Cagney

John McCabe was a professional actor from the age of seven, first appearing with various stock companies in his native Detroit. He blended the acting profession with his schooling for decades, finally receiving a doctorate from the Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, in 1954. While at Stratford he met Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, who were then touring British music halls. From this encounter came a deep friendship with Laurel and the authorized biography, Mr. "Laurel and Mr. Hardy (1962), which firmly established John McCabe as the world authority on this great comedy team. Other show business biographies followed, and in 1973 he was selected to ghostwrite James Cagney's autobiography, "Cagney by Cagney.
In addition to his many years as a professional actor, John McCabe has taught acting at Detroit's Wayne State University, the City College of New York, Interlochen Arts Academy, and New York University, where, as professor of dramatic art, he headed the Educational Theater Department. Now retired from teaching, he lives on Mackinac Island, Michigan, where he has returned to acting and where he lecture-performs a Shakespeare play each summer.