1950s screen idol Farley Granger dies at 85

NEW YORK—Farley Granger, the American actor known for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" and other films, has died at his Manhattan home. He was 85.

Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office, said Granger died Sunday of natural causes.

Born in San Jose, California, Granger was first tapped by producer Samuel Goldwyn when he was 18 years old. He played a small role as a resident of a Ukrainian village under a Nazi invasion in the 1943 film version of Lillian Hellman's "The North Star."

After World War II ended, he clinched his first major role in Hitchcock's 1948 thriller "Rope" alongside James Stewart.

The British director gave him the role of tennis star Guy Haines at the mercy of a psychotic socialite convinced he had struck a murder deal with the player in the 1951 "Strangers on a Train."

Those two early roles were his most famous collaborations out of a film career that spanned several decades.

A self-described bisexual, Granger had relationships with some of the biggest movie idols of his time, of both sexes.

He co-wrote the memoir "Include Me Out: My Life from Goldwyn to Broadway" in 2007 with his longtime partner, Robert Calhoun, who died of lung cancer a year later.

Previous amorous adventures had included actresses Janice Rule and Shelley Winters, whom he dubbed as "the love of my life and the bane of my existence," as well as Leonard Bernstein and Arthur Laurents.

In 1954, Italian director Luchino Visconti cast him as an Australian military officer for "Senso" (1954) alongside Alida Valli. The film was considered one of Visconti's greatest achievements.

In addition to his roles in dozens of films through the 1970s, Granger also entertained a significant acting career on and off Broadway, as well as for live television, an emerging medium at the time.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, he acted in television programs adapted from theater, such as the "Kraft Television Theater" and "Playhouse 90." He also played Morris Townsend opposite actress Julie Harris in "The Heiress," a 1961 television movie.

His Broadway stint including a role as Fitzwilliam Darcy in "First Impressions," a musical interpretation of the novel "Pride and Prejudice," and in "The Warm Peninsula." (report from Agence France-Presse)