.<ref>{{cite web |title=James Cagney |date=June 17, 2010 |url=https://www.bellazon.com/main/topic/29704-james-cagney/ |url-status=live |access-date=September 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211107052740/https://www.bellazon.com/main/topic/29704-james-cagney/ |archive-date=November 7, 2021}}</ref>

Cagney had built a reputation as an innovative teacher; when he was cast as the lead in ''Grand Street Follies of 1928'', he was also appointed choreographer. The show received rave reviews<ref>Warren, page 61</ref> and was followed by ''Grand Street Follies of 1929''. These roles led to a part in [[George Kelly (playwright)|George Kelly]]'s ''Maggie the Magnificent'', a play the critics disliked, though they liked Cagney's performance. Cagney saw this role (and ''Women Go on Forever'') as significant because of the talented directors he met. He learned "...what a director was for and what a director could do. They were directors who could play all the parts in the play better than the actors cast for them."<ref>Cagney, pages 36–37</ref>