Janet Leigh

An American actor and an author, Janet Leigh was born on July 6, 1927, at Merced, California, USA. Her original name was Jeanette Helen Morrison, but later her name was changed to Jeanette Reames, Janet Leigh, Jeanette Morrison, and finally settled with Janet Leigh. She was the only child of their parents. Leigh's mother was Helen Lita, and father was Frederick Robert Morrison. As her parents moved from one town to the other, she skipped a few grades and completed her high school when she was 15 years old. Later, she studied Psychology and Music at the University of Pacific.

Janet Leigh's step into the acting field is of sheer luck. Her laugh impressed the retired MGM actress, Norma Shearer. She took that picture and sent it to the screen test. Without any experience in films, she was selected for a role in The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). Dubbed as Janet Leigh (her birth name has not changed till then), she gave her best shot in her debut movie. Eventually, she rose to the heights of acting beside blockbuster stars like Errol Flynn He was born in 1909 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia >> Read More... , John Wayne, etc. in Act of Violence, Words and Music, My Sister Eileen, and Living It Up, among others.

By 1948, Janet Leigh became so successful that she was named as the No.1 glamorous girl of Hollywood. Later, in the 1950’s, she had a few good movies to her credit, and she made a few novel adaptations of Louisa May Alcott. She had a troubled production for the movie Jet Pilot, which finally appeared in 1957. All in all, she was known for her movies of a wide range of genres in the 1950's. She slowly moved to very complex roles with few more genres like tragedy, horror (Touch of Evil), comedy, musical comedy, etc.

Janet Leigh is remembered forever for her role of Marion Crane in ‘Psycho’ (1960). She got very positive criticism from the critics, though her role didn't last throughout the movie. She received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, and got nominated for the Academy Awards Best Actress in Supporting Role. She occupied the 2nd place for Top Female Supporting Performance in Motion Picture Exhibitor Magazine Laurel Awards for her role in Psycho. She even did a few guest roles in some TV serials. She also penned four books: "There Really Was a Hollywood", "Psycho: Behind the Scenes of Classic Thriller", "House of Destiny", and "Dream Factory". The University of Pacific awarded her with the 'Doctor of Arts'.

Janet Leigh married four times and had two children, who are also actors. She suffered a heart attack and unfortunately, died on 3 October, 2004.