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Alfred Hitchcock Facts

Alfred Hitchcock Facts
Alfred Hitchcock was a film producer and director, considered to be 'the Master of Suspense'. He was born Alfred Joseph Hitchcock on August 13, 1899, in Leytonstone, Essex, England, to Emma Jane Hitchcock and William Hitchcock. While a teenager he decided he wanted to be an engineer. After WWI ended Alfred began creative writing. He became a title card designer for Islington Studios in 1919. He became an assistant director in 1922 at Gainsborough Pictures. In 1939 Alfred left England for Hollywood. His first American film titled Rebecca earned an Oscar for best picture.
Interesting Alfred Hitchcock Facts:
Alfred Hitchcock's parents were strict Catholics and he attended strict schools as a child.
When only 5 years old he was sent to the local police station to spend a few minutes locked up in a jail cell for misbehaving. This led to a lifelong fear of police.
Alfred Hitchcock used some of the early punishments as inspiration in his films later in life.
It is believed that because of Alfred's weight issues he lived a lonely and somewhat sheltered childhood.
In 1926 Alfred Hitchcock married Alma Reville, in South Kensington. Reville was born only hours after Alfred himself was born.
Alfred and Alma had one child together - a daughter named Patricia Alma Hitchcock, on July 7th, 1928.
In 1929 Alfred Hitchcock directed the first British 'talkie' film Blackmail.
Alfred and Alma were very close in their career. Charles Champlin said of their relationship: Hitchcock had four hands and two were Alma's.
In 1940 Alfred and Alma bought a 200 acre ranch in California. They also owned a Bel Air home.
In 1941 Alfred was both producer and director of a film for the first time, on the movie Suspicion.
Today only 9 of Alfred Hitchcock's early silent films still exist. The rest were lost.
Alfred Hitchcock often appeared in cameo appearances in his films. He appeared in 39 of his own movies.
Alfred Hitchcock became a household name by 1965.
From 1955 to 1965 Alfred Hitchcock had his own TV series titled Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In the beginning of each episode Alfred's silhouette appeared.
Alfred Hitchcock wrote the entry for Encyclopedia Britannica on how to make movies.
Alfred Hitchcock created the MacGuffin - the motivating element in a film that drives the plot forward.
For more than twenty years, between 1961 and 1983, Hitchcock retained the rights to five of his most famous movies and kept them from the public eye. These included Vertigo, Rear Window, The Trouble with Harry, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Rope. Paramount eventually regained the rights and released them again to the public.
Alfred Hitchcock funded the famous movie Psycho himself. Once it was released, he ensued that theatres would not allow anyone in once the film had begun to play.
Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar for directing, although the film Rebecca won for best picture.
In 1967 the Academy presented Alfred Hitchcock with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.
Alfred directed more than 50 films in his 60-year career.
Alfred Hitchcock died in 1980 in Bel Air. His wife Alma died in 1982.


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