Janet Leigh
Acting
- Born:
- 1927-07-06
- Died:
- 2004-10-03
- Place of birth:
- Merced, California, USA
Biography
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.
Known For
Filmography
100 Years of the Idiot: A Jerry Lewis Centenary
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
Pictures of Ghosts
Jamie Lee Curtis: Hollywood Call of Freedom
Rat Pack
I Am Alfred Hitchcock
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
Hollywood: No Sex, Please!
The Fabulous Allan Carr
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
The Making of 'Psycho'
Bad Girls from Valley High
Tales from the Mist: Inside 'The Fog'
Mary Pickford: A Life on Film
The American Nightmare
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
Cubby Broccoli: The Man Behind Bond
Rat Pack: A Conference of Cool
Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius
Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special
Family Law
Anthony Perkins: A Life in the Shadows
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
In My Sister's Shadow
Scene by Scene
E! True Hollywood Story
Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown
Inside the Dream Factory
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
Secret Lives
Touched by an Angel
The Story of Lassie
Hitchcock: Alfred the Great
Intimate Portrait
The Egg
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
The Making Of Psycho III
Psycho III
The Twilight Zone
Night of 100 Stars II
Murder, She Wrote
Psycho II
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Matt Houston
Night of 100 Stars
The Fog
Boardwalk
Mirror, Mirror
Tales of the Unexpected
The Horror Show
Telethon
The Love Boat
Murder at the World Series
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Murdock's Gang
Night of the Lepus
Ghost Story
One Is a Lonely Number
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
The Deadly Dream
Columbo
House on Greenapple Road
Honeymoon with a Stranger
The Monk
Hello Down There
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Grand Slam
The Spy in the Green Hat
An American Dream
Three on a Couch
Harper
Kid Rodelo
Bob Hope Christmas Show
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
The Hollywood Palace
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Wives and Lovers
Bye Bye Birdie
The Manchurian Candidate
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Pepe
Psycho
Who Was That Lady?
People, Hopes, Medals
The Perfect Furlough
The Vikings
Touch of Evil
Jet Pilot
Safari
The Rosemary Clooney Show
Nightmare
My Sister Eileen
Pete Kelly's Blues
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Rogue Cop
The Black Shield of Falworth
Living It Up
Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood
Prince Valiant
Walking My Baby Back Home
Houdini
The Oscars
Confidentially Connie
The Naked Spur
This Is Your Life
Fearless Fagan
Scaramouche
Just This Once
An Eye for an Eye
Come Back Little Shiksa
It's a Big Country
Two Tickets to Broadway
Angels in the Outfield
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
The Re-Inforcer
Strictly Dishonorable
Fairfax Avenue
A Spot In The Shade
Nightmare
Watch On The Lime
The Colgate Comedy Hour
The Bob Hope Show
What's My Line?
Holiday Affair
That Forsyte Woman
The Red Danube
The Doctor and the Girl
Little Women
Act of Violence
How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border
Words and Music
Hills of Home
The Ed Sullivan Show
If Winter Comes
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Golden Globe Awards