NAME Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock
WHAT FAMOUS FOR Alfred Hitchcock is famed as the “Master of Suspense,” one of the most influential film directors in cinema history. He redefined the psychological thriller, pioneered visual storytelling techniques, and directed landmark films such as Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, North by Northwest, Rebecca, and The Birds. His work shaped modern suspense, horror, and narrative cinema.
BIRTH Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899, in Leytonstone, Essex, England, a suburb in the Cockney area of East London.
FAMILY BACKGROUND Hitchcock was the youngest of three children born to William Hitchcock (1862-1914), a greengrocer and poulterer, and Emma Jane Whelan (1863-1942). His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry.
He had two older siblings: William Hitchcock (born 1890) and Eileen Kathleen Hitchcock (born 1892).
The family was staunchly middle-class and devoutly Roman Catholic, which profoundly shaped Hitchcock's worldview and later artistic vision. The Catholic background marked the family as outsiders in Anglican England, contributing to Hitchcock's sense of being an outsider.
William Hitchcock was a greengrocer who dealt in fruit and vegetables in London, including at Covent Garden Market. Alfred Hitchcock's final British film, Frenzy (1972), is set around Covent Garden Market, and he chose this setting as an homage to the produce market world of his childhood as the son of a Covent Garden merchant.
CHILDHOOD Hitchcock described his childhood as lonely and sheltered, partly due to his obesity from an early age.
His upbringing was marked by strict discipline and fear, administered by both parents. The most famous incident occurred when he was approximately five or six years old: his father sent him to the local police station with a note asking the officer to lock him away for 10 minutes as punishment for misbehaving. This traumatic experience gave Hitchcock a lifelong fear of police and authority figures, as well as a terror of enclosed spaces and wrongful imprisonment—themes that would pervade his films. His mother would force him to stand at the foot of her bed for several hours as punishment, a scene later alluded to in his films.
When he was not being disciplined, he was cosseted by an overly watchful mother who used food as comfort, which he later traced to his weight issues.
His father's death in 1914, when Hitchcock was only 14 years old, was another significant trauma.
EDUCATION Hitchcock attended St. Ignatius College, a Jesuit grammar school in London, where discipline and fear were prevalent. The Jesuit education installed habits of discipline and a sense of worry, guilt, and fear—qualities that proved integral to his creativity. He later said the Jesuits taught him "organization, control, and to some degree analysis". (1)
In 1913-14, he attended night classees at the London County Council School of Marine Engineering and Navigation (later called the School of Engineering and Navigation), where he studied mechanics, navigation, acoustics, draftsmanship, and electrical engineering.
CAREER RECORD 1915 Hitchcock's first job outside the family business was as an estimator and technical clerk for the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company, where he also worked in the advertising department as a draftsman and advertising designer.
1920 Hitchcock 's first job in the movie industry was as a a title card designer for silent films.
1925 His directorial debut came with The Pleasure Garden
1927 Hitchcock achieved his first major success with The Lodger (1927).
His career spanned over five decades, moving from the UK to Hollywood in 1939. Major works include Rebecca, Rear Window, Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Psycho.
1980 He was working on The Short Night when deteriorating health forced his retirement.
APPEARANCE Hitchcock was overweight, balding, with a prominent double chin and a protruding stomach. He stood approximately five feet nine inches tall and at his heaviest weighed around 300 pounds.
Hitchcock was "painfully self-conscious about his appearance," yet he knew his weight was a strong publicity hook and made him memorable to the public. Despite his size, many early collaborators were surprised at how sprightly he was, reportedly bounding up steep staircases two steps at a time without being out of breath. In 1943, shocked by his reflection in a shop window and the pain from falling on his arm, Hitchcock made a New Year's resolution to lose weight. Through tremendous willpower, he swiftly lost around 100 pounds, unveiling a dramatically thinner "new Hitchcock" for Lifeboat. However, his weight fluctuated throughout his life. (2)
In his later years, particularly the 1970s, his weight became a serious problem when he began suffering from painful arthritic knees.
His silhouette became so iconic that it functioned as a logo.
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| Studio publicity photo of Alfred Hitchcock c 1960s |
FASHION Hitchcock became famous for his signature look: typically wearing a dark suit, whit shirt, tie and a bowler hat. The bowler hat became one of his most recognizable trademarks.
He often wore clothing that accentuated his girth when meeting with journalists, deliberately exploiting his obesity for publicity purposes
His distinctive sketched silhouette, featuring his rotund profile, originated with his television program Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
CHARACTER Privately, Hitchcock was reserved, controlling, meticulous, and emotionally guarded. Publicly, he cultivated an image of dry wit and mock menace. He delighted in fear on screen, though he was personally anxious and cautious.
SPEAKING VOICE Hitchcock spoke with a distinctive accent that was unique and evolved over time. Born in Leytonstone with an East End London background, his voice retained key signifiers of his Leytonstone accent, particularly in how he pronounced words like "down" and his non-rhotic pronunciation (not sounding R's) and dropped T's—"very East End".
However, after moving to America in 1939, he developed what has been described as a "Trans-Atlantic accent," similar to Cary Grant's. His daughter Patricia noted that after moving to America, her mother kept her accent but her father lost his.
He had elocution lessons, so his voice was somewhat affected. His voice was calm, soft-spoken, and gravelly, which he used to great effect in his television introductions and interviews. His droll delivery became legendary, used for comedic effect in interviews and television segments.
SENSE OF HUMOUR Hitchcock’s humour was dark, mischievous, and surreal. He was known for elaborate on-set pranks, including hosting a dinner party where every item of food was coloured blue.
Hitchcock possessed a dark, macabre sense of humor that permeated both his films and personal life. He had "a weakness for practical jokes" and played quite a few throughout his lifetime.
His humor ranged from harmless pranks to elaborate stunts and sadistic humiliation. He enjoyed relieving tension in scary scenes with British humor. He once said, "Well, yes, I believe, you know, after all there's humor in a graveyard... I think the British have a sense of humor, especially about the macabre".
Famous quotes demonstrate his wit: "Revenge is sweet and not fattening"; "I have a perfect cure for a sore throat: cut it"; "The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder", His gallows humor was embedded in popular culture through interviews, film trailers, and his droll television introductions. (3)
RELATIONSHIPS Alfred Hitchcock married Alma Lucy Reville (1899-1982) at Brompton Oratory in South Kensington, London on December 2, 1926. Alma converted from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism at the behest of Hitchcock's mother, undergoing full instruction in the faith before their marriage. She was baptized on May 31, 1927, and confirmed at Westminster Cathedral on June 5, 1927. Their marriage lasted 54 years until Hitchcock's death in 1980.
Alma had entered the film industry in 1915, years before Alfred, working her way up from tea girl to cutter (editor) to director's assistant. When they met in 1920, she was already an experienced professional while he was a lowly titles artist. They began working closely together in 1923, and she became his assistant director on his debut feature.
When Hitchcock accepted the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1979, he said he wanted to mention "four people who have given me the most affection, appreciation and encouragement, and constant collaboration. The first of the four is a film editor, the second is a scriptwriter, the third is the mother of my daughter, Pat, and the fourth is as fine a cook as ever performed miracles in a domestic kitchen. And their names are Alma Reville". Alma was his sounding board for every project; if she didn't think a story would make a good movie, he instantly dropped it.
They had one child together, Patricia Alma Hitchcock, born July 7, 1928.
The Hitchcocks kept their distance from the English colony and established Hollywood community, preferring to remain a self-contained family.
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| Hitchcock and Reville on their wedding day, Brompton Oratory, 2 December 1926 |
MONEY AND FAME Hitchcock was one of the first "superstar" directors. He leveraged his fame into a lucrative brand, including a magazine and a TV show. By the 1950s, he was incredibly wealthy and maintained total creative control over his projects.
By the 1950s, for films like Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo, he earned $150,000 upfront plus 10% of profits and retained ownership of the negatives.
His largest payday came from Psycho (1960), when he deferred his standard $250,000 directing fee in exchange for 60% of the film's profits. This gamble earned him an estimated $15 million (equivalent to around $160 million today). He also traded his backend ownership of Psycho and his television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents for 150,000 shares of MCA (parent company of Universal Pictures), making him the third-largest individual shareholder in the company. By his death, those shares had appreciated to over $10 million, bringing his total earnings from Psycho alone to the equivalent of approximately $200 million. His deal became a blueprint for profit participation that stars and directors would follow for decades.
At the time of his death in 1980, Hitchcock's estate was valued at approximately $65 million (equivalent to around $200-250 million in today's dollars after adjusting for inflation).
His estate continues to earn money through film royalties, licensing deals, merchandise sales, and home entertainment. He was proud of his commercial success and never apologized for his focus on entertaining rather than instructing audiences.
FOOD AND DRINK Hitchcock had a dangerous relationship with food; his diet was reportedly high in ice cream, rich food and red meats like steak. He once stated, "There are two kinds of eating—eating to sustain and eating for pleasure. I eat for pleasure".
His wife Alma was considered a fantastic cook.
Despite his love of fine cuisine, he harbored intense phobias about certain foods. He was "frightened of eggs, worse than frightened; they revolt me," particularly terrified by egg yolks. He told journalist Oriana Fallaci: "That white round thing without any holes, and when you break it, inside there's that yellow thing, round, without any holes... Brr! Have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its yellow liquid? Blood is jolly, red... but egg yolk is yellow, revolting. I've never tasted it". 94)
Paradoxically, his favorite breakfast was Quiche Lorraine, which required eggs. His wife Alma made it using his special recipe that included four beaten eggs seasoned with salt, cayenne, and nutmeg. Quiche Lorraine appeared in his 1955 film To Catch a Thief.
He bought an oven with a glass door to watch but admitted, "I can't bear to wait the necessary eighteen minutes to see if it'll rise". In particular, he couldn't bear watching soufflés being made, saying "Will it rise? Won't it rise?" causing him unbearable anxiety. (5)
Hitchcock threw legendary themed dinner parties, including two where every single food item was dyed blue (including the inside of rolls, soup, trout, chicken, ice cream, and even the insides of peaches). Another party featured death-themed dishes: "morgue mussels, suicide suzettes, consommé de cobra, vicious-soise, home-made fried homicide, ragout of reptile," and a cake made to look like a decrepit church and graveyard. (6)
He was a keen smoker known for his trademark cigar.
DIRECTORAL CAREER Alfred Hitchcock’s directing career ran for more than half a century, which is a long time to spend inventing new ways to make audiences grip their armrests and mistrust staircases. Beginning in the mid-1920s and stretching into the late 1970s, his work evolved from British silent thrillers made on tight budgets and tighter schedules into Hollywood films so influential that they eventually became adjectives. This was not so much a career arc as a slow, methodical tightening of the cinematic screw.
Hitchcock entered the film business around 1920 at Famous Players-Lasky’s London studio, initially designing intertitle cards—those slabs of text that told silent-era audiences what was going on and, ideally, how to feel about it. From there he climbed the ladder in a very English fashion, through scriptwriting and assistant directing, learning how films were assembled by standing close enough to the machinery to lose a few fingers.
His first feature as director, The Pleasure Garden (1925), was shot partly in Germany, which at the time was the global headquarters of cinematic experimentation. Even here, Hitchcock showed an unusual interest in visual storytelling, voyeurism, and the idea that watching people can be dangerous, a theme he would revisit with the persistence of a man returning to check whether he’d locked the front door.
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) was his first major success and, in hindsight, reads like a mission statement. It featured a serial killer, a wrongly suspected innocent man, moody lighting, and a subjective camera that seemed to peer over shoulders and through keyholes. It also included Hitchcock’s first cameo, launching a habit that would eventually turn him into the most recognisable passer-by in film history.
Blackmail (1929) began life as a silent film, but halfway through production someone realised the future was talking. Hitchcock quietly converted it into a sound picture, making it one of Britain’s first full-length talkies. Critics admired his inventive use of sound, especially his instinct for when not to use it, which is often the more difficult choice.
Throughout the 1930s, working at Gaumont-British, Hitchcock refined what we now think of as the modern thriller. Films such as The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), Sabotage (1936), and The Lady Vanishes (1938) mixed espionage, romance, comedy, and terror with the efficiency of a well-run railway timetable. Ordinary people found themselves chased, accused, or pursued across landscapes that grew increasingly hostile.
These films also smuggled in political unease about foreign threats and looming war, at a time when censors insisted cinema remain “escapist.” Hitchcock escaped by running straight through the middle, waving a spy plot and hoping no one noticed the anxiety underneath.
Hollywood came calling in the form of producer David O. Selznick, who imported Hitchcock to America like a particularly nervous piece of luggage. His first US film, Rebecca (1940), won the Academy Award for Best Picture and earned Hitchcock his first Best Director nomination, thereby beginning a long tradition of everyone agreeing he was brilliant but not quite agreeing enough to give him the prize.
The 1940s were extraordinarily productive. Films such as Foreign Correspondent, Suspicion, Shadow of a Doubt, Lifeboat, Spellbound, and Notorious deepened his interest in psychology, moral ambiguity, and global paranoia. Wartime and early Cold War tensions seeped into the stories, even when the settings were domestic or romantic.
During World War II, Hitchcock also contributed to propaganda and documentary projects, including uncredited work on a film about concentration camps. It was a rare moment when his engagement with real-world horror was explicit rather than metaphorical.
Hitchcock was never content merely to tell stories; he wanted to see how far he could bend the medium before it snapped. Rope (1948) was constructed from long takes designed to simulate real-time action, as if the audience had been locked in the room with the characters and the key misplaced. Under Capricorn (1949) continued this fascination with extended camera movement, though with less acclaim.
The 1950s, however, were his imperial phase. In rapid succession came Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, a remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Wrong Man, Vertigo, and North by Northwest. These films pushed subjective camerawork, obsession, and mistaken identity to new heights. Rear Window turned moviegoing itself into a moral problem, Vertigo transformed romantic fixation into a full-blown psychological abyss, and North by Northwest perfected the chase thriller with such flourishes as a crop-duster attack and a scramble over Mount Rushmore.
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| James Stewart and Grace Kelly in Rear Window (1954) |
Psycho (1960) was Hitchcock’s biggest commercial success and perhaps his boldest gamble. Shot cheaply with his television crew, it killed off its apparent heroine early, lingered on violence that was shocking for its time, and was marketed with such ferocity that audiences were herded into cinemas like livestock and forbidden to arrive late.
The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964) continued his exploration of psychological disturbance, offering menace with little explanation and embracing stylised techniques, including electronic sound in place of a traditional score. Nature, it seemed, had finally had enough.
His later films—Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy, and Family Plot—received mixed responses, but Frenzy (1972) is often seen as a late return to form, revisiting London with a darker, more explicit blend of sex, violence, and black comedy that felt both modern and unmistakably Hitchcockian.
From 1955 onward, Hitchcock hosted Alfred Hitchcock Presents (and later The Alfred Hitchcock Hour), introducing episodes with dry, funereal humour. These appearances transformed him into a household figure, his silhouette and delivery as familiar as any movie star’s face.
He carefully cultivated this image, becoming one of the first directors marketed as a brand. Audiences didn’t just see a film; they saw a Hitchcock, which was a promise as much as a warning.
Hitchcock’s hallmarks include innocent protagonists ensnared in conspiracies, suspense built by letting the audience know more than the characters, and visual storytelling so precise it could function without dialogue. Themes of voyeurism, guilt, doubles, repression, and unstable identity recur obsessively, shaped by his Catholic upbringing and fascination with psychology.
Technically, he expanded the language of cinema with innovations like the dolly-zoom in Vertigo, intricate subjective editing, and bold uses of sound and silence. His influence can be traced through generations of filmmakers, from the French New Wave to modern thrillers.
By the time of his death in 1980, “Hitchcockian” had become shorthand for a particular kind of meticulously engineered, psychologically charged suspense. Few directors leave behind a style; fewer still leave behind a word.
MUSIC AND ARTS Hitchcock understood the crucial partnership between cinematic image and music, though he was not a composer himself. He worked with some of the greatest film composers, including Bernard Herrmann (who scored Vertigo, Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much), Franz Waxman (Rebecca, Rear Window), and Dimitri Tiomkin (Strangers on a Train, Dial M for Murder).
Hitchcock initially didn't want music for the famous shower scene in Psycho, but Herrmann persuaded him to include it; now it's impossible to imagine the scene without those frightening stabbing strings.
Hitchcock featured classical music in his films, including using existing compositions strategically.
Hitchcock was also an admirer of fine art, famously collaborating with Salvador Dalí for the dream sequence in Spellbound.
LITERATURE Hitchcock adapted works from major literary sources throughout his career. He worked extensively with novels by Daphne du Maurier, adapting Rebecca (1938), Jamaica Inn (1939), and The Birds (based on her short story). John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps became one of his classic British thrillers. He drew from other crime and suspense writers for source material. The books that most influenced or inspired his style include works of psychological suspense and Gothic romance.
Hitchcock himself had limited involvement with published writing beyond film work, though Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine bore his name.
Books about his techniques, particularly François Truffaut's interview book Hitchcock/Truffaut (1966), became essential reading for film students and aspiring directors.
Hitchcock once remarked about actors: "When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, 'It's in the script.' If he says, 'But what's my motivation?', I say, 'Your salary'". (3)
NATURE Hitchcock famously featured nature as a threatening force in The Birds (1963), his apocalyptic parable set in Bodega Bay, Northern California. The film transformed birds—typically symbols of peace—into instruments of terror.
He filmed extensively in natural locations in Northern California, including Bodega Bay, Santa Rosa, and the Monterey Peninsula.
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| Kim Novak and James Stewart in Vertigo (1958) |
PETS Hitchcock had a deep affection for Sealyham Terriers, a rare Welsh breed of small-to-medium terrier. He owned at least four during his lifetime: Mr. Jenkins, Geoffrey, Stanley, and Sarah. He fell in love with the breed in 1935 when actress Madeleine Carroll brought her Sealyham onto the set of The 39 Steps. The dogs—tiny balls of white fluff with scruffy faces—are known for their friendliness, energetic and happy-go-lucky nature, and near-magical bonding with their owners. The American Kennel Club ranks the breed as having the highest level of affection, with the classification "lovey-dovey".
Hitchcock gifted a Sealyham puppy to actress Tallulah Bankhead when filming wrapped on Lifeboat (1944), recognizing what a good sport she was for continuing to film despite developing pneumonia; Bankhead named her dog "Hitchcock".
Hitchcock "cast" two of his Sealyhams—Geoffrey and Stanley—in his famous cameo in The Birds (1963), where he exits a San Francisco pet shop following his two leashed dogs as Tippi Hedren enters.
HOBBIES AND SPORTS Hitchcock collected golf balls that landed in his Bel Air property from the adjacent country club, some bearing the initials of movie industry giants.
He maintained a well-stocked walk-in refrigerator and wine cellar and owned a vineyard at his 200-acre ranch in Scotts Valley.
Hitchcock was a lifelong supporter of West Ham United Football Club. Living in the United States, he subscribed to English newspapers so he could keep track of their results.
SCIENCE AND MATHS At the School of Engineering and Navigation, Hitchcock studied mechanics, navigation, acoustics, and electrical engineering. His first career as a draftsman and technical clerk required mathematical precision and technical drawing skills. This technical background proved invaluable in his filmmaking career, as he was known for meticulous pre-planning, storyboarding, and understanding of camera mechanics and optics.
His engineering knowledge helped him conceive and execute complex technical shots, including the innovative long takes in Rope (1948) and the famous crop-duster sequence in North by Northwest.
He was credited with "inventing" much of the syntax of film technique through his understanding of how visual mechanics could manipulate audience perception.
PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Raised in a strict Roman Catholic household, Hitchcock remained a practicing Catholic throughout his life. His Catholic education at St. Ignatius College (run by Jesuits) profoundly influenced his worldview, instilling a "tremulous sense of guilt," squeamishness about bodies, and a sense of "mystery and miracle".
He was married at Brompton Oratory in 1926 after his fiancée Alma underwent full instruction in the Catholic faith. Their daughter Patricia was raised Catholic. The family was often seen on Sundays at Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills.
His recurring film themes—guilt, confession, redemption, wrongful accusation, moral complexity, voyeurism, and the darker aspects of human nature—reflected his Catholic sensibility. However, stating that Hitchcock made "Catholic movies" is likely a bridge too far; more accurately, he was a Catholic who made movies.
Biographer Patrick McGilligan wrote: "Catholicism pervades his films, albeit a brand of Catholicism spiked with irreverence and iconoclasm," citing scenes like bullets stopped by hymnals in The 39 Steps and Henry Fonda clutching a rosary in The Wrong Man.
Father Mark Henninger, S.J., confirmed that Hitchcock was regularly receiving communion and confession in his last days. The director received a Catholic funeral and burial from Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood.
POLITICS Hitchcock generally avoided overt politics in his films, claiming "the public doesn't care for films on politics". When François Truffaut said "You generally avoid any politics in your films," Hitchcock's reply summed up his attitude: "It's just that the public doesn't care for films on politics". He emphasized that he wanted to entertain people, not instruct them.
The common view is that Hitchcock was essentially apolitical. However, his wartime films (1939-1945) were conspicuously antifascist, including Foreign Correspondent (1940), which ended with a dramatic speech mirroring Hitchcock's political desires that America should prepare for war and he created two short propaganda films intended for use in France to boost civilian morale during the war. Also Lifeboat (1944) included allusions to political tensions, telling "the democracies to wake up".
After World War II, he supervised a documentary highlighting concentration camp atrocities; never completed at the time, the footage was assembled into Night Will Fall, which premiered on HBO in 2015.
SCANDAL The most serious controversy associated with Alfred Hitchcock concerns his relationship with actress Tippi Hedren during the making of The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964). Hedren later alleged that Hitchcock subjected her to repeated sexual harassment and, on several occasions, sexual assault. In interviews and in her 2016 memoir Tippi, she described incidents in which she said Hitchcock made overt sexual advances that she found shocking and threatening, including unwanted physical contact in her trailer, her dressing room, and once in the back of a limousine outside a hotel. Hedren characterised his behaviour as obsessive and said it became “unbearable” after she rejected him.
According to Hedren, when she refused his advances—at one point openly insulting him in a way she said “no one is permitted to do”—Hitchcock retaliated professionally. She claimed he refused to release her from her contract while also discouraging other directors from hiring her, effectively damaging her career at a crucial moment.
The story first entered the public record in Donald Spoto’s 1983 biography of Hitchcock, was later dramatized in the 2012 HBO film The Girl, and was expanded upon by Hedren herself in her memoir. The allegations have remained controversial. Some of Hitchcock’s collaborators criticised Spoto’s book as exaggerated or malicious, and commentators have pointed to inconsistencies or factual errors in aspects of Hedren’s account. However, members of the cast and crew at the time did describe Hitchcock’s behaviour toward Hedren as intense and obsessive.
It is also well documented that Hitchcock often exercised controlling, almost Pygmalion-like influence over several of his blonde leading actresses. While some, such as Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly, maintained friendly relationships with him, the Hedren allegations have come to dominate reassessments of his personal conduct.
Today, the episode is frequently cited in broader discussions about sexual harassment, power imbalance, and abuse of authority in Hollywood, complicating Hitchcock’s legacy and prompting ongoing debate about how to reconcile his artistic achievements with his behaviour off screen.
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| Hedren with Hitchcock in a publicity photograph for Marnie (1964) |
MILITARY RECORD During World War I, Hitchcock volunteered for the British Army but was rejected for military service because of his obesity. Despite the rejection for active duty, he managed to join a cadet regiment of the Royal Engineers in 1917, and he marched around Hyde Park on weekends. He was placed in the reserves.
During World War II, Hitchcock contributed to the war effort by creating propaganda and informational films, including supervising a documentary about concentration camp atrocities. He also made overtly antifascist films during the 1939-1945 period, particularly Foreign Correspondent and Lifeboat.
HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Hitchcock struggled with obesity throughout his life, and his weight caused significant health problems. Despite this, biographers noted that in early life, many collaborators were surprised at how sprightly he was, reportedly bounding up steep staircases two steps at a time without being out of breath
In 1943, shocked by seeing his grotesquely swollen reflection in a shop window and experiencing tremendous pain when he fell on his arm, he resolved to lose weight. Through strict dieting (reportedly a cup of coffee for breakfast and lunch, and steak and salad for dinner), he lost around 100 pounds through tremendous willpower. However, his weight fluctuated throughout his life.
At some point during abdominal surgery, his belly button was surgically removed, with skin stretched over the area. (7)
In his later years, obesity contributed to severe health problems. He suffered from painful arthritic knees, particularly in the 1970s, which eventually required him to use a wheelchair. A doctor came to his house regularly in his final months to administer cortisone shots for arthritic pain.
At age 78, he was fitted with a pacemaker and in his final years, he suffered from kidney failure (renal disease), which ultimately caused his death.
HOMES When Hitchcock moved to Hollywood in 1939, he and Alma first rented a three-bedroom apartment in the Wilshire Palms building at 10331 Wilshire Boulevard. Shortly thereafter, in October 1939, the family took over the lease of a French Country-style house at 609 St. Cloud Road in Bel Air that had been rented by their friend Carole Lombard. Lombard had moved into the secluded Bel Air residence in 1936 to conduct her affair with married Clark Gable; after marrying Gable in 1939, she moved to their Encino ranch, and Hitchcock took over the lease. The Hitchcocks remained there until spring 1942, when they purchased a larger Colonial-style mansion two miles away.
After making Rebecca, he bought a magnificent 200-acre ranch in Scotts Valley in the hills above Santa Cruz in 1940, which included an active vineyard. The main California-Spanish house became the Hitchcocks' weekend retreat from Hollywood pressures.
His primary Los Angeles residence from 1942 until his death was located at 10957 Bellagio Road in Bel Air. This sprawling one-story home, originally designed by renowned designer-builder Carlton Burgess in 1942, hugged the 15th fairway of the prestigious Bel-Air Country Club. The residence underwent extensive renovation in 1983, but countless original details were preserved. The home covered 7,258 square feet with four bedrooms and five bathrooms, including two main suites. There was a hidden upstairs office with plumbing that could accommodate an additional guest bedroom. The architecture featured a living room with vaulted wooden ceiling and fireplace, formal dining room, and chef's kitchen with hand-painted tiles and brilliant blue Brazilian granite. Outside were a spacious courtyard, huge loggia with outdoor fireplace, turquoise swimming pool, dining pavilion, double motor court, covered parking for three cars, and separate storage buildings. The property was relatively small by Bel Air standards—no tennis court or swimming pool initially.
TRAVEL Hitchcock traveled extensively for film locations and personal enjoyment. After marrying Alma in December 1926, they honeymooned at the Palace Hotel in St. Moritz and Lake Como in Italy, traveling via Paris. They returned to St. Moritz to celebrate their wedding anniversary in December 1952.
In February 1932, the Hitchcocks and their three-year-old daughter Patricia departed Southampton aboard the Atlantis on a round-trip voyage to Africa, South America, and Mexico.
Hitchcock was famously a creature of habit. He often returned to the same hotels (like the Plaza in New York City) and the same tables at restaurants (like Chasen's in LA).
He filmed extensively throughout Northern California, particularly after making Shadow of a Doubt in Santa Rosa in 1943 and The Birds in Bodega Bay in 1963. He filmed Vertigo (1958) on location in San Francisco, utilizing the city's dizzying streets and hills to create a mood of imbalance and uncertainty. North by Northwest (1959) was shot on location at the Plaza Hotel in New York (the first film ever shot there), Chicago, and Rapid City, South Dakota, with the famous Mount Rushmore sequence. The notorious crop-duster sequence, supposedly set in Indiana, was actually filmed near Bakersfield in California's sunbaked Central Valley. He filmed I Confess (1952) in Quebec after scouting locations there with Alma. To Catch a Thief (1955) was filmed on the French Riviera.
Despite his extensive professional travel, Hitchcock expressed fears of driving and preferred controlled studio environments when possible.
DEATH Alfred Hitchcock died on the morning of April 29, 1980, at his home at 10957 Bellagio Road in Bel Air aged 80. He had been in declining health for several months. The cause of death was kidney failure (renal disease), though he also suffered from arthritis, an enlarged heart, liver failure, and complications from obesity. He died peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by his family: his wife Alma, daughter Patricia, and three grandchildren.
After his death, Alma sat with him silently, kissed his hand, and left the room.
His final public appearance had occurred on March 16, 1980, less than six weeks before his death, when he appeared via pre-taped video to present the American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award to his friend James Stewart.
His funeral was held at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills—a formal, Catholic, correct service. True to his nature, his coffin was not present; he had managed to arrange a cremation, reportedly saying he "didn't want to be there exposed, unable to shift the focus when he felt like it". His ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean on May 10, 1980. (10)
APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Hitchcock made cameo appearances in 40 of his 53 feature films, beginning with an unintended appearance in The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) when an actor failed to show up. Spotting Hitchcock in his movies became a game for audiences and helped build his cult following. His signature cameos often featured props like musical instruments and cigarettes, and he typically wore his trademark bowler hat and coat. Notable cameos include walking dogs in The Birds, sitting on a bus next to Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief, appearing as a passenger in Strangers on a Train with a cello case, and making two appearances in Strangers on a Train (once as an image on a book cover).
His television anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents aired on CBS and NBC from 1955 to 1962 (268 episodes), followed by The Alfred Hitchcock Hour on CBS from 1962 to 1965 (93 episodes). He personally directed only 17 episodes but hosted all of them with his distinctive droll introductions and epilogues. The series was revived from 1985 to 1990. Two episodes he directed—"The Case of Mr. Pelham" (1955) and "Lamb to the Slaughter" (1958)—received Emmy nominations; the latter ranked #59 on TV Guide's list of "100 Greatest Episodes of All Time". His television work made him a household name and cemented his iconic status.
He appeared in numerous interviews and talk shows throughout his career, using his wit and distinctive persona to promote his films. His sketched silhouette profile became one of the most recognizable images in entertainment.
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine bore his name and extended his brand.
He was portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in the film Hitchcock (2012) and by Toby Jones in The Girl (2012).
ACHIEVEMENTS Directed over 50 feature films
Created the modern suspense thriller
First British sound feature (Blackmail)
Won Best Picture with Rebecca
After five unsuccessful Best Director nominations, received an Honorary Academy Award in 1968
Delivered one of the shortest acceptance speeches in Oscar history:
“Thank you… very much indeed.”
Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II (KBE) in 1980.
Sources: (1) American magazine (2) The Hitchcock Zone (3) Scary Mommy (4) Scraps from the Loft (5) Daily Meal (6) Atlas Obscura (7) Encyclopaedia of Trivia (8) Patheos (9) The Catholic Herald (10) Daily Express
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