Peck was born in La Jolla, California. His father was a druggist in San Diego. His parents divorced when he was five years old. An only child, he was sent to live with his grandmother. He never felt he had a stable childhood. His fond memories are of his grandmother taking him to the movies every week and of his dog, which followed him everywhere. He studied pre-med at Berkeley and, while there, Peck got the acting bug and decided to change the focus of his studies. He enrolled in the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and debuted on Broadway after graduation. His debut was in Emlyn Williams' stage play "The Morning Star" (1942). By 1943, he was in Hollywood where he debuted in the RKO film Days of Glory.

Stardom came with his next film, The Keys of the Kingdom, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Peck's screen presence displayed the qualities for which he became well known. He was tall, rugged, and heroic, with a basic decency that transcended his roles. He appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound as the amnesia victim accused of murder. In The Yearling, Peck was again nominated for the Academy Award and won the Golden Globe. Peck appeared in Westerns such as Duel in the Sun, _Yellow Sky (1949)_ and The Gunfighter. He was nominated again for the Academy Award with his roles in Gentleman's Agreement, a story of discrimination, and Twelve O'Clock High, a story of high level stress at bomber command.

With a string of hits behind him, Peck soon took the decision to only work in films that interested him. He continued to appear as the heroic figures in larger-than-life films such as Captain Horatio Hornblower and Moby Dick. He worked with Audrey Hepburn in her debut film, Roman Holiday. After four nominations, Peck finally won the Oscar for his performance as Lawyer Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. In the early 60s, he appeared in two dark films, Cape Fear and Captain Newman, M.D., which dealt with the way people live. He also gave a powerful performance as Captain Keith Mallory in The Guns of Navarone, one of the biggest cinematic hits of that year.

In the early 70s, he produced two movies, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine and The Dove, while his film career waned. He made a comeback playing the wooden Robert Thorn in the horror film The Omen. After that, he returned to the bigger than life roles as MacArthur and the evil Doctor Mengele in The Boys from Brazil. In the 80s, Peck moved into television with the mini series The Blue and the Gray and the movie The Scarlet and the Black. In 1991, he appeared in the remake of his 1962 film, playing a different part, in Cape Fear. He was also cast as the liberal owner of a wire and cable business in Other People's Money.

In 1967, Peck received the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. He was also been awarded the Medal of Freedom. Always politically liberal, Peck was active in causes dealing with charities, politics or the film industry. He died in June 2003, aged 87.


The Purple Plain (1954): $250,000
The Million Pound Note (1954): $250,000
Only the Valiant (1951): $60,000
Days of Glory (1944): $10,000

His earliest movie memory is of being so scared by The Phantom of the Opera (1925) at age 9 that his grandmother allowed him to sleep in the bed with her that night. Of his own movies, To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) is Peck's favourite. Children with Veronique Passani: Tony Peck (b. 1956) and Cecilia Peck (b. 1958). Chairman, Motion Picture & Television Relief Fund. [1971] Charter Member, National Council on the Arts. [1968-1974] Charter Member, National Council on the Arts. [1964-1966] Stating he was worried about the 600,000 jobs hanging on the survival of the Chrysler Corporation, he volunteered to become an unpaid TV pitchman for the company in 1980. Was in the original version of Cape Fear (1962) in 1962, playing Sam Bowden. He was later brought back for a part in another version of Cape Fear (1991), playing Max Cady's attorney. Was president of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences from 1967-1970. He made the decision to postpone the 1968 Oscar ceremony after Martin Luther King's assassination. His paternal grandmother, Catherine Ashe, was an immigrant from County Kerry, Ireland. She was a relative of Thomas Ashe, an Irish patriot who fought the in Easter Rising in 1916 and died on hunger strike the following year. Marched with Martin Luther King. Along with Dorothy McGuire, Mel Ferrer and David O. Selznick, he co-founded the La Jolla Playhouse, located in his hometown, and produced many of the classics there. Due to film commitments, he could not return to Broadway but whet his appetite for live theater on occasion at the Playhouse, keeping it firmly established with a strong, reputable name over the years. Brock Peters delivered his eulogy on the day of his funeral and burial, June 16, 2003. In To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Peters played Tom Robinson, the black man accused of raping a white girl that Atticus Finch (Peck's character) defended in court. A back injury incurred in college kept him out of the services in World War II. Son, Stephen did a tour in Vietnam with the Marine Corps. Peck was proud of his son's military service even though he disagreed with the war itself. When he came to Italy to shoot Roman Holiday (1953), Gregory was privately depressed about his recent separation and imminent divorce from his first wife, Greta. However, during the shoot, he met and fell in love with a French woman named 'Veronique Passani'. After his divorce, he married Passani and they remained together for the rest of his life. So, in a way, he lived out his own "movie romance". While studying at UC Berkeley, Peck was a houseboy for the school's chapter of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. Attended San Diego High School. Named the #12 greatest actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends list by the American Film Institute In late November of 2005, thieves stole Peck's "Hollywood Walk of Fame" star using a cement saw to cut the bronze-and-terrazzo marker out of the sidewalk. In a simple ceremony, a new star honoring the late actor was unveiled on December 1st to replace the stolen one. Hollywood's honorary mayor Johnny Grant lifted a covering and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, we proudly welcome back to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Gregory Peck." Peck's star was the fourth to be stolen since the Walk of Fame was inaugurated. James Stewart's and Kirk Douglas' stars disappeared some years ago after being removed for construction and were later recovered by police in the nearby city of South Gate. Gene Autry's star also vanished during a construction project. A call saying it had been found in Iowa proved to be a false alarm. In the spring of 1939, Peck skipped graduation at the University of California at Berkeley and, with $160 and a letter of introduction in his pocket, went by train to New York, traveling coach, to embark on his acting career. Father-in-law of Daniel Voll. Was Warner Bros. original choice to play Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). He was offered the role and seriously considered it but passed away before he could give them an answer. Cited that his favorite leading ladies were Audrey Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, and Ava Gardner. In 1997, as a presenter at the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) awards ceremony, he said, "It just seems silly to me that something so right and simple has to be fought for at all." He had always wanted to do a Walt Disney movie. He was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War, while remaining supportive of his son who was serving there. Broke his ankle in three places in a fall from a horse while filming Yellow Sky (1948). In 1999 he supported the decision to give Elia Kazan an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement, saying he believed that a man's work should be separate from his life. In 1987 he joined Burt Lancaster, Martin Sheen and Lloyd Bridges in narrating a TV advertisement for the People for the American Way, in opposing the confirmation of President Ronald Reagan's nominee to the Supreme Court, conservative judge Robert Bork. Bork, under intense criticism in part because of his past strong opposition to civil rights laws, ultimately failed to be confirmed by the Senate. He was an active supporter of AIDS fund raising. In 1946 he met and befriended Gary Cooper, with whom he was often compared in terms of looks and acting style. Appeared on President Richard Nixon's infamous "List of Enemies" in 1972. As a board member of Handgun Control Inc. (along with Martin Sheen and Susan Sarandon), Peck was sometimes criticized for his friendship with Charlton Heston, a longtime advocate of gun ownership who served as President of the National Rifle Assocation (NRA) from 1998 to 2003. When questioned by James Brady, Peck said, "We're colleagues rather than friends. We're civil to each other when we meet. I, of course, disagree vehemently with him on gun control.". He was given the role of Ambassador Robert Thorn in The Omen (1976) after Charlton Heston turned it down in order to make Midway (1976). He was a heavy drinker as a young actor in Hollywood. In 1949 he was hospitalized with heart spasms, and while filming David and Bathsheba (1951) he was hospitalized with a suspected heart attack. Though it turned out to be a palpitation brought on by his lifestyle and overwork, he began to drink less thereafter. However, he did not stop smoking for many more years. He was originally cast in the role played by Robert Taylor in Quo Vadis (1951). He did not get along with director Elia Kazan while filming Gentleman's Agreement (1947). Kazan told the press he was very disappointed with Peck's performance and the two men never worked together again. He is listed in the Cal Berkeley Alumni roster as a graduate of the Class of 1942 who studied as an English major and where he acted in plays at the Associated Students sponsored 'Little Theatre' on campus. Incidentally while under the watch of the University's Committee on Music and Drama led by Professor William Popper as chairman, the University's Department of Dramatic Arts was just being established towards the end of his student tenure in 1941. The financial failure of Cape Fear (1962) ended his company, Melville Productions. When he was the President of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Science, he tried his hardest to get a full-length animated feature film (most notably the The Jungle Book (1967)) not only nominated for Best Picture Academy Award but actually win the award. He resigned as President in 1970 when other members didn't agree with him about animated films being nominated for the award. Twenty-one years after he resigned Beauty and the Beast (1991) became the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture although it did not win. Son of Gregory Pearl Peck and wife Bernice Mae Ayres. Formed a solid friendship with Mary Badham, who played his daughter "Scout" in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). They remained in contact until his passing. According to Badham, she always called him "Atticus" and he always called her "Scout". His favorite drink was Guinness, which he drank every day. Eventually he had a tap installed in the bar at his house. A physically powerful man, Peck was known to do a majority of his own fight scenes, rarely using body or stunt doubles. Robert Mitchum, his on-screen opponent in Cape Fear (1962), said that Peck once accidentally punched him for real during their final fight scene in the movie. He recalled feeling the impact of the punch for days afterwards and said, "I don't feel sorry for anyone dumb enough who picks a fight with him.". His mother died in May 1992 at the age of 97. By 1974, following a series of flops, Peck's career had declined to such an extent that he admitted in an interview that he was thinking of retiring from acting. Two years later however he made an enormous comeback with The Omen (1976). One of his greatest heroes from childhood was President Abraham Lincoln. Peck was initially concerned about playing him in "The Blue and the Gray" (1982), since at 66 he was a decade older than Lincoln was when he was assassinated. Often stated how disappointed he was that many American viewers did not realize how anti-war The Guns of Navarone (1961) was. He was a lifelong opponent of nuclear weapons, and made On the Beach (1959) for this reason. In 1999 he publicly berated Congress for failing to pass legislation preventing teenagers from buying guns, following the Columbine high school massacre. While filming The Bravados (1958), he decided to become a cowboy in real life, so he purchased a vast working ranch near Santa Barbara, California - already stocked with 600 head of prize cattle. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 417-420. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007. Was the second choice to play Prof. Henry Jones Sr. in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), had first choice Sean Connery declined the role. Star Harrison Ford cited Peck as one of his favorite actors and To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) as one of his favorite films. He visited Michael Jackson on the set of filming the "Smooth Criminal" segment for Moonwalker (1988). Also visiting the set was Robert De Niro and Bruce Willis.