Alfred Hitchcock

Among the most celebrated, imitated, and beloved directors of the 20th century, Alfred Hitchcock is widely seen as the father of the thriller. Born in Essex in 1899, Hitchcock was studying engineering at London County Council School of Engineering and Navigation when, in 1914, his father died suddenly, prompting him to drop out in order to help support his family. Highly interested in the then new industry of film production, he made his first foray into movie making when he was hired at the London branch of Famous Players-Lasky as a title card designer. There, he gained experience in writing, editing, and production management, and was eventually assigned his first film as a director, "The Pleasure Garden" (1925).

Collaborating with his wife, the writer, script supervisor, and editor Alma Reville almost from day one, Hitchcock would make a name for himself as a director just a short while later with his first thriller, "The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog" (1927). After directing England's first talkie, 1929's "Blackmail" (1929), Hitchcock began churning out a number of high-tension films that would soon become classics, including "The 39 Steps" (1935) and "The Lady Vanishes" (1938). Eventually, he would relocate to Hollywood, making his American film debut with the Selznick International Pictures mystery "Rebecca" (1940) in 1940.

Even more iconic thrillers would follow including "Notorious" (1946), "Dial M For Murder" (1954), "Rear Window" (1954), and "To Catch a Thief" (1955). In 1955, Hitchcock expanded his reach into television, producing and hosting the anthology series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (CBS, 1955-1965). He would remain best known as a filmmaker however, directing beloved films like "Vertigo" (1958), "North by Northwest" (1959), and perhaps the most venerated thriller of all time, "Psycho" (1960). Hitchcock's output would slow during the '60s and '70s as he experienced health problems, with his final film "Family Plot" (1976) released in 1976. Hitchcock passed away on April 29, 1980. He was 80 years old.