JANET LEIGHJanet Leigh, who died on 3 October, 2004, was destined to be remembered for one role in a horror film, despite a long, prolific and successful career.Her portrayal of anti-heroine Marion Crane, victim of Norman Bates’ famous shower murder, made her into a screen icon but it also effectively ended her film career.As well as appearing in Psycho (1960) and other acclaimed films, she was known for her troubled marriage to comic actor Tony Curtis and her actress daughter Jamie Lee Curtis.Jeanette Helen Morrison was born in Merced, California, on 6 July, 1927. She was the only child of Frederick and Helen Morrison. She was a bright youngster and was able to skip several years at school, though having older classmates made her shy and lonely.Though she was a huge movie fan, she had no acting ambitions and was studying music and psychology at the University of the Pacific when she was discovered by chance. The actress Norma Shearer spotted her photo on her father’s desk at the ski resort where he worked and instantly recognised her screen potential.A successful screen test at MGM saw her take a starring role in The Romance of Rosy Ridge at the age of 20 with next to no acting experience. With her good looks and blonde hair she fitted the bill of a green country girl and roles in Little Women (1949), Angels in the Outfield (1951), Scaramouche (1952), The Naked Spur and Houdini (both 1953) followed.She played opposite many of Hollywood’s leading men and had made over 30 films by the time she appeared in Orson Welles’ 1958 film-noir Touch of Evil with Charlton Heston, her best film to date.Ms Leigh was cast for a quarter of her usual fee in Alfred Hitchcock’s low-budget thriller Psycho, and took the role on the basis of the director’s reputation and an admiration for the novel by Robert Bloch. Anthony Perkins also accepted a lower wage.Her character, Marion Crane, only survives for half the film (in which she steals a large sum of money from her employer and arrives at the Bates Motel in her flight) but the performance was enough to earn Ms Leigh an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe.The shower scene became so iconic that she found it hard to get other roles and after The Manchurian Candidate in 1962, her career went into decline. In the ’70s and ’80s she was restricted to TV work, although she made cameo appearances in her daughter’s Halloween films in homage to Psycho.Though Psycho – and indeed, a 3-minute sequence of the film – overshadowed everything else in her career, Ms Leigh enjoyed being a horror icon and her standing among critics remained high. Her beauty belied her intelligence and many of her characters shared this depth.She was married four times: to John Caryle (1942-1942), Stanley Reames (1946-1948), Tony Curtis (1951-1962) and Robert Brandt (1962 until her death). She had two daughters with Curtis, Kelly and Jamie Lee.She died at home from a heart attack after long-running health problems. Her family were by her side. She claimed to have not showered since seeing the finished version of Psycho as it “scared the hell” out of her.
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