Janet Leigh (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) born Jeanette Helen Morrison was an American actress.
An only child, she was discovered by actress Norma Shearer, whose late husband Irving Thalberg had been a senior executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In what sounds like something out of a movie, Shearer showed talent agent Lew Wasserman the photograph she had seen of Jeanette while vacationing at the ski resort where the girl's parents worked. She left College of the Pacific, where she was studying music and psychology, after Wasserman secured a contract with MGM.
Leigh's best-known role was in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho. Years later, she wrote a book about the making of that film, in which she dispelled the urban legends which had popped up around it, notably, about the immortal "shower scene." Her performance earned her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination.
Leigh married her third husband, Tony Curtis, on June 4, 1951. They had two children, Kelly and Jamie Lee. Curtis, who has admitted to cheating on her throughout their marriage, left Leigh in 1962 for Christine Kaufmann , the 17 year-old German co-star of his then-latest film. Leigh was granted a divorce, and married stockbroker Robert Brandt later that year in Las Vegas; they remained married until her death. Leigh served on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Foundation , a medical-services provider for actors.
She died at her home from vasculitis at age 77. Her family was at her side.
Filmography
- The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)
- If Winter Comes (1947)
- Hills of Home (1948)
- Words and Music (1948)
- Act of Violence (1948)
- How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border (1949) (short subject)
- Little Women (1949)
- The Red Danube (1949)
- The Doctor and the Girl (1949)
- That Forsyte Woman (1949)
- Holiday Affair (1949)
- Strictly Dishonorable (1951)
- Angels in the Outfield (1951)
- Two Tickets on Broadway (1951)
- It's a Big Country (1951)
- Just This Once (1952)
- Scaramouche (1952)
- Fearless Fagan (1952)
- The Naked Spur (1953)
- Confidentially Connie (1953)
- Houdini (1953)
- Walking My Baby Back Home (1953)
- Prince Valiant (1954)
- Living It Up (1954)
- The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)
- Rogue Cop (1954)
- Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)
- My Sister Eileen (1955)
- Safari (1956)
- Jet Pilot (1957)
- Touch of Evil (1958)
- The Vikings (1958)
- The Perfect Furlough (1958)
- Who Was That Lady? (1960)
- Psycho (1960)
- Pepe (1960) (cameo)
- The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
- Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
- Wives and Lovers (1963)
- The Spy in the Green Hat (1966)
- Kid Rodelo (1966)
- Harper (1966)
- Three on a Couch (1966)
- An American Dream (1966)
- Grand Slam (1967)
- Hello Down There (1969)
- One Is a Lonely Number (1972)
- Night of the Lepus (1972)
- Boardwalk (1979)
- The Fog (1980)
- The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1985) (documentary)
- The Egg (1993) (short subject)
- (1997) (documentary)
- Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
- A Fate Totally Worse Than Death (2000)
External links
