Janet Leigh facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Janet Leigh
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Janet Leigh in a publicity photo for the magazine Photoplay in 1954
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| Born |
Jeanette Helen Morrison
July 6, 1927 Merced, California, U.S.
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| Died | October 3, 2004 (aged 77) |
| Resting place | Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Alma mater | University of the Pacific |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1947–2004 |
| Known for | Psycho Little Women Angels in the Outfield Scaramouche Holiday Affair The Manchurian Candidate |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
John Carlisle
(m. 1942; annulled 1942)Stanley Reames
(m. 1945; div. 1948)Robert Brandt
(m. 1962) |
| Children | Kelly Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis |
Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known as Janet Leigh, was a famous American actress. She was also a singer, dancer, and author. Her acting career lasted for over 50 years!
Janet grew up in Stockton, California. Her parents worked hard to support the family. When she was 18, another actress named Norma Shearer discovered her. This helped Janet get a movie contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
Before movies, Janet was on radio shows. Her first film was The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). At MGM, she starred in many different types of movies. These included the drama Little Women (1949) and the comedy Angels in the Outfield (1951). She also appeared in the romance Scaramouche (1952).
Janet Leigh became most famous for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Psycho (1960). For this role, she won a Golden Globe Award. She was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Later, she acted in two horror movies with her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis: The Fog (1980) and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998).
Besides acting, Janet Leigh wrote four books between 1984 and 2002. Two of these were novels. She was married a few times. Her marriage to actor Tony Curtis was very famous. They divorced in 1962. Janet Leigh passed away in October 2004 at age 77 after a long illness.
Contents
Early Life and Discovery
Janet Leigh was born Jeanette Helen Morrison on July 6, 1927. She was born in Merced, California. Her parents were Helen Lita and Frederick Robert Morrison. Her grandparents on her mother's side came from Denmark. Her father's family had roots in Scotland, Ireland, and Germany.
Soon after Janet was born, her family moved to Stockton. She grew up there. Her family was not wealthy. Her father worked hard in a factory and took other jobs to support them, especially after the Great Depression.
Janet was raised Presbyterian and sang in her church choir. When her grandfather became very ill in 1941, her family moved back to Merced to live with her grandparents. She went to Weber Grammar School and then Stockton High School. Janet was a great student and finished high school when she was only sixteen.
In 1946, actress Norma Shearer was on vacation at a ski resort. Janet's parents worked there. Shearer saw a photo of Janet in a photo album. She thought Janet's smile was amazing.
When Shearer returned to Los Angeles, she showed the photo to a talent agent at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Even though Janet had no acting experience, Shearer helped her get screen tests. Janet then signed a contract with MGM. She left college that year to start her acting lessons.
Early Acting Career
Before her first movie, Janet was a guest on a radio show called The Cresta Blanca Hollywood Players. Her first radio appearance was on a Christmas special in December 1946.
Her first movie was The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). It was a big Civil War film. She played the love interest of the star, Van Johnson. During filming, her name was changed a few times. Finally, it became "Janet Leigh."
Right after her first film, Janet was cast in If Winter Comes (1947). She played a young pregnant woman. By 1948, she was filming Hills of Home, where she was the main star. She also played the wife of composer Richard Rodgers in the musical Words and Music (1948). By late 1948, she was known as a top "glamour girl" in Hollywood. People knew her for being polite and kind.
Becoming a Star
In 1949, Janet Leigh appeared in several movies. One was the thriller Act of Violence (1949). It didn't make much money but critics liked it. She also had a big hit with MGM's Little Women. She played Meg March, one of the sisters, alongside June Allyson and Elizabeth Taylor.
She also played a nun in The Red Danube (1949), which critics praised. Other movies from 1949 included That Forsyte Woman and Holiday Affair. In December 1949, she started filming Jet Pilot with John Wayne. This movie took almost eight years to be released because of editing changes.
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At MGM, she starred in the comedy Strictly Dishonorable (1951). Then came the popular baseball comedy Angels in the Outfield (1951). She also appeared in the musical Two Tickets to Broadway (1951).
Janet had a big success with the adventure movie Scaramouche (1952). She starred as Aline de Gavrillac. She then played a main role in Fearless Fagan (1952), about a clown in the military. Next, she was in the Western The Naked Spur (1953) with James Stewart. This low-budget film was one of the highest-grossing movies that year.
Janet and her husband, Tony Curtis, starred together in Houdini (1953). They played Harry and Bess Houdini. This was their first movie together. They also appeared on a TV show called Colgate Comedy Hour. Janet then starred in the musical Walking My Baby Back Home (1953).
She played Robert Wagner's love interest in the adventure film Prince Valiant (1954). She also appeared with Tony Curtis again in The Black Shield of Falworth (1954). After eight years, Janet finished her contract with MGM.
In 1954, Janet signed contracts with Universal and Columbia studios. She starred in Pete Kelly's Blues (1954) and the musical comedy My Sister Eileen (1955). In 1955, Janet and Tony Curtis started their own movie company. Janet also filmed Safari (1956) in Kenya. That same year, their first daughter, Kelly, was born.
Psycho and Later Career
In 1958, Janet starred in the classic film Touch of Evil (1958). She played Susan Vargas. She later said filming it was a "great experience." Next, she was in her fourth movie with Tony Curtis, The Vikings (1958). This movie was a huge success, earning over $13 million worldwide.
In 1960, Janet Leigh took on her most famous role. She played Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Psycho. This movie was a big hit with both critics and audiences. Janet said filming her character's shower scene was so intense that she tried to avoid showers for the rest of her life.
For her role in Psycho, Janet won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award. This role became very important for her career. She once said, "If an actor can be remembered for one role then they're very fortunate. And in that sense I'm fortunate." Her character's early death in the film was surprising for audiences at the time. The shower scene is still one of the most famous in movie history.
Janet and Tony Curtis had small roles in Pepe (1960). This was their last movie together. In 1962, while Janet was filming The Manchurian Candidate, Tony Curtis filed for divorce. Janet then married stockbroker Robert Brandt.
Janet took a three-year break from acting to be with her young daughters. She turned down several roles during this time. She returned to movies in 1966. She appeared in the Western Kid Rodelo and the detective story Harper with Paul Newman. She also played a psychiatrist in the comedy Three on a Couch.
Later Years and Writing
Janet Leigh appeared in many TV shows. She starred in TV movies like The House on Greenapple Road (1970). In 1972, she was in the science fiction film Night of the Lepus. She also appeared in an episode of Columbo called Forgotten Lady in 1975. She had guest roles in shows like The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Virginian.
In 1975, Janet made her debut on Broadway in the play Murder Among Friends. In 1979, she had a supporting role in Boardwalk. Critics praised her performance in this film.
Besides acting, Janet Leigh wrote four books. Her first book, There Really Was a Hollywood (1984), was a memoir. It became a New York Times bestseller. In 1995, she wrote Psycho: Behind the Scenes of the Classic Thriller. She also wrote two novels: House of Destiny (1996) and The Dream Factory (2002). These novels were about Hollywood history.
Janet appeared with her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, in the horror film The Fog (1980). She also acted with her daughter again in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998). On TV, she was in episodes of Murder, She Wrote, The Twilight Zone, and Touched by an Angel. She continued to attend events and give interviews in the early 2000s. Her last movie role was in Bad Girls from Valley High (2005).
Personal Life
Janet Leigh was married four times. Her first marriage was to John Kenneth Carlisle in 1942. It was annulled (canceled) a few months later.
She attended the College of the Pacific (now University of the Pacific). She studied music and psychology. She sang in the college choir. To help her family, she worked at stores during holidays and at the college's information desk. While in college, she met Stanley Reames. They married in 1945 but divorced less than three years later.
On June 4, 1951, Janet married actor Tony Curtis. Their romance and marriage were often in the news. They had two daughters: Kelly Lee Curtis, born in 1956, and Jamie Lee Curtis, born in 1958. Janet and Tony divorced in 1962. She then married Robert Brandt later that year. They were married for 42 years until her death.
Janet Leigh was a lifelong Democrat. She supported John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson in their presidential elections. She also served on the board of a foundation that provides medical services for actors.
Death
Janet Leigh passed away at her home in Beverly Hills on October 3, 2004. She was 77 years old. She had been battling a long illness called vasculitis, which is an inflammation of the blood vessels. Her death surprised many people because she had kept her illness private.
She was survived by her daughters, Kelly and Jamie, and her husband, Robert Brandt. Janet was cremated, and her ashes were placed in a crypt at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Awards and Honors
Awards and Nominations
| Award | Category | Year | Nominated work | Outcome | Ref. |
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| Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | 1960 | Psycho | Nominated | |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress | 1960 | Won | ||
| Laurel Awards | Top Female Supporting Performance | 1960 | 2nd place | ||
| Top Female Comedy Performance | Pepe | 1st place | |||
| Who Was That Lady? | 4th place |
Honors
Janet Leigh received an honorary degree from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, on May 14, 2004. This was the college she had attended. She gave a speech at the ceremony from a wheelchair due to her health.
On October 13, 2006, her daughters, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kelly Curtis, unveiled a bronze plaque to honor their mother in Stockton. The memorial is in the downtown Stockton plaza, which is now called "Janet Leigh Plaza."
The University of the Pacific also named the "Janet Leigh Theatre" on its Stockton campus after her on June 25, 2010. There is also a ski trail named after her, Leigh Lane, at the Sun Valley Resort in Idaho. Janet Leigh had a second home there for over 30 years.
Images for kids
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Janet Leigh in a publicity photo for the magazine Photoplay in 1954
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9-month-old Janet Leigh, around April 1928
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Janet Leigh at age eighteen, around 1945. Actress Norma Shearer saw this photo and helped her get a movie contract.
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Janet Leigh posing for a publicity photo, around 1948.
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From left to right: Eleanor Parker, Henry Wilcoxon, and Janet Leigh in Scaramouche (1952).
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Janet Leigh in Touch of Evil (1958).
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Janet Leigh receiving instructions from Alfred Hitchcock for the famous shower scene in Psycho (1960).
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Janet Leigh with her daughters Kelly Curtis (left) and Jamie Lee Curtis (right) in May 1979.
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Janet Leigh with her third husband Tony Curtis at the 25th Academy Awards in March 1953.
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Janet Leigh's crypt in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.
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Janet Leigh in 1998.
See also
In Spanish: Janet Leigh para niños
