Alfred Hitchcock

**Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock**  (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a British movie director who later became an American citizen, but still kept his British citizenship. He mostly made mystery and suspense movies. Despite having a successful career, Hitchcock never won an Academy Award.

## Career

Hitchcock started his career in England, starting with silent movies in the 1920s. In the 1930s, he made some successful movies like _The Man Who Knew Too Much_ (1934), _The 39 Steps_ (1935), and _The Lady Vanishes_ (1938). He then moved to the United States, to work in Hollywood. His first American movie was _Rebecca_ (1940), which won an Academy Award.

Some of his best known movies from the 1940s are _Spellbound_ (1945) and _Notorious_ (1946), which were inspired by psychoanalysis. His first movie in color was the experimental _Rope_ (1948). _Strangers on a Train_ (1951) was based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith. In the 1950s, he made three popular movies with Grace Kelly: _Dial M for Murder_ (1954), _Rear Window_ (1954), and _To Catch a Thief_ (1955). In 1956, he made a new version of _The Man Who Knew Too Much_, starring James Stewart and Doris Day. He returned to black-and-white, briefly, with _The Wrong Man_ (1957). Then came _Vertigo_ (1958), which some consider his best suspense movie. It was followed by three more successful movies: _North by Northwest_ (1959), _Psycho_ (1960), and _The Birds_ (1963). After that, he only made 5 more movies: _Marnie_ (1964), _Torn Curtain_ (1966), _Topaz_ (1969), _Frenzy_ (1972), and _Family Plot_ (1976).  In 1971, he became the very first winner of the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award.  This is an award for lifetime achievement.

In 1945 Hitchcock made a documentary about the Holocaust. It will be shown on British television in 2015.

Hitchcock appeared very quickly in small roles in most of his movies.

He also hosted a TV show, _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_.

## Personal life

Hithcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex. He was a Roman Catholic. He was married to Alma Reville, who helped write some of his movies. They had a daughter, Patricia. He died in Bel Air, Los Angeles.

## Filmmaking style

Alfred Hitchcock, a famous filmmaker, used several unique elements in his movies. These included the MacGuffin, suspense, cameos, music, blonde leading ladies, close-ups, macabre themes, twist endings, specific locations, and unreliable narrators. These elements contributed to his enduring legacy in the world of cinema.

## Films

**Silent films**

- _Number 13_ (1922) (unfinished and lost)
- _Always Tell Your Wife_ (short) (1923) (partially lost)
- _The Pleasure Garden_ (1925)
- _The Mountain Eagle_ (1926) (lost)
- _The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog_ (1927)
- _The Ring_ (1927)
- _Downhill_ (1927)
- _The Farmer's Wife_ (1928)
- _Easy Virtue_ (1928)
- _Champagne_ (1928)
- _The Manxman_ (1929)

**Sound films**

- _Blackmail_ (1929)
- _An Elastic Affair_ (short) (1930) (lost)
- _Juno and the Paycock_ (1930)
- _Murder!_ (1930)
- _Elstree Calling_ (1930)
- _The Skin Game_ (1931)
- _Mary_ (1931)
- _Rich and Strange_ (1931)
- _Number Seventeen_ (1932)
- _Waltzes from Vienna_ (1934)
- _The Man Who Knew Too Much_ (1934)
- _The 39 Steps_ (1935)
- _Secret Agent_ (1936)
- _Sabotage_ (1936)
- _Young and Innocent_ (1937)
- _The Lady Vanishes_ (1938)
- _Jamaica Inn_ (1939)
- _Rebecca_ (1940)
- _Foreign Correspondent_ (1940)
- _Mr. & Mrs. Smith_ (1941)
- _Suspicion_ (1941)
- _Saboteur_ (1942)
- _Shadow of a Doubt_ (1943)
- _Lifeboat_ (1944)
- _Spellbound_ (1945)
- _Notorious_ (1946)
- _The Paradine Case_ (1947)
- _Rope_ (1948)
- _Under Capricorn_ (1949)
- _Stage Fright_ (1950)
- _Strangers on a Train_ (1951)
- _I Confess_ (1953)
- _Dial M for Murder_ (1954)
- _Rear Window_ (1954)
- _To Catch a Thief_ (1955)
- _The Trouble with Harry_ (1955)
- _The Man Who Knew Too Much_ (1956)
- _The Wrong Man_ (1956)
- _Vertigo_ (1958)
- _North by Northwest_ (1959)
- _Psycho_ (1960)
- _The Birds_ (1963)
- _Marnie_ (1964)
- _Torn Curtain_ (1966)
- _Topaz_ (1969)
- _Frenzy_ (1972)
- _Family Plot_ (1976) (final film)

## Infobox (person)

- **honorific-prefix**: Knight Bachelor, Sir
- **name**: Alfred Hitchcock
- **image**: Hitchcock, Alfred 02.jpg
- **image size**: 240px
- **caption**: Hitchcock,
- **birth name**: Alfred Joseph Hitchcock
- **birth place**: Leytonstone, Essex, England
- **death place**: Bel Air, Los Angeles, Bel Air, California, U.S.
- **death cause**: Kidney failure
- **years active**: 1919–1980
- **education**: Salesian College, Battersea
- **alma mater**: St Ignatius' College, London
- **children**: Pat Hitchcock, Patricia Hitchcock
- **awards**: List of awards and nominations received by Alfred Hitchcock