Alfred Hitchcock

The “Master of Suspense”

Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, UK on the 13th August 1899 and passed away from kidney failure at the age of 80 on the 29th April 1980.

Hitchcock was known as the master of suspense due to his innovative film editing and the plots and twists used within his thrillers.

Early Life

In his early life he was born to Emma and William Hitchcock along with his two siblings, Hitchcock was the youngest of the three. Hitchcock was raised as a Catholic and educated as such. Alfreds childhood was said to be quite lonely and isolated and this was made worse due to his obesity. Hitchcocks father was a stern man whom once sent Alfred to sit in a prison cell for punishment for his behaviour, but he died when Hitchcock was only fifteen. He then found a job as a draftsman and advertising designer with a cable company. It was whilst working here that he submitted short articles to a newspaperHitchcock then became intrigued with photography and working in film production when he found himself working for a branch that would later become Paramount Pictures. In 1920 he got a full time job working at Islington Studios designing silent movie titles.

Number 13Hitchcocks first few films did not do very well. His first project was entitled “Number 13” and was cancelled due to financial issues.But in 1925 Hitchcock was given another opportunity to direct a film “The Pleasure Garden” And then directed “The Mountain Eagle” a film that is now lost

Thrillers

In 1926 Alfred Hitchcock made his first thriller and his luck suddenly changed. The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog was a suspense thriller based upon a kind of Jack the Ripper type of Serial Killer and was incredibly successful in America.

Soon after this success Hitchcock married his assistant direct-or, Alma Reeville in December 1926 in London. And Hitchcockhad his only child, Patricia in July 1928.

PsychoPsycho is one of Hitchcocks most well known films. Produced on a small budget, psycho was a black and white thriller movie. The well known shower scene is what is remembered mostly about the film. The film was well loved by the public and broke box office records in several countries and became his most profitable film throughout his entire career.

Last projectAlfreds last project was for a spy thriller, The Short Night in collaboration with James Costigan and Ernest Lehman. But the project was not completed due mostly to Alfred's health failing and his own concerns for his wife's health also, as she had been greatly ill recently. The script was later published in a book on Hitchcock.