Janet Leigh
Acting • Born 1927-07-06 – Died 2004-10-03
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.
Filmography
130 credits
The Manchurian Candidate
Movie • 1962
Eugenie Rose Chaney
Psycho
Movie • 1960
Marion Crane
Touch of Evil
Movie • 1958
Susan 'Susie' Vargas
The Fog
Movie • 1980
Kathy Williams
The Naked Spur
Movie • 1953
Lina Patch
Rogue Cop
Movie • 1954
Karen Stephanson
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Movie • 1998
Norma Watson
The Black Shield of Falworth
Movie • 1954
Lady Anne of Mackworth
Holiday Affair
Movie • 1949
Connie Ennis
Bye Bye Birdie
Movie • 1963
Rosie DeLeon
Harper
Movie • 1966
Susan Harper
Act of Violence
Movie • 1949
Edith Enley
Scaramouche
Movie • 1952
Aline de Gavrillac de Bourbon
The Horror Show
Movie • 1979
(archive footage)
Hello Down There
Movie • 1969
Vivian Miller
The Red Danube
Movie • 1949
Olga Alexandrova aka Maria Buhlen
The Vikings
Movie • 1958
Morgana
People, Hopes, Medals
Movie • 1960
Self
Pete Kelly's Blues
Movie • 1955
Ivy Conrad
My Sister Eileen
Movie • 1955
Eileen Sherwood
That Forsyte Woman
Movie • 1949
June Forsyte
Little Women
Movie • 1949
Meg
Houdini
Movie • 1953
Bess Houdini
Mirror, Mirror
Movie • 1979
Millie Gorman
Angels in the Outfield
Movie • 1951
Jennifer Paige
Night of the Lepus
Movie • 1972
Gerry Bennett
Three on a Couch
Movie • 1966
Dr Elizabeth Acord
Prince Valiant
Movie • 1954
Princess Aleta
Safari
Movie • 1956
Linda Latham
24 Hour Psycho
Movie • 1993
Marion Crane (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie • 1983
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Pepe
Movie • 1960
Janet Leigh
It's a Big Country
Movie • 1951
Rosa Szabo Xenophon
Jet Pilot
Movie • 1957
Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon / Olga Orlief
One Is a Lonely Number
Movie • 1972
Gert Meredith
The American Nightmare
Movie • 2000
Self
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
Movie • 2019
(archive footage)
Grand Slam
Movie • 1967
Mary Ann
The Doctor and the Girl
Movie • 1949
Evelyn 'Taffy' Heldon
The Making of 'Psycho'
Movie • 2005
Self
Kid Rodelo
Movie • 1966
Nora
Mary Pickford: A Life on Film
Movie • 2000
Self
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Movie • 1972
Self (archive footage)
Who Was That Lady?
Movie • 1960
Ann Wilson
Cubby Broccoli: The Man Behind Bond
Movie • 2000
Herself
Hills of Home
Movie • 1948
Margit Mitchell
Two Tickets to Broadway
Movie • 1951
Nancy Peterson
An American Dream
Movie • 1966
Cherry McMahon
The Story of Lassie
Movie • 1994
Self
If Winter Comes
Movie • 1947
Effie Bright
Boardwalk
Movie • 1979
Florence Cohen
Wives and Lovers
Movie • 1963
Bertie Austin
Honeymoon with a Stranger
Movie • 1969
Sandra Latham
The Monk
Movie • 1969
Janice Barnes
The Deadly Dream
Movie • 1971
Laurel Hanley
Strictly Dishonorable
Movie • 1951
Isabelle Perry
The Perfect Furlough
Movie • 1958
Lt. Vicki Loren
Fearless Fagan
Movie • 1952
Abby Ames
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Movie • 1947
Lissy Anne MacBean
Walking My Baby Back Home
Movie • 1953
Chris Hall
Bad Girls from Valley High
Movie • 2005
Mrs. Witt
How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border
Movie • 1949
The Spy in the Green Hat
Movie • 1967
Miss Diketon
Anthony Perkins: A Life in the Shadows
Movie • 1999
Self
House on Greenapple Road
Movie • 1970
Marian Ord
Rat Pack: A Conference of Cool
Movie • 1999
Self
Confidentially Connie
Movie • 1953
Connie Bedloe
Words and Music
Movie • 1948
Dorothy Feiner
Just This Once
Movie • 1952
Lucy Duncan
Rat Pack
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
Movie • 1995
Self
Telethon
Movie • 1977
Elaine Cotten
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
Movie • 1986
Self
Night of 100 Stars II
Movie • 1985
Self
Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius
Movie • 1999
Self
Living It Up
Movie • 1954
Wally Cook
Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown
Movie • 1996
Self - Interviewee
Murder at the World Series
Movie • 1977
Karen Weese
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Movie • 1954
Self
In My Sister's Shadow
Movie • 1997
Kay Connor
Come Back Little Shiksa
Movie • 1952
Fairfax Avenue
Movie • 1951
An Eye for an Eye
Movie • 1952
Nightmare
Movie • 1956
Janet
The Egg
Movie • 1993
The egg (voice) (archive footage)
Tales from the Mist: Inside 'The Fog'
Movie • 2002
Self
Fear on Film: Inside 'The Fog'
Movie • 1980
Self
Murdock's Gang
Movie • 1973
Laura Talbot
Inside the Dream Factory
Movie • 1995
Self
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
Movie • 2000
Self
Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special
Movie • 1999
Self (uncredited)
I Am Alfred Hitchcock
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
Night of 100 Stars
Movie • 1982
Self
Hitchcock: Alfred the Great
Movie • 1994
Himself
Bob Hope Christmas Show
Movie • 1965
Self
Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood
Movie • 1954
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Movie • 1987
Self
Psycho II
Movie • 1983
Marion Crane (archival footage) (uncredited)
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Movie • 2012
Self (archive footage)
Pictures of Ghosts
Movie • 2023
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: No Sex, Please!
Movie • 2018
Columbo
TV • 1971
Grace Wheeler Willis
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV • 1950
Self
The Twilight Zone
TV • 1985
Barbara LeMay
Tales of the Unexpected
TV • 1979
Joan Stackpole
E! True Hollywood Story
TV • 1996
Family Law
TV • 1999
Mary Sawyer
The Hollywood Palace
TV • 1964
Self - Host
Intimate Portrait
TV • 1993
Self (archive footage)
This Is Your Life
TV • 1952
Self
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Matt Houston
TV • 1982
Ramona
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV • 1963
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
Ghost Story
TV • 1972
Carol
Intimate Portrait
TV • 1993
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
TV • 1973
Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
Murder, She Wrote
TV • 1984
Cornelia Montaigne Harper
The Rosemary Clooney Show
TV • 1956
Self
Scene by Scene
TV • 1997
Self
The Love Boat
TV • 1977
Joan Philipps / Gail
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self - Panelist
Touched by an Angel
TV • 1994
Vera King
Golden Globe Awards
TV • 1944
Self
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
TV • 1964
Miss Diketon
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV • 1968
Self (uncredited)
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV • 1968
Self