Alfred Hitchcock

13 August 1899

Alfred Hitchcock is born in Leytonstone, Essex. He is the second son and youngest of three children of William Hitchcock, a greengrocer and poulterer, (1862-1914) and his wife Emma Jane Hitchcock, (née Whelan; 1863-1942).
He is brought up as a devout Catholic. He attends Saint Ignatius College in Stamford Hill,a Jesuit preparatory school, where he starts a course that will prepare him to become an electrical engineer.

NY Subway Opens

1904

At the age of five, after he acts childishly, his father sends him to the local police station carrying a note. When he presents the police officer on duty with the note, he is locked in a cell for a few moments, long enough to be petrified. The anecdote will be often cited in connection with the theme of distrust of the police which runs through many of his films. Also, his mother often makes him address her while standing at the foot of her bed, especially if he behaves badly, forcing him to stand there for hours. This will be recalled in 'Psycho' by the character Norman Bates' problems with his mother.

Suffragettes in England

1913

Hitchcock's father dies when he is 14.
The same year, he leaves school to study at the School for Engineering and Navigation.

First transcontinental telephone conversation

1915

He leaves the University of London and helps support his family by working as an estimator for the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company. He rises from the lowly job to the advertising department.
His interest in films begins at around this time. He frequently visits the cinema, reads US trade journals and also becomes fascinated by photography.

Women's Suffrage in USA

1920

Upon learning one day that Paramount's famous Players-Lasky studio is planning to open London studios, Hitchcock has an idea. He is of the opinion that the silent film title cards are atrocious and decides to design some to present to the new producers. After battling past the army of secretaries and assistants he somehow manages to make his way to the top man who likes his title cards for 'The Great Day'(1921).
In this way Hitchcock's keen interest in cinema and art happily coincides with a job opening at Paramount studios in London as a title designer for silent films.

Irish Free State Established

1922

At Paramount he learns scripting, editing and art direction, and rises to assistant director in 1922. The same year he directs an unfinished film, 'No. 13'.

Al Capone takes over Chicago

1925

In 1925, Michael Balcon of Gainsborough Pictures (the British successors of Players-Lasky) gives him a chance to direct his first complete film, 'The Pleasure Garden' made at Ufa studios in Munich, Germany. The commercial failure of this film threatens his promising career.

Trotsky ousted

1926

Hitchcock makes his debut in the thriller genre with the film, 'The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog'. It is a major commercial and critical success. Like his earlier work, it is influenced by Expressionist techniques he had learnt in Germany. Yet some moviegoers are shocked by its aberrant content. 'The Lodger' is loosely based on the real-life story of Jack the Ripper. It focuses on topics such as murder, suspicion and sexual attraction. This film is created in a painstaking style for which Hitchcock will become famous. Following this success, he begins his first efforts to promote himself in the media, and hires a publicist to confirm his growing reputation as one of the British film industry's rising stars. Soon after he becomes the most successful and highest-paid director in England.

2 December 1926

Hitchcock marries his assistant director Alma Reville at Brompton Oratory.
He and Alma will collaborate on all his films, including Hitchcock's personal favorite, 'Shadow of a Doubt' in 1943. (Their daughter Patricia will work as an actress, and have parts in 'Psycho' and 'Strangers on a Train').

Stock Market Crash

1929

Hitchcock has directed a total of nine silent films and is one of Britain's leading directors when he makes his first sound film, 'Blackmail', in 1929. While the film is in production, the studio decides to make it one of Britain's first sound pictures. The climax of the film is played out on the dome of the British Museum. 'Blackmail' starts the Hitchcock tradition of using famous landmarks as a backdrop for suspense sequences.

Gandhi Leads Revolt in India

1930

Thirteen Hitchcock sound films follow, including 'Murder!' (1930), 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' (1934), 'The 39 Steps' (1935), 'Sabotage' (1936), and 'The Lady Vanishes' (1938). By now he has become known as Britain's top film director.

World War II begins

1939

As the start of World War II looms over Europe, Hitchcock emigrates to the U.S. to direct 'Rebecca' (1940). There is friction between Hitchcock and the producer Selznick. Hitchcock is often unhappy with the amount of creative control demanded by Selznick over his films but at the same time the producer complains that he does not have enough control to create his own film. While the film wins an Oscar, Hitchcock does not win Best Director (and never will, although he will receive honorary Oscars).

Paris Falls, France Surrenders

1940

The war has begun in Europe, and Hitchcock yearns to return to Britain. But he is urged to stay in America and use his talents for the Allied cause in his films. The result is a flag-waving but sensational film called 'Foreign Correspondent' (1940). Made for Walter Wanger and United Artists, it is his first film produced while being on loan from Selznick. It is also the first of a trilogy of war propaganda films he would direct.

Japanese attack Pearl Harbor

1941

'Suspicion' (1941) is Hitchcock's first film as a producer as well as director.

Battle of Kursk

1943

The film 'Shadow of a Doubt' (1943) is one of Hitchcock's favourites. He says it's one of the only films where the characters are allowed to develop and because of this he feels that it is more plausible and successful than his other thrillers.

Auschwitz Liberated

1945

Hitchcock becomes a "treatment advisor" (in effect, an editor) for a Holocaust documentary produced by the British Army. The film, which records the liberation of Concentration Camps, will remain unreleased until 1985, when it is completed by PBS Frontline and distributed under the title 'Memory of the Camps'.

Communist Chinese forces invade Tibet

1950

1950-1960 is an amazingly productive decade for Hitchcock. He makes several films that will be considered as classics e.g 'Dial "M" for Murder', 'To Catch a Thief', 'Strangers on a Train' as well as four 'masterpieces', 'Rear Window', 'Vertigo', 'North by Northwest', and 'Psycho'.

James Dean dies

1955

1955 is an prosperous year for Alfred Hitchcock. He becomes a U.S. citizen and starts 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', a TV show that launches him from lauded director and celebrity to icon. His visibility will be further increased by the controversy over 'Psycho'(1960), which upon its release sparks endless debate about the film's onscreen violence.

Explorer I Launched

1958

The film 'Vertigo' is a commercial failure, but will later come to be viewed by many as one of Hitchcock's finest films. He follows it with three films also considered successes. 'North by Northwest' (1959), 'Psycho' (1960), and 'The Birds' (1963) are all recognised as among his very best films.

African Countries gain independence

1960

'Psycho' proves to be his most successful film with both critics and the box office and in its first run earns $16 million. It is produced on an $800,000 budget. It is the last film he makes for Paramount.

President Kennedy Assassinated

1963

Hitchcock signs a long-term contract for five films with Universal. It's during this year that 'The Birds' is released after two years of diligent planning on the horror film.

The Beatles In America

1964

From now on Hitchcock's career slowly winds down (although some critics such as Robin Wood and Donald Spoto contend that 'Marnie', from 1964, is first-class Hitchcock). Failing health also reduces his output over the last two decades of his life.

first walk on the Moon

1969

'Topaz' (1969) is another Cold War spy story. It is devoid of his usual techniques like narrative economy and wit and is generally considered to be a failure.

Britain Takes Control of Northern Ireland

1972

In 1972, Hitchcock returns to London where he hasn't produced a film in almost twenty years, and creates what critics call "a gem of a picture." 'Frenzy' would be his last major success.
The project is one that he had had in mind for many years but he had seemed undecided about how to produce it. It is clear that the "Master of Suspense" is once again in full control. His age of seventy three years does not effect this fast paced suspense story about a man accused of a crime his best friend committed. Also, for the first time, Hitchcock includes nudity and profane language, which had before been taboo, in one of his films. 'Frenzy' is released by the delighted Universal company and makes a net $6.5 million on its first run in the United States and Canada alone.

1.5 million year old Homo erectus skull discoved

1976

'Family Plot'(1976) is his last film. It tells the story of "Madam" Blanche Tyler played by Barbara Harris, a fraudulent spiritualist, and her taxi driver lover Bruce Dern making a living from her fake powers. William Devane, Karen Black and Cathleen Nesbitt co-star.

Near the end of his life, Hitchcock works on the script for a spy thriller, 'The Short Night', which was never filmed. The script is published in book form after Hitchcock's death.

8-year Iran-Iraq War begins

1980

In the last year of his life, Hitchcock receives the American Film Institute's lifetime achievement award.
Also Hitchcock is made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1980 New Year's Honours. But he dies just four months later, before he has the opportunity to be formally invested by the Queen. Despite this, he is entitled to be known as Sir Alfred Hitchcock and to use the postnominal letters "KBE", because he remained a British subject when he adopted American citizenship in 1956.

29 April 1980

Alfred Hitchcock dies from renal failure in his Bel-Air, Los Angeles home, aged 80, and is survived by his wife Alma Reville, and their daughter, Patricia Hitchcock O'Connell. His funeral service is held at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills. His body is cremated and the ashes are scattered over the Pacific Ocean.
Like many writers, artists and celebrities, Hitchcock created an aura of mystery around himself, rarely revealing anything to interviewers more than a list of technical details about shooting different scenes.
However, at the same time he clearly considered self-promotion to be a key to his success. Hitchcock is one of the most widely known and influential directors in the history of world cinema. His vast legacy includes books, tributes, film festivals, and imitators, as well as a significant body of work produced over 50 years.