Alfred Hitchcock - A Master Of Suspense

Sir Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joesph Hitchcock was an English film director and producer, who pioneered many techniques, especially in employing a kind of psychological suspense in many of films, which left many audiences on edge throughout most of the film.

Born in London on the 13 of August 1899, Alfred was raised as a strict Catholic and attended Saint Ignatius College. He was originally an estimator for the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company, during this period he would frequently visit the cinema and would read US trade journals thus beginning his interest in films.

Hitchcock learnt of a Lasky studio being opened in London and was able to secure a job as a title designer, as he was a very skilled artist. He designed all the titles made at the studio for the next two years. He got his first chance at directing when the director of Always Tell Your Wife fell ill and Hitchcock was named director so that the film would be completed; it was also at this time that him and his future wife Alma Reville began to collaborate.

Impressed by the job he did directing Always Tell Your Wife, he was then hired to direct the film Number 13, this film could not be completed due the studio closing closing before production was finished. He made his first trademark film, The Lodger in 1927. He made number of films in Britain after that such as The Lady Vanishes (1938) and Jamaica Inn (1939), some of which helped him gain recognition in the USA.

In 1940, the Hitchcock family moved to the USA, where he directed several successful flims including the critically acclaimed Psycho (1960), North by Northwest (1959), Sabotuer (1942).
in 1979, he was awarded AFI Life Achievement Award in which he famously dedicated to his wife Alma and was also knighted in the same year making him a Sir.

He died peacefully in his sleep, due to renal failure on the 29th April 1980.