Alfred Hitchcock Fact Sheet: Who was Alfred Hitchcock? The following short biography and fact sheet provides interesting facts about the life, times and history of Alfred Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock Fact File: Lifespan: 1899 - 1980 *** Full Name: Alfred Joseph Hitchcock *** Nickname: The Master of Suspense *** Occupation: English Film Director and Producer *** Date of Birth: Alfred Hitchcock was born on August 13th 1899 *** Place of Birth: Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, London, England *** Family background: His father was William Hitchcock and poulterer and greengrocer and his mother was Emma Jane Whelan *** Early life and childhood: He grew up with two siblings and older brother and sister, he was named for an uncle on his father’s side of the family and he was raised in the Roman Catholic faith *** Education: Alfred Hitchcock attended Salesian College as well as the Jesuit Classic School and St Ignatius’ College in Stamford Hill, London *** Alfred Hitchcock Fact 1: Alfred Hitchcock was born on August 13th 1899 and during the 20th century period in history when there were world changing events happening including the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 2: As a young child of five years, as punishment, Alfred was sent to the local police station with a note from his father requesting he be locked up for five minutes for bad behavior. This would have a large impact not only on him but throughout his work.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 3: At fifteen years of age his father died. It was the same year he began to attend the London County Council School Engineering and Navigation in Poplar, London.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 4: Having completed his studies a became a draftsman and designer for advertising with Henley’s.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 5: He was rejected by the military during World War I due to his obesity. Although he would not be stopped from participating somehow in 1917 and he became a cadet in the Royal Engineers.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 6: The Henley Telegraph was formed in 1919 while he was still employed by them he often wrote articles for the paper and would become one of their most regular contributors.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 7: Some of his earliest work consisted of “Gas” (1919), “The Woman’s Part” (1919), “Sordid” (1920), “And There Was No Rainbow” (1920) “What’s Who?” (1920), “The History of Pea Eating” (1920) and “Fedora” (1921).
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 8: He then developed an interest in photography and he managed to get a job in firm production for a company that would later become Paramount Pictures. He also worked for Islington Studios and Gainsborough Pictures. Alfred Hitchcock Fact 9: It would take him just five years to become a film director and in that time he became an intriguing combination of screenwriter, assistant director and art director.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 10: Although his early forays into the industry were unsuccessful, largely due to the fickle nature of the business but his luck would change when his first film, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) was released and became a huge success critically and commercially.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 11: In 1926 he married Alma Reville and she would become his closest ally but she much preferred remaining in the background and shunned any publicity. They had only one child, a daughter, Patricia.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 12: Hitchcock would become, purely by chance, the producer of Britain’s first feature film introducing sound with his film Blackmail.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 13: He would return to worked with Michael Balcon at Gaumont British and his first two films there were considered highly successful, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) and The 39 Steps (1935).
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 14: As his reputation grew in Britain he became known as “Alfred the Great” in Picturegoer magazine, the New York Times featured him saying “Three unique and valuable institutions the British have that we in America do not. Magna Carta, the Tower Bridge and Alfred Hitchcock, the greatest director of screen melodrama in the world.” And Variety magazine dubbed him as “probably the best native director in England.”.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 15: It would not take long before he was on contract to David O.Selznick, a seven year contract that began in March 1939 and Hitchcock, together with his family moved to Hollywood.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 16: Selznick was not a large movie producer and often he would lend Hitchcock out, for example to Samuel Goldwyn. As it had turned out, both Selznick and Goldwyn had tendered contracts to Hitchcock and Selznick had offered more, but it was a bonus that Hitchcock was able to work with both men. Alfred Hitchcock Fact 17: His career and popularity soared over the coming years and he worked with some of the most prestigious and successful actors such as, Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Jane Wyman, Marlene Dietrich, Grace Kelly, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd and Alastair Sim.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 18: Hitchcock’s most famous film was made in 1960, Psycho, made on a minimum budget, shot in black and white he utilized his film crew from his tv show and it has become the epitome of Alfred Hitchcock.
Alfred Hitchcock Fact 19: Alfred Hitchcock died on April 29th 1980 of renal failure in his home in Bel Air, California. His remains were cremated and his ashes were scattered out over the Pacific Ocean.
Influence & Legacy: His everlasting legacy is his central trademark of a horror genre that has been reproduced time and time again. |
