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Janet Leigh

Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh:
Janet Leigh pictured in the 1950s.

<tr><td style="text-align:left;">Birth name</td><td>Jeanette Helen Morrison</td></tr>

Born July 6, 1927
Merced, California, USA
Died October 3, 2004
Los Angeles, California, USA

Janet Leigh (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), born Jeanette Helen Morrison, was an American actress.


Contents

Biography

Early life

Leigh was born in Merced, California, the only child of Frederick Robert Morrison and Helen Lita Westergard. 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 College of the Pacific, where she was studying music and psychology, after Wasserman secured a contract with MGM.

Career

Leigh's best-known role was the secretary Marion Crane 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.

In 1975 she played almost herself (a retired Hollywood star) in Columbo: Forgotten Lady.

Leigh appeared in two horror films with her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, playing a major role in 1980's The Fog and making a cameo appearance in 1998's Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. These were her last two films.

Private life

Leigh married her second 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 Austrian 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 was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California on May 14, 2004. She delivered an inspirational speech to graduating students, faculty, and administrators in accepting her award. Author Maxine Hong Kingston and United States Solicitor General Ted Olson were also awarded honorary degrees on the same day.

Death and illness

She died at her home after suffering cardiopulmonary arrest due to dilated cardiomyopathy at age 77. Her family was at her side. She also suffered from vasculitis and peripheral neuropathy, which caused her right hand to become gangrenous.

Selected filmography

Categories


1927 births | 2004 deaths | American film actors | American television actors | Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nominees | Columbo actors | Halloween actors | Hollywood Squares panelists | People known by pseudonyms | What's My Line panelists | People from Merced, California | Hollywood Walk of Fame

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