A role originally intended for him, that of a troubled war veteran in The Best Years of Our Lives, was ultimately given to non-professional, handless veteran Harold Russell, who went on to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his efforts. His work for Goldwyn, then distributing through RKO, certainly didn’t help. Granger developed a following, but he was never to become a major screen star. Granger’s big break came when the independent producer cast him in Nicholas Ray’s film noir They Live by Night (1949), in which the 24-year-old played a rebellious young man opposite minor leading lady Cathy O’Donnell, best remembered for Goldwyn’s own The Best Years of Our Lives. One of the best-looking men to have a career in movies, Granger (born in San Jose, Calif., on July 1, 1925) was a Samuel Goldwyn discovery of the 1940s. Variety reports that Granger, who was 85, died of “natural causes” in New York City. Farley Granger, best known for the Alfred Hitchcock thrillers Rope (1948) and Strangers on a Train (1951), and for Luchino Visconti’s period romantic drama Senso (1954), has died.
