Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock\u00a0(August 13, 1899 \u2013 April 29, 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in cinema history.\u00a0In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today. Known as the “Master of Suspense”, Hitchcock became as well known as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews,\u00a0cameo appearances\u00a0in most of his films, and hosting and producing the television anthology\u00a0Alfred Hitchcock Presents\u00a0(1955\u201365). His films garnered 46\u00a0Academy Award\u00a0nominations, including six wins. However, despite five nominations, he never won the \u00a0Best Director award.<\/p>\n
Hitchcock initially trained as a technical clerk and copywriter before entering the film industry in 1919 as a\u00a0title card\u00a0designer. The British\u2013German\u00a0silent film\u00a0The Pleasure Garden\u00a0(1925) was his directorial debut. His first successful film,\u00a0The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog\u00a0(1927), helped to shape the\u00a0thriller\u00a0genre, and\u00a0Blackmail\u00a0(1929) was the first British “talkie”. His thrillers\u00a0The 39 Steps\u00a0(1935) and\u00a0The Lady Vanishes\u00a0(1938) are ranked among the\u00a0greatest British films\u00a0of the 20th century. By 1939, he had international recognition and producer\u00a0David O. Selznick persuaded him to move to Hollywood. A string of successful films followed, including\u00a0Rebecca(1940),\u00a0Foreign Correspondent\u00a0(1940),\u00a0Suspicion (1941),\u00a0Shadow of a Doubt\u00a0(1943) and\u00a0Notorious (1946).\u00a0Rebecca\u00a0won the\u00a0Academy Award for Best Picture, with Hitchcock nominated as Best Director. He also received Oscar nominations for\u00a0Lifeboat\u00a0(1944),\u00a0Spellbound\u00a0(1945),\u00a0Rear Window\u00a0(1954) and\u00a0Psycho\u00a0(1960).<\/p>\n
Hitchcock’s other notable films include\u00a0Rope\u00a0(1948),\u00a0Strangers on a Train\u00a0(1951),\u00a0Dial M for Murder\u00a0(1954),\u00a0To Catch a Thief\u00a0(1955),\u00a0The Trouble with Harry\u00a0(1955),\u00a0Vertigo\u00a0(1958),\u00a0North by Northwest\u00a0(1959),\u00a0The Birds\u00a0(1963),\u00a0Marnie\u00a0(1964) and\u00a0Frenzy\u00a0(1972), all of which were also financially successful and are highly regarded by film historians. Hitchcock made several films with some of the biggest stars in Hollywood, including four with\u00a0Cary Grant, four with\u00a0James Stewart, three with\u00a0Ingrid Bergman\u00a0and three consecutively with\u00a0Grace Kelly. Hitchcock became an American citizen in 1955.<\/p>\n
In 2012, Hitchcock’s psychological thriller\u00a0Vertigo, starring Stewart, displaced\u00a0Orson Welles’\u00a0Citizen Kane\u00a0(1941) as the\u00a0British Film Institute’s greatest film ever made based on its worldwide poll of hundreds of film critics.\u00a0As of 2021, nine of his films had been selected for preservation in the United States\u00a0National Film Registry,\u00a0including his favourite,\u00a0Shadow of a Doubt\u00a0(1943). He received the\u00a0BAFTA Fellowship\u00a0in 1971, the\u00a0AFI Life Achievement Award\u00a0in 1979, and was knighted in December of that year, four months before his death on 29 April 1980.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock\u00a0(August 13, 1899 \u2013 April 29, 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in cinema history.\u00a0In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today. Known as the “Master of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-27095","movie_engine_person","type-movie_engine_person","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n