Janet Leigh
| Janet Leigh | |
 from the trailer for Little Women (1949) | |
| Birth name: | Jeanette Helen Morrison |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: | July 6 1927 |
| Date of death: | October 3 2004 (aged 77) |
| Death location: | Los Angeles, California |
| Spouse: | John Carlisle (1942–1942) (annulled) Stanley Reames (1946–1948) (divorced) Tony Curtis (1951–1962) (divorced) Robert Brandt (1962–2004) (her death) |
Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress. Her most famous role was in Alfred Hitchcock's classic Psycho, for which she received a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Academy Award. Leigh career spanned more than 50 years and she is listed as one the top 100 best actresses of the century.
She is remembered most for her memorable role in Psycho, particularly the harrowing shower scene. Leigh also starred in two other films that helped shaped modern cinema and often are selected as the top movies of the twentieth century. Those films are Touch of Evil, and Manchurian Candidate.
Biography
Early life
Leigh was born in Merced, California as the only child of Helen Lita Westergard and Frederick Robert Morrison. She was discovered by actress Norma Shearer, whose late husband Irving Thalberg had been a senior executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Shearer showed talent agent Lew Wasserman the photograph she had seen of Leigh while vacationing at the ski resort where the girl's parents worked. She left the University of the Pacific, where she was studying music and psychology, after Wasserman secured a contract with MGM.
Career
Leigh made her film debut in The Romance of Rosy Ridge in 1947, as the romantic interest of Van Johnson's character. Throughout the 1950s, she starred in movies, most notably in the leading role in the musical comedy My Sister Eileen, co-starring Jack Lemmon, Betty Garrett and Dick York.
She would go on to star in three films that helped shaped modern cinema: Touch of Evil, Psycho, and Manchurian Candidate.
Touch of Evil (1958)
Critics would often characterize the films of Leigh as unorthodox and bizarre. Touch of Evil, a Orson Welles directed film was just such a film. This film effectively marked the end of the classic noir films that lined up Hollywood's film library beginning in the early 40's.
The film parallels and pre-dates Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) by a few years - similarities include Leigh in various states of undress, victimized in an out-of-the-way motel managed by a creepy "night man" (Gunsmoke's co-star Dennis Weaver).[1] "In Touch of Evil, we witness the downfall of the All-American Girl at a key moment in Leigh's evolution from ingénue to star." [2] Leigh's goddess-like beauty is almost nonexistent by the end of the movie; instead, a courageous, self-reliant young woman brimming with confidence appears on the screen, who, by the end of the film evolves into the young bride that has been molested, drugged, and stripped bare.
Psycho (1960)
Leigh's best-known role was as the morally ambiguous Marion Crane in the Alfred Hitchcock classic film Psycho. In spite of her outstanding performance as Crane and her character becoming one of the most famous in Hollywood history, Leigh suffered typecasting due to the famous role. Her film career nosedived soon after, and as a result much of her post-Psycho career was spent performing guest appearances on TV shows. Psycho earned her a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination. Years later, she wrote a book in which she dispelled the urban legends which had popped up around its production, most notably the "shower scene."
The scene revolves around Marion Crane, who has finally found a motel. Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is the owner of the motel and amnages to watch Marion undress in before entering the shower. In a sudden rage, Bates stabs her, as her piercing screams fill the audience's ears. Her lifeless body sprawled half into the tub and half out is remembered as one of the most gruesome and evocative images in the history of cinema.
Manchurian Candidate
At this point in her career she was on the decline; however, the Manchurian Candidate revived her career and appeal to the public. As with previous films it had a dark theme pertaining to the psyche. In this film, Leigh plays the role of Eugenie Rose Chaney or simply Rosie, a government agent. It shares many characteristics of Leigh's role in Psycho. In fact, "The mood of this pseudo-documentary, satirical film masterpiece (from prolific veteran television director Frankenheimer) is paranoiac, surrealistic, dark, macabre, cynical, and foreboding - these elements are combined in a traditional, top-notch suspenseful thriller framework with a nail-biting, Alfred Hitchcock-like climax." [3]
Twilight of the Goddess
Leigh's also appeared with Frank Sinatra in the 1963 musical Bye Bye Birdie based on the hit Broadway show.
She continued to be active in films in the 60s, then her appearances became less frequent even though she had strong performances as Lee Strasberg's widowed daughter-in-law in Boardwalk (1979) and opposite her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, in The Fog (1980) and in a brief appearance in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998).
In 1975, Leigh played a retired Hollywood song and dance star opposite Peter Falk and John Payne in an episode of Columbo called "Forgotten Lady".
Leigh appeared more often on TV in the 70s and 80s. Her debut in a TV-movie came in 1969 with "The Monk" (ABC), and she also starred in "Mirror, Mirror" (NBC, 1979). By the 90s, she showed less interest in acting, although she was still very much in demand for small screen documentaries about Hollywood and its stars. Having published an autobiography in 1984, she came out with a memoir on the making of "Psycho" in 1995 as well as her first novel, "House of Destiny". While promoting the latter, she announced on talk shows she would be devoting her time almost exclusively to writing, however, she has squeezed into her schedule roles as the mother of Nancy McKeon and Alexandra Wilson in the CBS TV-movie "In My Sister's Shadow" (lensed 1997) and as a maternal secretary to Laurie Strode (played by real-life daughter Jamie Lee Curtis) in "Halloween H2O" (1998). Prior to her death in 2004, Leigh remained a sprightly presence on television, frequently recalling her days and friendships in the industry for dozens of specials chronicling Hollywood's history.Turner Classic Biography Tcmdb.com. Retrieved September 20, 2008.</ref>
Personal life
Leigh eloped at the age of fourteen with John Carlyle in 1942; however, their marriage was annulled. In 1946, she tied the knot with Stanly Reames, but again split in two years, 1948. Leigh then married her third husband, Tony Curtis, on June 4, 1951. They had two children, actresses Kelly and the more well known Jamie Lee. Curtis, who admitted to cheating on her throughout their marriage, left Leigh in 1962 for Christine Kaufmann, the 17-year-old German co-star of his latest film Taras Bulba. Leigh was granted a quick 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.
Leigh was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California on May 14, 2004.
Death
Janet Leigh died at her Beverly Hills home on October 3, 2004 after suffering cardiac arrest, aged 77. Her family—husband, Robert Brandt, and daughters Jamie Lee Curtis and Kely Curtis—was at her side. Leigh succumbed to vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels, and peripheral neuropathy, which caused her right hand to become gangrenous.[4]
Legacy
Although Janet Leigh performed in myriads of films, acted in television shows, produced albums, and published novels, she will always be known for her role in Psycho very much like her male co-star Anthony Perkins. She is best remembered for the shower scene in which she is brutally stabbed to death by Perkins' character, Norman Bates. It is the only film in which she earned an award, receiving a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination. The film and her acting represent a turning point in cinematic history as viewers are exposed to the unorthodox in a startling manner.
Famous Works
Filmography
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Television Appearances
Specials
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Episodic
Stage Appearances
RECORDINGS Albums
WRITINGS
(With Christopher Nickens)
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Notes
- ↑ Touch of Evil] Retrieved August 31, 2008
- ↑ Touch of Evil Analysis Retrieved August 31, 2008
- ↑ Manchurian Candidate Retrieved August 31, 2008
- ↑ BBC: Janet Leigh dies Retrieved August 31, 2008
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Armstrong, Richard. Modernity and the Maniac: the Fall of Janet Leigh. 2005. Images: A Journal of Film and Popular Culture Retrieved August 31, 2008.
- Harpole, Charles; Musser, Charles. 1990. History of the American Cinema. University of California Press. ISBN 0520238044
- Leigh, Janet. 1984. There Really Was a Hollywood. Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday. ISBN 0385190352
- Perkins,Anthony; Balsam, Martin; Miles,Vera; Gavin, John; Leigh; Hitchcock, Alfred; Bloch, Robert. 1960. Psycho. Universal City, CA : Universal. ISBN 0783235607
External links
- Janet Leigh. IMDb.
- Janet Leigh. IBDB.
- Biography of Janet Leigh. Turner Classic Movies.
- Home Page. Reel Classics.
- Janet Leigh. TV.com.
- Signature of Janet Leigh. Krueger Books.
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Susan Kohner for Imitation of Life |
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture 1961 for Psycho |
Succeeded by: Rita Moreno for West Side Story |
Credits
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