Janet Leigh

Jeanette Helen Morrison
1927 - 2004 (vasculitis)
American born Merced, California

Height 5' 5½" (1.66 m) . Janet Leigh was the only child of a couple who often moved from town to town. Living in apartments, Janet was a bright child who skipped several grades and finished high school when she was 15. A lonely child, she would spend much of her time at movie theaters. She was a student, studying music and psychology, at the University of the Pacific until she was "discovered" while visiting her parents in Northern California. Her father was working the desk at a ski resort where her mother worked as a maid. Retired MGM actress Norma Shearer saw a picture of Janet on the front desk and asked if she could borrow it. This led to a screen test at MGM and a starring role in The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). MGM was looking for a young naive country girl and Janet filled the bill perfectly. She would play the young ingénue in a number of films and work with such stars as Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper, James Stewart, Orson Welles and Judy Garland. She appeared in a number of successful films, including Little Women (1949), Angels in the Outfield (1951), Scaramouche (1952), Houdini (1953) and The Black Shield of Falworth (1954), among others. Janet would appear in a variety of films, from comedies to westerns to musicals to dramas. Of her more than 50 movies, she would be remembered for the 45 minutes that she was on the screen in the small-budget thriller Psycho (1960). Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, this 1960 classic would include the shower scene that would become a film landmark. Even though her character is killed off early in the picture, she would be nominated for an Academy Award and receive a Golden Globe. Her next film would be The Manchurian Candidate (1962), in which she starred with Frank Sinatra. For the rest of the decade, her appearances in films would be rare, but she worked with Paul Newman in Harper (1966). In the 1970s she appeared on the small screen in a number of made-for-TV movies. Spouse Robert Brandt (1962 - 3 October 2004) (her death), Tony Curtis (4 June 1951 - June 1962) (divorced) 2 children, Stanley Reames (1946 - 1948) (divorced), John Carlyle (1942) (annulled).

A Fate Totally Worse Than Death (2005) , "Family Law" (2001) , Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) , "Touched by an Angel" (1997) , In My Sister's Shadow (1997) , Ei, Das (1993) , "The Twilight Zone" (1989) , "Murder, She Wrote" (1986) , "The Love Boat" (1978) , "Fantasy Island" (1979), "Matt Houston"(1982) , "Tales of the Unexpected" (1982) , The Fog (1980) , Boardwalk (1979) , Mirror, Mirror (1979) , Telethon (1977) , Murder at the World Series (1977) , Columbo: Forgotten Lady (1975) , "Movin' On" (1975) , "Love Story" (1973) , Murdock's Gang (1973), "Ghost Story" (1973) , Night of the Lepus (1972) , One Is a Lonely Number (1972) , Deadly Dream (1971) , "The Name of the Game" (1971) , "Bracken's World" (1970) , "The Virginian" (1970) , The House on Greenapple Road (1970) , Honeymoon with a Stranger (1969) , The Monk (1969) , Hello Down There (1969) , "The Danny Thomas Hour" (1968) , Ad ogni costo (1967) , "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1966) , "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (1964) ,An American Dream (1966) , Three on a Couch (1966) , Harper (1966) , Kid Rodelo (1966) , Wives and Lovers (1963) , Bye Bye Birdie (1963) , The Manchurian Candidate (1962) , Pepe (1960) , Psycho (1960) , Who Was That Lady? (1960) , The Perfect Furlough (1958) , The Vikings (1958) , Touch of Evil (1958) , Jet Pilot (1957) , "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (1957) , Safari (1956) , My Sister Eileen (1955) , Pete Kelly's Blues (1955) , Rogue Cop (1954) , The Black Shield of Falworth (1954) , Living It Up (1954) , Prince Valiant (1954) , Walking My Baby Back Home (1953) , Houdini (1953), Confidentially Connie (1953) , The Naked Spur (1953) , Fearless Fagan (1952) , Scaramouche (1952) , Just This Once (1952) , It's a Big Country (1951) , Two Tickets to Broadway (1951) , Angels in the Outfield (1951) , Strictly Dishonorable (1951) , Holiday Affair (1949) , That Forsyte Woman (1949) , The Doctor and the Girl (1949) , The Red Danube (1949) , Little Women (1949) , How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border (1949) , Act of Violence (1948), Words and Music (1948) , Hills of Home (1948) , If Winter Comes (1947), The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947)