Saturday, December 26, 2020

THE GIRL IN HITCHCOCK'S SHOWER


Of horror cinema's most memorable moments that you can count on one hand is most certainly the infamous "shower scene" in Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO (Paramount, 1960). This landmark film set the stage for the "psychological" horror movie, from which a tentacle evolved that was labeled the "slasher flick". The unlucky girl that was stabbed to death in her motel shower by proprietor Norman Bates in drag was 33 year-old actress Janet Leigh (PLAYBOY cover girl Marli Renfro was her body double -- her biography by Robert "Zodiac" Graysmith, "The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower", includes an account of her participation in the shower scene.).

The classically beautiful Janet Leigh (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was born Janet Helen Morrison (which I think would have worked just as well as her chosen stage name) of Danish and Scottish ancestry. She had an illustrious career in film and on Broadway. After her famed role in PSYCHO, she appeared in several other horror films over the ensuing years: NIGHT OF THE LEPUS (1972), THE FOG (1980) and HALLOWEEN H2O: 20 YEARS LATER (1998), both with her daughter Jamie Lee Curtis.

The pictures below are various studio portraits (and one painting) of Miss Leigh.








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