Janet Leigh
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- July 6, 1927
- Died
- October 3, 2004 (aged 77)
- Birthplace
- Merced, California, USA
Biography
Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, Leigh was discovered at 18 by actress Norma Shearer, who helped her secure a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Leigh appeared in radio programs before her first formal foray into acting, making her film debut in the drama The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). With MGM, she appeared in many films which spanned a wide variety of genres, which include the crime-drama Act of Violence (1948), the drama Little Women (1949), the comedy Angels in the Outfield (1951), the romance Scaramouche (1952) and the western drama The Naked Spur (1953). She played dramatic roles during the late 1950s, in such films as Safari (1956) and Orson Welles's film noir Touch of Evil (1958). With RKO Radio pictures she co-starred in the romantic comedy Holiday Affair (1949) with Robert Mitchum. Leigh achieved her biggest success starring as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Psycho (1960). For her performance, Leigh won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Intermittently, she continued to appear in films, including Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Harper (1966), Night of the Lepus (1972), and Boardwalk (1979). She made her Broadway debut in 1975 in a production of Murder Among Friends. She would also go on to appear in two horror films with her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis: The Fog (1980) and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998). In addition to her work as an actress, Leigh also wrote four books between 1984 and 2002, two of which were novels. Leigh had two brief marriages as a teenager (one of which was annulled) before marrying actor Tony Curtis in 1951. The pair's highly publicized union ended in divorce in 1962, and after starring in The Manchurian Candidate that same year, Leigh remarried and scaled back her career. She died in October 2004 at age 77, following a year-long battle with vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
100 Years of the Idiot: A Jerry Lewis Centenary
Movie
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Pictures of Ghosts
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Rat Pack
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Jamie Lee Curtis: Hollywood Call of Freedom
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
I Am Alfred Hitchcock
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
Movie · as (archive footage)
Hollywood: No Sex, Please!
Movie
The Fabulous Allan Carr
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Making of 'Psycho'
Movie · as Self
Bad Girls from Valley High
Movie · as Mrs. Witt
Tales from the Mist: Inside 'The Fog'
Movie · as Self
The American Nightmare
Movie · as Self
Mary Pickford: A Life on Film
Movie · as Self
Cubby Broccoli: The Man Behind Bond
Movie · as Herself
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
Movie · as Self
Anthony Perkins: A Life in the Shadows
Movie · as Self
Rat Pack: A Conference of Cool
Movie · as Self
Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius
Movie · as Self
Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special
Movie · as Self
Family Law
TV · as Mary Sawyer · 1 ep
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Movie · as Norma
In My Sister's Shadow
Movie · as Kay Connor
Scene by Scene
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown
Movie · as Self - Interviewee
E! True Hollywood Story
TV · 3 eps
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
Movie · as Self
Inside the Dream Factory
Movie · as Self
Secret Lives
TV · 1 ep
The Story of Lassie
Movie · as Self
Hitchcock: Alfred the Great
Movie · as Self
Touched by an Angel
TV · as Vera King · 1 ep
The Egg
Movie · as The egg (voice) (archive footage)
Intimate Portrait
TV · as Self (archive footage) · 1 ep
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Movie · as Self
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
Movie · as Self
Psycho III
Movie · as Marion Crane (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Making Of Psycho III
Movie · as Marion Crane (archive footage)
Night of 100 Stars II
Movie · as Self
The Twilight Zone
TV · as Barbara LeMay · 1 ep
Murder, She Wrote
TV · as Cornelia Montaigne Harper · 1 ep
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Psycho II
Movie · as Marion Crane (archive footage) (uncredited)
Matt Houston
TV · as Ramona · 1 ep
The Fog
Movie · as Kathy Williams
The Horror Show
Movie · as (archive footage)
Mirror, Mirror
Movie · as Millie Gorman
Boardwalk
Movie · as Florence Cohen
Tales of the Unexpected
TV · as Joan Stackpole · 1 ep
Telethon
Movie · as Elaine Cotten
Murder at the World Series
Movie · as Karen Weese
The Love Boat
TV · as Joan Philipps / Gail · 2 eps
Murdock's Gang
Movie · as Laura Talbot
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Night of the Lepus
Movie · as Gerry Bennett
One Is a Lonely Number
Movie · as Gert Meredith
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Ghost Story
TV · as Carol · 1 ep
The Deadly Dream
Movie · as Laurel Hanley
Columbo
TV · as Grace Wheeler Willis · 1 ep
House on Greenapple Road
Movie · as Marian Ord
Hello Down There
Movie · as Vivian Miller
Honeymoon with a Stranger
Movie · as Sandra Latham
The Monk
Movie · as Janice Barnes
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV · as Self (uncredited) · 2 eps
Grand Slam
Movie · as Mary Ann
The Spy in the Green Hat
Movie · as Miss Diketon
Harper
Movie · as Susan Harper
Three on a Couch
Movie · as Dr Elizabeth Acord
Kid Rodelo
Movie · as Nora
An American Dream
Movie · as Cherry McMahon
Bob Hope Christmas Show
Movie · as Self
The Hollywood Palace
TV · as Self - Host · 1 ep
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
TV · as Miss Diketon · 2 eps
Bye Bye Birdie
Movie · as Rosie DeLeon
Wives and Lovers
Movie · as Bertie Austin
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV · as Virginia Ballard · 2 eps
The Manchurian Candidate
Movie · as Eugenie Rose Chaney
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Psycho
Movie · as Marion Crane
People, Hopes, Medals
Movie · as Self
Pepe
Movie · as Janet Leigh
Who Was That Lady?
Movie · as Ann Wilson
Touch of Evil
Movie · as Susan Vargas
The Vikings
Movie · as Morgana
The Perfect Furlough
Movie · as Vicki Loren
Jet Pilot
Movie · as Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon / Olga Orlief
Safari
Movie · as Linda Latham
Nightmare
Movie · as Janet
The Rosemary Clooney Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Pete Kelly's Blues
Movie · as Ivy Conrad
My Sister Eileen
Movie · as Eileen Sherwood
Rogue Cop
Movie · as Karen Stephanson
The Black Shield of Falworth
Movie · as Lady Anne of Mackworth
Prince Valiant
Movie · as Princess Aleta
Living It Up
Movie · as Wally Cook
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Movie · as Self
Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood
Movie
The Naked Spur
Movie · as Lina Patch
Houdini
Movie · as Bess Houdini
Walking My Baby Back Home
Movie · as Chris Hall
Confidentially Connie
Movie · as Connie Bedloe
The Oscars
TV · as Self · 3 eps
Scaramouche
Movie · as Aline de Gavrillac de Bourbon
Fearless Fagan
Movie · as Abby Ames
Just This Once
Movie · as Lucy Duncan
Come Back Little Shiksa
Movie
An Eye for an Eye
Movie
This Is Your Life
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Angels in the Outfield
Movie · as Jennifer Paige
It's a Big Country
Movie · as Rosa Szabo Xenophon
Two Tickets to Broadway
Movie · as Nancy Peterson
Strictly Dishonorable
Movie · as Isabelle Perry
Fairfax Avenue
Movie
The Re-Inforcer
Movie · as Mary Muck
A Spot In The Shade
Movie
Nightmare
Movie
Watch On The Lime
Movie
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV · 1 ep
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV · as Self · 3 eps
What's My Line?
TV · as Self · 4 eps
The Bob Hope Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Holiday Affair
Movie · as Connie Ennis
Act of Violence
Movie · as Edith Enley
The Red Danube
Movie · as Olga Alexandrova aka Maria Buhlen
That Forsyte Woman
Movie · as June Forsyte
Little Women
Movie · as Meg
The Doctor and the Girl
Movie · as Evelyn 'Taffy' Heldon
How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border
Movie
Hills of Home
Movie · as Margit Mitchell
Words and Music
Movie · as Dorothy Feiner
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
If Winter Comes
Movie · as Effie Bright
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Movie · as Lissy Anne MacBean
Golden Globe Awards
TV · as Self · 1 ep