WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers

Born: 6th July 1927

Died: 3rd October 2004

This would be ‘Scream Queen’ was born Jeanette Helen Morrison, a single child raised by parents Helen and Frederick Morrison in Stockton, California. She studied hard and graduated at the age of 15. It was while she was studying music and psychology at the University of the Pacific when she was ‘discovered’ by Norma Shearer who, whilst staying at the ski resort Jeanette’s parents were working, saw a photograph of an eighteen year old Jeanette. She showed the photo to agent, Lew Wasserman, who in turn negotiated a contract with MGM for her – this was probably very rare for an agent to negotiate a contract for someone with no acting experience. Jeanette hit the ground running – her first role was as the lead actress in The Romance of Rosy Ridge. Roles alongside Walter Pidgeon and Deborah Kerr followed and at the age of 21 she received her first top billing. It was during The Romance of Rosie Ridge that she became Janet Leigh. At the age of 24 Leigh married Tony Curtis, they had two daughters (both of which went into the business) and starred in a string of films together, their first being the biographical film Houdini (1953). They divorced in 1962 after which she started to scale back her career. Luckily she had already made the film that she is remembered for – Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The latter half of the 60s, but mainly during the 70s and 80s, Leigh made some big screen films but made more for TV.

There is little to say about Janet’s role of Norma in Halloween H2O, her penultimate film venture, as she only has two small scenes both with her real life daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis. She plays Norma, the secretary of Jamie Lee’s character, and has this one line when she says to her “I know it’s not my place but if I could be maternal for a moment…” the use of the word maternal I think is most poignant. Considering that Psycho made Janet Leigh’s name, especially the shower scene (probably one of the most iconic scenes in horror history), it is a surprise that it’s not number one on her list but for the twenty minutes or so that Marion Crane is on screen she holds your attention. She has quite a bit of solitary screen time but somehow you understand her character more with those little silences. In The Fog (1980) Janet’s Kathy Williams is actually quite chipper and spry, obviously the enthusiasm for the Centenary celebrations is carrying her along, and you are immediately drawn to her. But this film is the sign of a true actress, known for being a famous ‘Scream Queen’ – an actress who is prominent and influential in horror films, either through a notable appearance or recurring roles – Janet Leigh is happy to share the screen without outshining her fellow co-stars, which includes her daughter Jamie Lee Curtis – now a Scream Queen in her own right. Next we have a delightful gem in Janet Leigh’s repertoire a world apart from her horror credentials with Bye Bye Birdie. At first I wasn’t sure what I was watching – is this a comedy or a musical? Both parts are quite disjointed at first but eventually come together quite artfully. To star alongside Dick Van Dyke in a comedy I was a little worried that his Albert F. Peterson would over shadow Ms Leigh’s Rosie DeLeon but she holds her own and if I may be so bold as to say she puts Van Dyke in the shade at times, she is a strong confident woman that can hold the screen with the best of them! To be honest I would never have expected to see Ms Leigh in this kind of film but she can play comedy with ease, she can dance quite beautifully (she uses her long legs and slender figure to its fullest during her, shall we call it, flirtatious routine with the Shriners) and she can sing – what more could a Hollywood legend need! And finally we have Harper. Harper is all about a private investigator named Harper, so I wonder why when you have Paul Newman as your eponymous hero would you cast Janet Leigh in such a small role as his ex-wife? Not that I’m saying she’s not good but she is totally underused here. The worse bit for me is that there seems to be a good character here and the Harper’s could reconcile properly as there seems to be some chemistry between the two.

It is strange that of a career that spanned 50+ years it is really only one film that Janet Leigh is remembered for and it is probably one of my favourite films because of her and that scene. Hitchcock always had a way to get the best out of his actors and to kill off the character of such a famous actress less than half way through the film is a stroke of genius and probably unexpected. The character of Marion is such a strong one – from the decision to run to the lengthy silences as she drives along you not only learn about her character but you would never expect her to be killed off so soon. It is rumoured that people thought that Leigh appearing in her bra (not the scene where she is naked in a shower?!) would damage her career but obviously somebody got that wrong because she was nominated for an Oscar for her role and although she lost out to Shirley Jones she did win a Golden Globe, beating Shirley Jones! Psycho was selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant (four films starring Leigh appear on the National Film Registry)

As well as being a renowned and talented actress Janet Leigh was also a writer; she wrote two fiction books as well as her autobiography and a behind the scenes look at the making of Psycho. She was married four times. Her first was when she was 15 years old it was annulled after 5 months, her second was to a U.S Navy sailor when she was 18 (it lasted three years), her third (and probably the most famous) was to Tony Curtis and her fourth was to stockbroker Robert Brandt – whom she married the same year she divorced Curtis. Leigh died in 2004 after a battle with vasculitis. She was survived by Brandt and her two daughters.

Posthumously Honours:

Leigh Lane, a ski lane at the Bald Mountain skiing resort in Idaho

Her former University named a theatre after her

Stockton Plaza is now the Janet Leigh Plaza.