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| Birth Name(s) : Jeanette Helen Morrison |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
John Caryle (1942-1942) |
| Profession:
N/A |
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Full Janet Leigh Biography
Janet Leigh (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning American actress.
Leigh was born Jeanette Helen Morrison in Merced, California, the only child of Helen Lita (née Westergard) and Frederick Robert Morrison. She was discovered by actress Norma Shearer, whose late husband Irving Thalberg had been a senior executive at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Shearer showed talent agent Lew Wasserman the photograph she had seen of Leigh while vacationing at the ski resort where the girl's parents worked. She left the University of the Pacific, where she was studying music and psychology, after Wasserman secured a contract with MGM.
Leigh's best-known role was as the morally ambiguous Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho. But she found it hard to get good roles after this due to typecasting and went through most of her acting career doing guest appearances on TV shows. Years later, she wrote a book about the making of that film, in which she dispelled the urban legends which had popped up around it, notably, about the immortal "shower scene." Her performance earned her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination.
In 1975, she played a retired Hollywood song and dance star in Columbo: Forgotten Lady. Leigh appeared in two horror films with her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, playing a major role in The Fog (1980) and making a cameo appearance in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998).
Leigh married her third husband, Tony Curtis, on June 4, 1951. They had two children, Kelly and Jamie Lee. Curtis, who has admitted to cheating on her throughout their marriage, left Leigh in 1962 for Christine Kaufmann, the 17 year-old German co-star of his then-latest film (Taras Bulba). Leigh was granted a divorce, and married stockbroker Robert Brandt later that year in Las Vegas; they remained married until her death. Leigh served on the board of directors of the Motion Picture and Television Foundation, a medical-services provider for actors.
She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California on May 14, 2004. She delivered an inspirational speech to graduating students, faculty, and administrators in accepting her award. Author Maxine Hong Kingston and United States Solicitor General Ted Olson were also awarded honorary degrees on the same day.
She died at her home on October 3, 2004 after suffering cardiac arrest due to dilated cardiomyopathy at age 77. Her family was at her side. She also suffered from vasculitis and peripheral neuropathy, which caused her right hand to become gangrenous. |
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