Janet Leigh

Janet Leigh

Highest Rated: 100% Harper (The Moving Target) (1966)

Lowest Rated: 8% Night of the Lepus (1972)

Birthday: Jul 6, 1927

Birthplace: Not Available

The only child of a very young married couple, American actress Janet Leigh spent her childhood moving from town to town due to her father's changing jobs. A bright child who skipped several grades in school, Leigh took music and dancing lessons, making her public debut at age 10 as a baton twirler for a marching band. Her favorite times were the afternoons spent at the local movie house, which she referred to as her "babysitter." In 1946, Leigh's mother was working at a ski lodge where actress Norma Shearer was vacationing; impressed by a photograph of Leigh, Shearer arranged for the girl (whose prior acting experience consisted of a college play) to be signed with the MCA talent agency. One year later Leigh was at MGM, playing the ingenue in the 1947 film Romance of Rosy Ridge. The actress became one of the busiest contractees at the studio, building her following with solid performances in such films as Little Women (1949), The Doctor and the Girl (1950), and Scaramouche (1952) -- and catching the eye of RKO Radio's owner Howard Hughes, who hoped that her several RKO appearances (on loan from MGM) would lead to something substantial in private life. Instead, Leigh married Tony Curtis (her second husband), and the pair became the darlings of fan magazines and columnists, as well as occasional co-stars (Houdini [1953], The Vikings [1958], Who Was That Lady? [1960]). Even as this "perfect" Hollywood marriage deteriorated, Leigh's career prospered. Among her significant roles in the '60s were that of Frank Sinatra's enigmatic lady friend in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Paul Newman's ex-wife in Harper (1966), and, of course, the unfortunate embezzler in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), who met her demise in the nude (actually covered by a moleskin) and covered with blood (actually chocolate sauce, which photographed better) in the legendary "shower scene." In the '80s, Leigh curtailed her film and TV appearances, though her extended legacy as both the star/victim of Psycho and the mother of actress Jamie Lee Curtis still found her a notable place in the world of cinema even if her career was no longer "officially" active.

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Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet Tcm Presents Psycho Actor — 2015
No Score Yet Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense Actor — 2013
No Score Yet The Bad Girls From Valley High Mrs. Witt — 2005
52% Halloween H20 Norma — 1998
No Score Yet The AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards: Jack Lemmon Actor — 1988
No Score Yet The Fantasy Film World of George Pal Actor — 1985
76% The Fog Kathy Williams — 1980
No Score Yet Boardwalk Actor — 1979
8% Night of the Lepus Gerry Bennett — 1972
No Score Yet One Is a Lonely Number Gert — 1972
No Score Yet A Place Called Today Actor — 1972
No Score Yet Hello Down There Vivian Miller — 1969
No Score Yet Grand Slam Mary Ann — 1968
No Score Yet Three on a Couch Dr. Elizabeth Acord — 1966
100% Harper (The Moving Target) Susan Harper — 1966
No Score Yet An American Dream Actor — 1966
89% Bye Bye Birdie Rosie DeLeon — 1963
96% The Manchurian Candidate Rosie — 1962
No Score Yet Pepe Guest — 1960
96% Psycho Marion Crane — 1960
No Score Yet Who Was That Lady? Ann Wilson — 1960
No Score Yet The Perfect Furlough (Strictly for Pleasure) Lt. Vicki Loren — 1958
78% The Vikings Morgana — 1958
96% Touch of Evil Susan Vargas — 1958
60% Jet Pilot Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon/Olga Orlief — 1957
No Score Yet Safari Linda Latham — 1956
No Score Yet Pete Kelly's Blues Ivy Conrad — 1955
No Score Yet Rogue Cop Karen Stephanson — 1955
No Score Yet My Sister Eileen Eileen Sherwood — 1955
No Score Yet The Black Shield of Falworth Lady Anne — 1954
No Score Yet Living It Up Wally Cook — 1954
No Score Yet Prince Valiant Princess Aleta — 1954
85% Houdini Bess Houdini — 1953
100% The Naked Spur Lina Patch — 1953
No Score Yet Scaramouche Aline de Gavrillac de Bourbon — 1952
No Score Yet Just This Once Lucille 'Lucy' Duncan — 1952
No Score Yet It's a Big Country Rosa Szabo — 1951
No Score Yet Two Tickets to Broadway Nancy Peterson — 1951
No Score Yet Angels in the Outfield Jennifer Paige — 1951
No Score Yet Strictly Dishonorable Isabelle Perry — 1951
No Score Yet Holiday Affair Connie Ennis — 1949
No Score Yet That Forsyte Woman June Forsyte — 1949
No Score Yet The Red Danube Maria Buhlen — 1949
No Score Yet The Doctor and the Girl Evelyn 'Taffy' Heldon — 1949
71% Little Women Meg March — 1949
20% Words and Music Dorothy Feiner — 1948
90% Act of Violence Edith Enley — 1948
No Score Yet Hills of Home Margit Mitchell — 1948
No Score Yet Romance of Rosy Ridge Lissy Anne MacBean — 1947
No Score Yet If Winter Comes Effie Bright — 1947

TV

Credit
No Score Yet Family Law
1999-2002 		Mary Sawyer 2001
No Score Yet Touched by an Angel
1994-2003 		Vera 1997
No Score Yet The Twilight Zone
1985-1989 		1989
No Score Yet Murder, She Wrote
1984-1996 		Cornelia 1987
No Score Yet Columbo
1968-2003 		1975
100% The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
1964-1968 		Miss Diketon 1966
No Score Yet Tales of the Unexpected
1979-1988 		Joan Stackpole

QUOTES FROM Janet Leigh CHARACTERS

Princess Morgana says: I will not lift one finger to resist you.

Kathy Williams says: Sandy, you're the only person I know who can make "Yes, Ma'am" sound like "screw you".

Kathy Williams says: Sandy, you're the only person I know who can make 'Yes, Ma'am' sound like 'screw you'.

Sandy Fadel says: Yes, Ma'am.

Norman Bates says: It's not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?

Marion Crane says: Yes. Sometimes just one time can be enough.

Marion Crane says: Do you have any vacancies?

Norman Bates says: Oh, we have 12 vacancies. 12 cabins, 12 vacancies.

Norman Bates says: It's not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?

Marion Crane says: Yes. Sometimes just one time can be enough.

Norma Watson says: Oh. Miss Tate. I didn't mean to make you jump. It's Halloween. I guess everyone's entitled to one good scare.

Laurie Strode says: I've had my share.

Connie Ennis says: Oh, you're always so wrong about me. I have a wonderful memory of a husband and a marriage. You're trying to take it away from me.

Steve Mason says: Nobody wants to do that. I know. I'm sure Carl doesn't. All anybody wants is for you to live in the present and not be afraid of the future. You know, maybe it could happen again if you quit pretending that something that's dead is still alive.

Connie Ennis says: Oh, alright, if it will make you any happier, you're a fortune teller. You're absolutely right about me all the time. I want everything just the way it is - Mrs. Status Quo. Just me and Timmy - no changes.

Steve Mason says: And I want a girl that'll drop everything and run to me, no matter what the score is.

Norman Bates says: It's not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?

Marion Crane says: Yes. Sometimes just one time can be enough.

Norma Watson says: Oh. Miss Tate. I didn't mean to make you jump. It's Halloween. I guess everyone's entitled to one good scare.

Laurie Strode says: I've had my share.