Alfred Hitchcock was the son of East End greengrocer William Hitchcock and his wife Emma. Raised as a strict Catholic and attending Saint Ignatius College, a school run by Jesuits, Hitch had very much of a regular upbringing. His first job outside of the family business was in 1915 as an estimator for the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company. His interest in movies began at around this time, frequently visiting the cinema and reading US trade journals.

In 1920 Hitch learned that Lasky were to open a studio in London and managed to secure a job as a title designer. He designed the titles for all the movies made at the studio for the next two years. In 1923 he got his first chance at directing when the director of Always Tell Your Wife fell ill and Hitch completed the movie. Impressed by his work, studio chiefs gave him his first directing assignment on Number 13, however, before it could be finished, the studio closed its British operation. Hitch was then hired by Michael Balcon to work as an assistant director for the company later to be known as Gainsborough Pictures. In reality Hitch did more than this - working as a writer, title designer and art director. After several films for the company, Hitch was given the chance to direct a British/German co-production called The Pleasure Garden. Hitchcock's career as a director finally began. Hitchcock went on to become the most widely known and influential director in the history of world cinema with a significant body of work produced over 50 years.


Psycho (1960): 60% of the net profits (salary deferred)
North by Northwest (1959): 250,000 + 10% of the net profits.
Vertigo (1958): $150,000 + 10% of the profits +film negative ownership
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956): $150,000 + 10% of the profits +film negative ownership
Rear Window (1954): $150,000 + 10% of the profits +film negative ownership
Notorious (1946): $7,000/week
Suspicion (1941): $2,500/week
The Lady Vanishes (1938): $50,000

According to many people who knew Hitchcock, he couldn't stand to even look at his wife, Alma Reville, while she was pregnant. According to Hitchcock himself, he was required to stand at the foot of his mother's bed, and tell her what happened to him each day. Was a close friend of Albert R. Broccoli, well known as the producer of the James Bond - 007 franchise. Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959) was the influence for the helicopter scene in From Russia with Love (1963) As a child, Hitchcock was sent to the local police station with a letter from his father. The desk sergeant read the letter and immediately locked the boy up for ten minutes. After that, the sergeant let young Alfred go, explaining, "This is what happens to people who do bad things." Hitchcock had a morbid fear of police from that day on. He also cited this phobia as the reason he never learned to drive (as a person who doesn't drive can never be pulled over and given a ticket). It was also cited as the reason for the recurring "wrong man" themes in his films. He never won a best director Oscar in competition, although he was awarded the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award at the 1967 Oscars. In the New Year's Honour's list of 1980 (only a few months before his death), he was named an Honorary (as he was a U.S. citizen) Knight Commander of the British Empire. His bridling under the heavy hand of producer David O. Selznick was exemplified by the final scene of Rebecca (1940). Selznick wanted his director to show smoke coming out of the burning house's chimney forming the letter 'R." Hitch thought the touch lacked any subtlety; instead, he showed flames licking at a pillow embroidered with the letter 'R.' When finishing a cup of tea while on the set, he would often non-discriminatingly toss the cup and saucer over his shoulder, letting it fall (or break) wherever it may. Asked writers Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac to write a novel for him after Henri-Georges Clouzot had been faster in buying the rights for "Celle qui n'était plus" which became Les diaboliques (1955). The novel they wrote, "From Among the Dead", was shot as Vertigo (1958). Der müde Tod (1921) by Fritz Lang was his declared favorite movie. Lent his name and character to a series of adolescent books entitled "Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators" (circa late 1960s-early 1970s). The premise was that main character and crime-solver Jupiter Jones won the use of Mr. Hitchcock's limousine in a contest. Hitch also wrote forewords to this series of books. After his death, his famous silhouette was taken off the spine of the books, and the forewords (obviously) stopped appearing as well. One of the most successful Hitchcock tie-ins is a pulp publication titled "Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine." The publication is highly respected and has become one of the longest running mystery anthologies. It continues to be published almost a quarter century after Hitchock's death. When he won his Lifetime Achievement award in 1979, he joked with friends that he must be about to die soon. He died a year later. Was at his heaviest in the late 1930s, when he weighed over 300 pounds. Although always overweight, he dieted and lost a considerable amount of weight in the early 1950s, with pictures from sets like To Catch a Thief (1955) showing a surprisingly thin Hitchcock. His weight continued to fluctuate throughout his life. Often said that Shadow of a Doubt (1943) was his favorite film that he had directed. Steven Spielberg, Brian De Palma, John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, M. Night Shyamalan and Quentin Tarantino have named him as an influence. He almost never socialized when not shooting films, with most of his evenings spent quietly at home with his wife Alma Reville. He would work closely with screenwriters, giving them a series of scenes that he wanted in the films, thus closely controlling what he considered the most important aspect of the filmmaking process. Although the screenwriter would write the actual dialogue and blocking, many of the scripts for his films were rigidly based on his ideas. Praised Luis Buñuel as the best director ever Ranked #2 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Greatest directors ever!" [2005] Told François Truffaut that although he had made two films prior to The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927), he considered that to be his first real film. Grandfather of Mary Stone, Tere Carrubba and Katie Fiala. Although some of the movie going public knew him, his fame really took off after 1955. That's when "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955) started. When the show was broadcast in homes week after week it gave him a much bigger exposure in the public eye. He also became quite rich from the show when it was syndicated in the US and overseas. Is the "voice" of the "Jaws" ride at Universal Studios. He was knighted in 1980, and died the same year. Though he was Oscar-nominated 5 times as Best Director, DGA-nominated 6 times as Best Director, and received 3 nominations from Cannes, he has never won in any of these competitive categories, a fact that surprises fans and film critics to this day. He adopted American citizenship in 1956. In addition to his fear of the police, Hitchcock possessed one other phobia: eggs. As a longstanding friend of Sidney Bernstein (the pair had formed production company Transatlantic Pictures together in the 1940s) Hitch was the first celebrity visitor to the set of long-running UK soap opera "Coronation Street" (1960), during a June 1964 visit to the Manchester studios of Granada Television which Bernstein co-founded with his brother Cecil. During production of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955) he was said to have hid from producer Joan Harrison every time there was a problem with production. His favorite hiding place was behind the couch in his office. He directed nine of the American Film Institute's 100 Most Heart-Pounding Movies: Psycho (1960) at #1, North by Northwest (1959) at #4, The Birds (1963) at #7, Rear Window (1954) at #14, Vertigo (1958) at #18, Strangers on a Train (1951) at #32, Notorious (1946) at #38, Dial M for Murder (1954) at #48 and Rebecca (1940) at #80.