children spouse article_title name alma_mater
patricia hitchcock alma death -rrb- reville -lrb- m. 1926 -- 80 ; his alfred hitchcock
 sir alfred hitchcock salesian enfield college , london st ignatius ' college ,
alfred hitchcock

sir alfred joseph hitchcock , kbe -lrb- 13 august 1899 -- 29 april 1980 -rrb- was an english film director and producer .
often nicknamed `` the master of suspense '' , he pioneered many elements of the suspense and psychological thriller genres .
after a successful career in british cinema with both silent films and early talkies , renowned as england 's best director , hitchcock moved to hollywood in 1939 and became a us citizen in 1955 .
over a career spanning half a century , hitchcock fashioned for himself a recognisable directorial style .
his stylistic trademarks include the use of camera movement that mimics a person 's gaze , forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism .
in addition , he framed shots to maximise anxiety , fear , or empathy , and used innovative forms of film editing .
his work often features fugitives on the run alongside `` icy blonde '' female characters .
many of hitchcock 's films have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring depictions of murder and other violence .
many of the mysteries , however , are used as decoys or `` macguffins '' that serve the films ' themes and the psychological examinations of their characters .
hitchcock 's films also borrow many themes from psychoanalysis and sometimes feature strong sexual overtones .
through interviews , movie trailers , cameo appearances in his own films , and the ten years in which he hosted the television program `` alfred hitchcock presents '' , he became a highly visible public figure .
hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades .
often regarded as the greatest british filmmaker , he came first in a 2007 poll of film critics in britain 's `` daily telegraph '' , which said : `` unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands , hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema , which would be utterly different without him .
his flair was for narrative , cruelly withholding crucial information -lrb- from his characters and from viewers -rrb- and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else . ''
in 2002 , the magazine `` moviemaker '' named hitchcock the most influential filmmaker of all time .
