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Alfred Hitchcock Biography

Birth Name:Alfred Joseph Hitchcock

Birth Place:London, United Kingdom

Profession Director, Actor, Producer, Writer, Art director, Assistant director, Editor, Soundtrack, Production designer, Set decorator

Fast Facts

Won the 1971 Academy Fellowship Award at the BAFTA Awards
Won the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1968 from the Directors Guild of America
Appeared on the cover of "Life Magazine" on February 1, 1963
Appointed a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1980
Won the Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1979
Worked as a draftsman and advertising designer, a cadet regiment of the Royal Engineers and a title card designer for the London branch of the future Paramount Pictures
Quote: "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․'"
Quote: "To make a great film you need three things - the script, the script and the script․"
Known for his dark humor, dry wit and slow way of speaking
Often made cameo appearances in the films he directed
Was a pioneer in the genres of suspense films and psychological thrillers, creating many techniques that later filmmakers would adopt, such as alternating between different shots to increase suspense
Had a phobia of eggs, finding both their unbroken white surface and their yolks revolting
Would play practical jokes on his cast and crew, usually discovering someone's phobia and sending that person a box filled with what they were most frightened of, such as mice or spiders

Awards

1935NYFCC Award-Best Director: nominated
1938NYFCC Award-Best Director: winner
1941Oscar-Best Director: nominated
1945Oscar-Best Director: nominated
1946Oscar-Best Director: nominated
1946Grand Prize of the Festival-Feature Film: nominated
1947Grand International Award-: nominated
1948Kinema Junpo Award-Best Foreign Language Film: winner
1950Mention-: winner
1952DGA Award-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: nominated
1953Grand Prize of the Festival-: nominated
1954NYFCC Award-Best Director: nominated
1954Golden Lion-: nominated
1955Oscar-Best Director: nominated
1955Top 10 Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1955DGA Award-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: nominated
1955DGA Award-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: nominated
1955Golden Lion-Best Film: nominated
1956Palme d'Or-: nominated
1956Primetime Emmy-Best Director - Film Series: nominated
1957Top 10 Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1957DGA Award-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: nominated
1957DGA Award-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: nominated
1958Golden Globe-Television Achievement: winner
1958Silver Seashell-: winner
1959Top 10 Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1959DGA Award-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: nominated
1959Primetime Emmy-Best Direction of a Single Program of a Dramatic Series - Less Than One Hour: nominated
1959Silver Seashell-: winner
1960Top 10 Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1960DGA Award-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: nominated
1961Oscar-Best Director: nominated
1961DGA Award-Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: nominated
1963Top 10 Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1964Top 10 Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1966Top 10 Film Award-Best Film: nominated
1970NBR Award-Best Director: winner
1973Golden Globe-Best Director - Motion Picture: nominated
2008Jules Verne Légendaire Award-: winner
2010The Greatest Films of All Time-Horror: winner
2014People's Choice Award-Best Documentary: nominated