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Also Known As: | Jeanette Helen Morrison, Jeanette Reems | Died: | October 3, 2004 |
Born: | July 6, 1927 | Cause of Death: | vasculitis |
Birth Place: | Merced, California, USA | Profession: | actor, author |
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Actress Janet Leigh's early film career found her playing wholesome ingénues in everything from musicals and Westerns to comedies and thrillers, which made excellent use of her generous smile and unflaggingly positive nature. But in 1960, Leigh's name - and terrifying screams - became synonymous with cinematic legend as Alfred Hitchcock's doomed heroine in the infamous stabbing shower scene from "Psycho." Despite her later roles, which were eventually superseded by turns as a mother, humanitarian and best-selling author, audiences would still forever remember those fateful 45 seconds of the dying Leigh, glimpsed in silhouette, her hands tearing vainly at the shower curtain as her blood spirals down the drain. Like the film itself, Leigh became an enduring part of the fabric of movie history.
Actress Janet Leigh's early film career found her playing wholesome ingénues in everything from musicals and Westerns to comedies and thrillers, which made excellent use of her generous smile and unflaggingly positive nature. But in 1960, Leigh's name - and terrifying screams - became synonymous with cinematic legend as Alfred Hitchcock's doomed heroine in the infamous stabbing shower scene from "Psycho." Despite her later roles, which were eventually superseded by turns as a mother, humanitarian and best-selling author, audiences would still forever remember those fateful 45 seconds of the dying Leigh, glimpsed in silhouette, her hands tearing vainly at the shower curtain as her blood spirals down the drain. Like the film itself, Leigh became an enduring part of the fabric of movie history.
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CAST: (feature film)
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Education
Notes
"I don't take showers. Or, if there is no other way to bathe, I make sure all of the doors and windows in the house are locked, and I leave the bathroom door and shower curtain open so I have a perfect, clear view." --Janet Leigh in People, August 1, 1995,
"There's a difference between retiring from a profession and retiring from life. I choose not to do the latter." --Janet Leigh
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