Janet Leigh
Acting
Born July 6, 1927 · Merced, California, USA
Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, Leigh was discovered at 18 by actress Norma Shearer, who helped her secure a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Leigh appeared in radio programs before her first formal foray into acting, making her film debut in the drama The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). With MGM, she appeared in many films which spanned a wide variety of genres, which include the crime-drama Act of Violence (1948), the drama Little Women (1949), the comedy Angels in the Outfield (1951), the romance Scaramouche (1952) and the western drama The Naked Spur (1953). She played dramatic roles during the late 1950s, in such films as Safari (1956) and Orson Welles's film noir Touch of Evil (1958). With RKO Radio pictures she co-starred in the romantic comedy Holiday Affair (1949) with Robert Mitchum. Leigh achieved her biggest success starring as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Psycho (1960). For her performance, Leigh won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Intermittently, she continued to appear in films, including Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Harper (1966), Night of the Lepus (1972), and Boardwalk (1979). She made her Broadway debut in 1975 in a production of Murder Among Friends. She would also go on to appear in two horror films with her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis: The Fog (1980) and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998). In addition to her work as an actress, Leigh also wrote four books between 1984 and 2002, two of which were novels. Leigh had two brief marriages as a teenager (one of which was annulled) before marrying actor Tony Curtis in 1951. The pair's highly publicized union ended in divorce in 1962, and after starring in The Manchurian Candidate that same year, Leigh remarried and scaled back her career. She died in October 2004 at age 77, following a year-long battle with vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels.
Films (101)
Pictures of Ghosts
2023
Rat Pack
2022
I Am Alfred Hitchcock
2021
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
2019
Hollywood: No Sex, Please!
2018
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012
The Making of 'Psycho'
2005
Bad Girls from Valley High
2005
Tales from the Mist: Inside 'The Fog'
2002
Mary Pickford: A Life on Film
2000
The American Nightmare
2000
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
2000
Cubby Broccoli: The Man Behind Bond
2000
Rat Pack: A Conference of Cool
1999
Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius
1999
Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special
1999
Anthony Perkins: A Life in the Shadows
1999
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
1998
In My Sister's Shadow
1997
Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown
1996
Inside the Dream Factory
1995
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
1995
The Story of Lassie
1994
Hitchcock: Alfred the Great
1994
24 Hour Psycho
1993
The Egg
1993
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
1986
Night of 100 Stars II
1985
Psycho II
1983
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
Night of 100 Stars
1982
The Fog
1980
Fear on Film: Inside 'The Fog'
1980
Boardwalk
1979
Mirror, Mirror
1979
The Horror Show
1979
Telethon
1977
Murder at the World Series
1977
Murdock's Gang
1973
Night of the Lepus
1972
One Is a Lonely Number
1972
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972
The Deadly Dream
1971
House on Greenapple Road
1970
Honeymoon with a Stranger
1969
The Monk
1969
Hello Down There
1969
Grand Slam
1967
The Spy in the Green Hat
1967
An American Dream
1966
Three on a Couch
1966
Harper
1966
Kid Rodelo
1966
Bob Hope Christmas Show
1965
Wives and Lovers
1963
Bye Bye Birdie
1963
The Manchurian Candidate
1962
Pepe
1960
Psycho
1960
Who Was That Lady?
1960
People, Hopes, Medals
1960
The Perfect Furlough
1958
The Vikings
1958
Touch of Evil
1958
Jet Pilot
1957
Safari
1956
Nightmare
1956
My Sister Eileen
1955
Pete Kelly's Blues
1955
A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954
Rogue Cop
1954
The Black Shield of Falworth
1954
Living It Up
1954
Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood
1954
Prince Valiant
1954
Walking My Baby Back Home
1953
Houdini
1953
Confidentially Connie
1953
The Naked Spur
1953
Fearless Fagan
1952
Scaramouche
1952
Just This Once
1952
An Eye for an Eye
1952
Come Back Little Shiksa
1952
It's a Big Country
1951
Two Tickets to Broadway
1951
Angels in the Outfield
1951
Strictly Dishonorable
1951
Fairfax Avenue
1951
Holiday Affair
1949
That Forsyte Woman
1949
The Red Danube
1949
The Doctor and the Girl
1949
Little Women
1949
Act of Violence
1949
How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border
1949
Words and Music
1948
Hills of Home
1948
If Winter Comes
1947
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
1947