System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Alfred Hitchcock
August 13, 1899 - April 29, 1980
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899, in Leytonstone, England, the son of East End greengrocer William Hitchcock and his wife Emma. Raised as a strict Catholic and attending Saint Ignatius College, a school run by Jesuits, Hitch had very much of a regular upbringing.
His first job outside of the family business was in 1915 as an estimator for the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company. His interest in movies began at around this time, frequently visiting the cinema and reading US trade journals. He began his filmmaking career in 1919 illustrating title cards for silent films at Paramount's Famous Players-Lasky studio in London. There he learned scripting, editing and art direction, and rose to assistant director in 1922.
In 1923 he got his first chance at directing when the director of Always Tell Your Wife (1923) fell ill and Hitch completed the movie. Impressed by his work, studio chiefs gave him his first directing assignment on Number 13 (1922), however, before it could be finished, the studio closed its British operation. Hitch was then hired by Michael Balcon to work as an assistant director for the company later to be known as Gainsborough Pictures. In reality Hitch did more than this - working as a writer, title designer and art director.
After several films for the company, Hitch was given the chance to direct a British/German co-production called Pleasure Garden, The (1925). Hitchcock's career as a director finally began. Hitchcock went on to become the most widely known and influential director in the history of world cinema with a significant body of work produced over 50 years.
Hitchcock died April 28, 1980 from liver failure and heart problems in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 80.
