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Biography: Janet Leigh

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. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide less

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Pete Kelly's Blues (1955)
Cast: Andy Devine Peggy Lee
Tags: Crime Drama Musical Drama
Length: 95min
Pete Kelly's Blues is arguably the most stylish of director/star Jack Webb's theatrical features. Beginning with a brilliantly evocative pre-credits prologue, wherein we see how WWI vet Pete Kelly (Webb) came into possession of his precious trumpet,...
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Safari (1956)
Tags: Adventure Drama Adventure Drama Crime
Length: 91min
This ense, uncompromising African actioner affords Victor Mature one of his best screen roles. When his family is wiped out by Mau Mau insurrectionists, white hunter Mature assembles an expedition to track down the tribal leader responsible for the...
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My Sister Eileen (1955)
Cast: Janet Leigh Jack Lemmon
Tags: Musical Drama Drama Musical
Length: 108min
My Sister Eileen is a Technicolor, musicalized remake of the 1942 comedy of the same name. It is not, however, the film version of the 1949 Broadway musical Wonderful Town, which was also based on the 1942 film. Adapted from the short stories of Ruth...
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The Naked Spur (1953)
Cast: James Stewart
Tags: Western Psychological Western
Length: 93min
The powerhouse combination of star James Stewart and director Anthony Mann score another cinematic bullseye in The Naked Spur. Stewart plays a taciturn frontiersman who loses his home while he's off fighting the Civil War. To raise enough money for a...
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Rogue Cop (1954)
Cast: Robert Taylor
Tags: Police Drama Crime Drama
Length: 92min
MGM romantic Robert Taylor turns nasty in this low-budget crime melodrama. Taylor plays a cop who subsidizes his income with bribes and payoffs from various criminals and politicians. Taylor's brother (Steve Forrest), a rookie on the police force, is...
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Prince Valiant (1954)
Cast: James Mason
Tags: Costume Adventure Mythological Fantasy Adventure
Length: 100min
Hal Foster's Sunday-comics saga of a young Viking prince in the service of King Arthur is brought to the screen in CinemaScope and Technicolor in Prince Valiant. Despite the fact that he sports a dutch bob that makes him look like actress Phyllis...
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Living It Up (1954)
Cast: Jerry Lewis Dean Martin
Tags: Comedy Musical Odd Couple Film
Length: 95min
The 1954 Martin-and-Lewis romp Living It Up is an amusing remake of the 1937 comedy classic Nothing Sacred. More specifically, it is the film version of the Broadway musical +Hazel Flagg, which was based on Nothing Sacred. The heroine of the original...
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The Black Shield of Falworth (1954)
Tags: Adventure Period Film Costume Adventure Romantic Adventure
Length: 98min
Tony Curtis always seemed a little uncomfortable in costume epics, but this trait serves him well in Black Shield of Falworth. Based on the robust novel -Men of Iron by Howard Pyle, the film casts Curtis as Miles, the son of a disgraced knight....
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Houdini (1953)
Cast: Tony Curtis
Tags: Biopic Showbiz Drama Drama
Length: 107min
This highly fanciful but immensely entertaining biopic stars Tony Curtis as legendary magician/escape-artist Harry Houdini. Janet Leigh, Mrs. Tony Curtis at the time, co-stars as Houdini's wife Bess, while Angela Clarke is seen as Houdini's mother....
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Confidentially Connie (1953)
Tags: Comedy
Length: 74min
Confidentially Connie is an MGM factory product starring Janet Leigh and Van Johnson. Upon learning she is pregnant, Leigh tries to convince her husband Johnson, a humble teacher, to find a better-paying job. But Johnson is a proud man, so much so...
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Janet Leigh

Biography: Janet Leigh

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