The Flickr Robertwalker Image Generatr

Dutch postcard by PEB. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.

Between 1939 and 1951, American actor Robert Walker (1918-1951) played in about twenty films. He starred in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Strangers on a Train (1949) as the madman who proposes a perfect murder in exchange.

Robert Hudson Walker was born in Salt Lake City in 1918. Walker was the youngest of four children of a newspaper publisher. In 1938, he studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA )in New York. A year later, Walker married actress Jennifer Jones, whom he had met at the AADA. They had two sons who later both became actors, the oldest is Robert Walker Jr. Jones met film producer David O. Selznick who cast her in the film The Song of Bernadette (Henry King, 1943). That same year Walker also landed a studio contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well as his first major film roles in Hollywood, having gone uncredited for his first three small film roles in 1939. Walker played a soldier in World War II in the war film Bataan (Tay Garnett, 1943) starring Robert Taylor, and would go on to play soldiers on several occasions. Jones and Walker appeared together in the lavishly produced Home Front film Since You Went Away (John Cromwell, 1944) as young lovers whose hopes for a future together remain unfulfilled. At the time, their marriage was on the rocks, with Jennifer Jones leaving him for David O. Selznick. They divorced in 1945. Since You Went Away (1944) was one of the most successful films of the year and finally established Walker in Hollywood.

In his films in the 1940s, Robert Walker primarily adopted the role schema of the nice, often sensitive and shy 'boy next door'. In 1945 he starred in The Clock (Vincente Minnelli, 1945) as a soldier who falls in love with Judy Garland's character on his last weekend in New York before being stationed in Europe. In the post-war period, Walker played two well-known musicians, Jerome Kern in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Johannes Brahms in Song of Love (Clarence Brown, 1947) with Katharine Hepburn. Later Walker appeared several times in comedies such as One Touch of Venus (William A. Seiter, 1948) opposite Ava Gardner and Please Believe Me (Norman Taurioog, 1950) with Deborah Kerr, but with only moderate success. In his private life, Walker increasingly struggled with alcohol problems and mental illness after his divorce from Jennifer Jones. He was hospitalised at the Menninger Clinic in 1949. In 1948, Robert Walker was briefly married to Barbara Ford, the daughter of film director John Ford. In his last marriage, he was married to actress Hanna Hertelendy from July 1949 until his death. In 1951, he died in Los Angeles from an allergic reaction to a tranquilliser after drinking alcohol. He died one month after the premiere of his now best-known film The Stranger on the Train (1951) by Alfred Hitchcock. In this classic thriller, he offered a memorable portrayal of a psychopathic mother's son from a wealthy home who tries to persuade another train passenger (Farley Granger) to commit murder. In the same year, Walker also played another villainous role in the Western Vengeance Valley (Richard Thorpe, 1951) alongside Burt Lancaster. Walker died at the age of 32 while filming his last film, My Son John (1951), directed by Leo McCarey.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Democratic candidate for the West Virginia's US Senate seat, Zach Shrewsburry, right, his father, Bob, center, speak with campaign manager, Brandi Reece, at an election night party in Charleston, WV, on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.

Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, and Britain’s only non-royal ruler, when posing for his portrait, Oliver Cromwell famously urged Sir Peter Lely to depict him “warts and all.” In this portrait by another artist that now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, Robert Walker omitted showing those famous warts. Dating from c.1649, after the end of the English Civil War, Cromwell is shown in battle dress.

One of the many thousands of such 'official' guides and handbooks issued by UK local authorities and, like many others, published on their behalf by the Cheltenham based concern of Ed. J. Burrow. They conatin information as to services, amenities and local commercial activities and this, for Clitheroe in the Ribble Valley in Lancashire, is typical. The Borough was one of the councils reformed under the 1835 legislation and the Town Council remained the local authority until 1974 when it became part of the new Ribble Valley Borough Council; a successor parish council survives.

The front cover shows a picturesque view up towards the ruined Castle that still dominates this town. The guide is, as often the case, undated but the text lets slip that the town only recently introduced a supply of electricity in 1927 and so a date of c.1928 seems likely. The guide makes great play on the extent of motor bus services in the vicinity and this advert is for the independent "Bounty Motor Services of neighbouring Slaidburn, then over the old county boundary and just inside the West Riding of Yorkshire. Owned by Colin Walker, this appears to be a realtive of the village's innkeeper, Rober Walker, who ran the Hark to Bounty Inn and both concerns sharing the same telephone number of Slaidburn 14!

The outfit would likely have been typical of the 1920s small independent bus operator, often running a small number of buses and coaches, and of a breed that had grown massively in post-WW1 years thanks to the development of motor vehicles that had been assisted by the war effort along with a glut of ex-military vehicles along with staff trained to maintain them. I'm not sure what happened to Bounty Motor Services but in the late 1920s and early 1930s, often backed by railway capital, major regional bus concerns came into prominance by buying up local concerns, such as Ribble Motor Services who would become the major player in this part of Lancashire and West Yorkshire. At the time they ran buses between Slaidburn and neighbouring localities such as Newton, Dunspor Bridge, Whitewell, Bashall Eaves, Wadidngton, Moor Cock, Waddington Fells, Thornley and Longridge. They would have offered unprecidented mobility to such a rural area.

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British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 216, Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

Between 1939 and 1951, American actor Robert Walker (1918-1951) played in about twenty films. He starred in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Strangers on a Train (1949) as the madman who proposes a perfect murder in exchange.

Robert Hudson Walker was born in Salt Lake City in 1918. Walker was the youngest of four children of a newspaper publisher. In 1938, he studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA )in New York. A year later, Walker married actress Jennifer Jones, whom he had met at the AADA. They had two sons who later both became actors, the oldest is Robert Walker Jr. Jones met film producer David O. Selznick who cast her in the film The Song of Bernadette (Henry King, 1943). That same year Walker also landed a studio contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well as his first major film roles in Hollywood, having gone uncredited for his first three small film roles in 1939. Walker played a soldier in World War II in the war film Bataan (Tay Garnett, 1943) starring Robert Taylor, and would go on to play soldiers on several occasions. Jones and Walker appeared together in the lavishly produced Home Front film Since You Went Away (John Cromwell, 1944) as young lovers whose hopes for a future together remain unfulfilled. At the time, their marriage was on the rocks, with Jennifer Jones leaving him for David O. Selznick. They divorced in 1945. Since You Went Away (1944) was one of the most successful films of the year and finally established Walker in Hollywood.

In his films in the 1940s, Robert Walker primarily adopted the role schema of the nice, often sensitive and shy 'boy next door'. In 1945 he starred in The Clock (Vincente Minnelli, 1945) as a soldier who falls in love with Judy Garland's character on his last weekend in New York before being stationed in Europe. In the post-war period, Walker played two well-known musicians, Jerome Kern in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Johannes Brahms in Song of Love (Clarence Brown, 1947) with Katharine Hepburn. Later Walker appeared several times in comedies such as One Touch of Venus (William A. Seiter, 1948) opposite Ava Gardner and Please Believe Me (Norman Taurioog, 1950) with Deborah Kerr, but with only moderate success. In his private life, Walker increasingly struggled with alcohol problems and mental illness after his divorce from Jennifer Jones. He was hospitalised at the Menninger Clinic in 1949. In 1948, Robert Walker was briefly married to Barbara Ford, the daughter of film director John Ford. In his last marriage, he was married to actress Hanna Hertelendy from July 1949 until his death. In 1951, he died in Los Angeles from an allergic reaction to a tranquilliser after drinking alcohol. He died one month after the premiere of his now best-known film The Stranger on the Train (1951) by Alfred Hitchcock. In this classic thriller, he offered a memorable portrayal of a psychopathic mother's son from a wealthy home who tries to persuade another train passenger (Farley Granger) to commit murder. In the same year, Walker also played another villainous role in the Western Vengeance Valley (Richard Thorpe, 1951) alongside Burt Lancaster. Walker died at the age of 32 while filming his last film, My Son John (1951), directed by Leo McCarey.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

MH67 RWH
2019 DAF XF 530 FTG Super Space Cab
Robert Walker Haulage, Woodley, Stockport
Buckingham, 27 April 2022

Vintage postcard, no. 951. Photo: M.G.M.

Between 1939 and 1951, American actor Robert Walker (1918-1951) played in about twenty films. He starred in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Strangers on a Train (1949) as the madman who proposes a perfect murder in exchange.

Robert Hudson Walker was born in Salt Lake City in 1918. Walker was the youngest of four children of a newspaper publisher. In 1938, he studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA )in New York. A year later, Walker married actress Jennifer Jones, whom he had met at the AADA. They had two sons who later both became actors, the oldest is Robert Walker Jr. Jones met film producer David O. Selznick who cast her in the film The Song of Bernadette (Henry King, 1943). That same year Walker also landed a studio contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well as his first major film roles in Hollywood, having gone uncredited for his first three small film roles in 1939. Walker played a soldier in World War II in the war film Bataan (Tay Garnett, 1943) starring Robert Taylor, and would go on to play soldiers on several occasions. Jones and Walker appeared together in the lavishly produced Home Front film Since You Went Away (John Cromwell, 1944) as young lovers whose hopes for a future together remain unfulfilled. At the time, their marriage was on the rocks, with Jennifer Jones leaving him for David O. Selznick. They divorced in 1945. Since You Went Away (1944) was one of the most successful films of the year and finally established Walker in Hollywood.

In his films in the 1940s, Robert Walker primarily adopted the role schema of the nice, often sensitive and shy 'boy next door'. In 1945 he starred in The Clock (Vincente Minnelli, 1945) as a soldier who falls in love with Judy Garland's character on his last weekend in New York before being stationed in Europe. In the post-war period, Walker played two well-known musicians, Jerome Kern in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Johannes Brahms in Song of Love (Clarence Brown, 1947) with Katharine Hepburn. Later Walker appeared several times in comedies such as One Touch of Venus (William A. Seiter, 1948) opposite Ava Gardner and Please Believe Me (Norman Taurioog, 1950) with Deborah Kerr, but with only moderate success. In his private life, Walker increasingly struggled with alcohol problems and mental illness after his divorce from Jennifer Jones. He was hospitalised at the Menninger Clinic in 1949. In 1948, Robert Walker was briefly married to Barbara Ford, the daughter of film director John Ford. In his last marriage, he was married to actress Hanna Hertelendy from July 1949 until his death. In 1951, he died in Los Angeles from an allergic reaction to a tranquilliser after drinking alcohol. He died one month after the premiere of his now best-known film The Stranger on the Train (1951) by Alfred Hitchcock. In this classic thriller, he offered a memorable portrayal of a psychopathic mother's son from a wealthy home who tries to persuade another train passenger (Farley Granger) to commit murder. In the same year, Walker also played another villainous role in the Western Vengeance Valley (Richard Thorpe, 1951) alongside Burt Lancaster. Walker died at the age of 32 while filming his last film, My Son John (1951), directed by Leo McCarey.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Vintage postcard. Photo: MGM. Robert Walker in Vengeance Valley (Richard Thorpe, 1951).

Between 1939 and 1951, American actor Robert Walker (1918-1951) played in about twenty films. He starred in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Strangers on a Train (1949) as the madman who proposes a perfect murder in exchange.

Robert Hudson Walker was born in Salt Lake City in 1918. Walker was the youngest of four children of a newspaper publisher. In 1938, he studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA )in New York. A year later, Walker married actress Jennifer Jones, whom he had met at the AADA. They had two sons who later both became actors, the oldest is Robert Walker Jr. Jones met film producer David O. Selznick who cast her in the film The Song of Bernadette (Henry King, 1943). That same year Walker also landed a studio contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well as his first major film roles in Hollywood, having gone uncredited for his first three small film roles in 1939. Walker played a soldier in World War II in the war film Bataan (Tay Garnett, 1943) starring Robert Taylor, and would go on to play soldiers on several occasions. Jones and Walker appeared together in the lavishly produced Home Front film Since You Went Away (John Cromwell, 1944) as young lovers whose hopes for a future together remain unfulfilled. At the time, their marriage was on the rocks, with Jennifer Jones leaving him for David O. Selznick. They divorced in 1945. Since You Went Away (1944) was one of the most successful films of the year and finally established Walker in Hollywood.

In his films in the 1940s, Robert Walker primarily adopted the role schema of the nice, often sensitive and shy 'boy next door'. In 1945 he starred in The Clock (Vincente Minnelli, 1945) as a soldier who falls in love with Judy Garland's character on his last weekend in New York before being stationed in Europe. In the post-war period, Walker played two well-known musicians, Jerome Kern in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Johannes Brahms in Song of Love (Clarence Brown, 1947) with Katharine Hepburn. Later Walker appeared several times in comedies such as One Touch of Venus (William A. Seiter, 1948) opposite Ava Gardner and Please Believe Me (Norman Taurioog, 1950) with Deborah Kerr, but with only moderate success. In his private life, Walker increasingly struggled with alcohol problems and mental illness after his divorce from Jennifer Jones. He was hospitalised at the Menninger Clinic in 1949. In 1948, Robert Walker was briefly married to Barbara Ford, the daughter of film director John Ford. In his last marriage, he was married to actress Hanna Hertelendy from July 1949 until his death. In 1951, he died in Los Angeles from an allergic reaction to a tranquilliser after drinking alcohol. He died one month after the premiere of his now best-known film The Stranger on the Train (1951) by Alfred Hitchcock. In this classic thriller, he offered a memorable portrayal of a psychopathic mother's son from a wealthy home who tries to persuade another train passenger (Farley Granger) to commit murder. In the same year, Walker also played another villainous role in the Western Vengeance Valley (Richard Thorpe, 1951) alongside Burt Lancaster. Walker died at the age of 32 while filming his last film, My Son John (1951), directed by Leo McCarey.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Dutch postcard, no. 125. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Between 1939 and 1951, American actor Robert Walker (1918-1951) played in about twenty films. He starred in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Strangers on a Train (1949) as the madman who proposes a perfect murder in exchange.

Robert Hudson Walker was born in Salt Lake City in 1918. Walker was the youngest of four children of a newspaper publisher. In 1938, he studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA )in New York. A year later, Walker married actress Jennifer Jones, whom he had met at the AADA. They had two sons who later both became actors, the oldest is Robert Walker Jr. Jones met film producer David O. Selznick who cast her in the film The Song of Bernadette (Henry King, 1943). That same year Walker also landed a studio contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well as his first major film roles in Hollywood, having gone uncredited for his first three small film roles in 1939. Walker played a soldier in World War II in the war film Bataan (Tay Garnett, 1943) starring Robert Taylor, and would go on to play soldiers on several occasions. Jones and Walker appeared together in the lavishly produced Home Front film Since You Went Away (John Cromwell, 1944) as young lovers whose hopes for a future together remain unfulfilled. At the time, their marriage was on the rocks, with Jennifer Jones leaving him for David O. Selznick. They divorced in 1945. Since You Went Away (1944) was one of the most successful films of the year and finally established Walker in Hollywood.

In his films in the 1940s, Robert Walker primarily adopted the role schema of the nice, often sensitive and shy 'boy next door'. In 1945 he starred in The Clock (Vincente Minnelli, 1945) as a soldier who falls in love with Judy Garland's character on his last weekend in New York before being stationed in Europe. In the post-war period, Walker played two well-known musicians, Jerome Kern in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Johannes Brahms in Song of Love (Clarence Brown, 1947) with Katharine Hepburn. Later Walker appeared several times in comedies such as One Touch of Venus (William A. Seiter, 1948) opposite Ava Gardner and Please Believe Me (Norman Taurioog, 1950) with Deborah Kerr, but with only moderate success. In his private life, Walker increasingly struggled with alcohol problems and mental illness after his divorce from Jennifer Jones. He was hospitalised at the Menninger Clinic in 1949. In 1948, Robert Walker was briefly married to Barbara Ford, the daughter of film director John Ford. In his last marriage, he was married to actress Hanna Hertelendy from July 1949 until his death. In 1951, he died in Los Angeles from an allergic reaction to a tranquilliser after drinking alcohol. He died one month after the premiere of his now best-known film The Stranger on the Train (1951) by Alfred Hitchcock. In this classic thriller, he offered a memorable portrayal of a psychopathic mother's son from a wealthy home who tries to persuade another train passenger (Farley Granger) to commit murder. In the same year, Walker also played another villainous role in the Western Vengeance Valley (Richard Thorpe, 1951) alongside Burt Lancaster. Walker died at the age of 32 while filming his last film, My Son John (1951), directed by Leo McCarey.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

American autograph card.

Between 1939 and 1951, American actor Robert Walker (1918-1951) played in about twenty films. He starred in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Strangers on a Train (1949) as the madman who proposes a perfect murder in exchange.

Robert Hudson Walker was born in Salt Lake City in 1918. Walker was the youngest of four children of a newspaper publisher. In 1938, he studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA )in New York. A year later, Walker married actress Jennifer Jones, whom he had met at the AADA. They had two sons who later both became actors, the oldest is Robert Walker Jr. Jones met film producer David O. Selznick who cast her in the film The Song of Bernadette (Henry King, 1943). That same year Walker also landed a studio contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well as his first major film roles in Hollywood, having gone uncredited for his first three small film roles in 1939. Walker played a soldier in World War II in the war film Bataan (Tay Garnett, 1943) starring Robert Taylor, and would go on to play soldiers on several occasions. Jones and Walker appeared together in the lavishly produced Home Front film Since You Went Away (John Cromwell, 1944) as young lovers whose hopes for a future together remain unfulfilled. At the time, their marriage was on the rocks, with Jennifer Jones leaving him for David O. Selznick. They divorced in 1945. Since You Went Away (1944) was one of the most successful films of the year and finally established Walker in Hollywood.

In his films in the 1940s, Robert Walker primarily adopted the role schema of the nice, often sensitive and shy 'boy next door'. In 1945 he starred in The Clock (Vincente Minnelli, 1945) as a soldier who falls in love with Judy Garland's character on his last weekend in New York before being stationed in Europe. In the post-war period, Walker played two well-known musicians, Jerome Kern in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Johannes Brahms in Song of Love (Clarence Brown, 1947) with Katharine Hepburn. Later Walker appeared several times in comedies such as One Touch of Venus (William A. Seiter, 1948) opposite Ava Gardner and Please Believe Me (Norman Taurioog, 1950) with Deborah Kerr, but with only moderate success. In his private life, Walker increasingly struggled with alcohol problems and mental illness after his divorce from Jennifer Jones. He was hospitalised at the Menninger Clinic in 1949. In 1948, Robert Walker was briefly married to Barbara Ford, the daughter of film director John Ford. In his last marriage, he was married to actress Hanna Hertelendy from July 1949 until his death. In 1951, he died in Los Angeles from an allergic reaction to a tranquilliser after drinking alcohol. He died one month after the premiere of his now best-known film The Stranger on the Train (1951) by Alfred Hitchcock. In this classic thriller, he offered a memorable portrayal of a psychopathic mother's son from a wealthy home who tries to persuade another train passenger (Farley Granger) to commit murder. In the same year, Walker also played another villainous role in the Western Vengeance Valley (Richard Thorpe, 1951) alongside Burt Lancaster. Walker died at the age of 32 while filming his last film, My Son John (1951), directed by Leo McCarey.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

Belgian collectors card by Kwatta. Photo: M.G.M.

Between 1939 and 1951, American actor Robert Walker (1918-1951) played in about twenty films. He starred in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Strangers on a Train (1949) as the madman who proposes a perfect murder in exchange.

Robert Hudson Walker was born in Salt Lake City in 1918. Walker was the youngest of four children of a newspaper publisher. In 1938, he studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA )in New York. A year later, Walker married actress Jennifer Jones, whom he had met at the AADA. They had two sons who later both became actors, the oldest is Robert Walker Jr. Jones met film producer David O. Selznick who cast her in the film The Song of Bernadette (Henry King, 1943). That same year Walker also landed a studio contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as well as his first major film roles in Hollywood, having gone uncredited for his first three small film roles in 1939. Walker played a soldier in World War II in the war film Bataan (Tay Garnett, 1943) starring Robert Taylor, and would go on to play soldiers on several occasions. Jones and Walker appeared together in the lavishly produced Home Front film Since You Went Away (John Cromwell, 1944) as young lovers whose hopes for a future together remain unfulfilled. At the time, their marriage was on the rocks, with Jennifer Jones leaving him for David O. Selznick. They divorced in 1945. Since You Went Away (1944) was one of the most successful films of the year and finally established Walker in Hollywood.

In his films in the 1940s, Robert Walker primarily adopted the role schema of the nice, often sensitive and shy 'boy next door'. In 1945 he starred in The Clock (Vincente Minnelli, 1945) as a soldier who falls in love with Judy Garland's character on his last weekend in New York before being stationed in Europe. In the post-war period, Walker played two well-known musicians, Jerome Kern in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) and Johannes Brahms in Song of Love (Clarence Brown, 1947) with Katharine Hepburn. Later Walker appeared several times in comedies such as One Touch of Venus (William A. Seiter, 1948) opposite Ava Gardner and Please Believe Me (Norman Taurioog, 1950) with Deborah Kerr, but with only moderate success. In his private life, Walker increasingly struggled with alcohol problems and mental illness after his divorce from Jennifer Jones. He was hospitalised at the Menninger Clinic in 1949. In 1948, Robert Walker was briefly married to Barbara Ford, the daughter of film director John Ford. In his last marriage, he was married to actress Hanna Hertelendy from July 1949 until his death. In 1951, he died in Los Angeles from an allergic reaction to a tranquilliser after drinking alcohol. He died one month after the premiere of his now best-known film The Stranger on the Train (1951) by Alfred Hitchcock. In this classic thriller, he offered a memorable portrayal of a psychopathic mother's son from a wealthy home who tries to persuade another train passenger (Farley Granger) to commit murder. In the same year, Walker also played another villainous role in the Western Vengeance Valley (Richard Thorpe, 1951) alongside Burt Lancaster. Walker died at the age of 32 while filming his last film, My Son John (1951), directed by Leo McCarey.

Sources: Wikipedia (Dutch and German), and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

French postcard in the Série Hitchcock by Editions ZREIK, Paris, no. H. Image: Warner Bros. American poster for Strangers on a Train (Alfred Hitchcock, 1951) with Farley Granger, Ruth Roman and Robert Walker.

British director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) was known as 'The Master of Suspense'. He was one of the most influential and extensively studied filmmakers in the history of cinema. 'Hitch' had his first major success with The Lodger (1926), a silent thriller loosely based on Jack the Ripper. Hitchcock came to international attention with The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), and, most notably, The Lady Vanishes (1938). His first Hollywood film was the multi-Oscar-winning psychological thriller Rebecca (1940). Many classics followed including Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946), Rear Window (1954), North by Northwest (1959), and The Birds (1963). In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films which garnered a total of 46 Oscar nominations and 6 wins.

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, on the outskirts of east London, in 1899. He was the son of Emma Jane Whelan and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock. His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William and Eileen Hitchcock. Raised as a strict Catholic and attending Saint Ignatius College, a school run by Jesuits, Hitch had very much of a regular upbringing. In 1914, his father died. To support himself and his mother—his older siblings had left home by then—Hitchcock took a job in 1915 as an estimator for the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company. His interest in films began at around this time, frequently visited the cinema and reading US trade journals. In a trade paper, he read that Famous Players-Lasky, the production arm of Paramount Pictures, was opening a studio in London. They were planning to film 'The Sorrows of Satan' by Marie Corelli, so Hitch produced some drawings for the title cards and sent his work to the studio. They hired him, and in 1919 he began working for Islington Studios as a title-card designer. Hitchcock soon gained experience as a co-writer, art director, and production manager on at least 18 silent films. After Hugh Croise, the director for Always Tell Your Wife (1923) fell ill, Hitchcock and star and producer Seymour Hicks finished the film together. When Paramount pulled out of London in 1922, Hitchcock was hired as an assistant director by a new firm run in the same location by Michael Balcon, later known as Gainsborough Pictures. He began to collaborate with the editor and script girl Alma Reville, his future wife. He worked as an assistant to director Graham Cutts on several films, including The Blackguard (1924), which was produced at the Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam. There Hitchcock watched part of the making of F. W. Murnau's film Der letzte Mann/The Last Laugh (1924). He was impressed with Murnau's work and later used many of his techniques for set design in his own productions. In the summer of 1925, Balcon asked Hitchcock to direct The Pleasure Garden (1925), starring Virginia Valli, a co-production of Gainsborough and the German firm Emelka. Reville, by then Hitchcock's fiancée, was assistant director-editor. In 1927, Hitchcock made his first trademark film, the thriller The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) starring Ivor Novello. The Lodger is about the hunt for a serial killer who, wearing a black cloak and carrying a black bag, is murdering young blonde women in London, and only on Tuesdays. The Lodger was a commercial and critical success in the UK. In the same year, Hitchcock married Alma Reville. They had one child, Patricia Hitchcock (1928). Reville became her husband's closest collaborator and wrote or co-wrote on many of his films. Hitchcock made the transition to sound film with his tenth film, Blackmail (1929), the first British 'talkie'. Blackmail began the Hitchcock tradition of using famous landmarks as a backdrop for suspense sequences, with the climax taking place on the dome of the British Museum. He used an early sound recording as a special element of the film, stressing the word "knife" in a conversation with the woman (Anny Ondra) suspected of murder. It was followed by Murder! (1930). In 1933 Hitchcock was once again working for Michael Balcon at Gaumont-British on The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). It was a success. His second, The 39 Steps (1935), with Robert Donat, made him a star in the USA. It also established the quintessential English 'Hitchcock blonde' (Madeleine Carroll) as the template for his succession of ice-cold, elegant leading ladies. His next major success was The Lady Vanishes (1938), with Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. The film saw Hitchcock receive the 1938 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director.

David O. Selznick signed Hitchcock to a seven-year contract beginning in March 1939, and the Hitchcocks moved to Hollywood. He directed an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (1940), starring Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier. Rebecca won the Oscar for Best Picture, although Hitchcock himself was only nominated for Best Director. Hitchcock's second American film was the thriller Foreign Correspondent (1940), set in Europe, and produced by Walter Wanger. It was nominated for Best Picture that year Suspicion (1941) was the first of four projects on which Cary Grant worked with Hitchcock, and it is one of the rare occasions that Grant was cast in a sinister role. In one scene Hitchcock placed a light inside a glass of milk, perhaps poisoned, that Grant is bringing to his wife, played by Joan Fontaine. The light makes sure that the audience's attention is on the glass. Fontaine won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Shadow of a Doubt (1943) was Hitchcock's personal favourite. Charlotte "Charlie" Newton (Teresa Wright) suspects her beloved uncle Charlie Oakley (Joseph Cotten) of being a serial killer. Hitchcock was again nominated for the Oscar for Best Director for Lifeboat (1944) and Spellbound (1945), but he never won the award. Spellbound (1945), starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck, explores psychoanalysis and features a dream sequence designed by Salvador Dalí. Notorious (1946) stars Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant, both Hitchcock regulars, and features a plot about Nazis, uranium, and South America. After a brief lull of commercial success in the late 1940s, Hitchcock returned to form with Strangers on a Train (1951), based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. In the film, two men casually meet, one of whom speculates on a foolproof method to murder. He suggests that two people, each wishing to do away with someone, should each perform the other's murder. Farley Granger played the innocent victim of the scheme, while 'boy-next-door' Robert Walker played the villain. I Confess (1953) was set in Quebec with Montgomery Clift as a Catholic priest. It was followed by three colour films starring Grace Kelly: the 3-D film Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955). From 1955 to 1965, Hitchcock was the host of the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. With his droll delivery, gallows humour, and iconic image, the series made Hitchcock a celebrity. In his films, Hitchcock often used the "mistaken identity" theme, such as in The Wrong Man (1956), and North by Northwest (1959). In Vertigo (1958), James Stewart plays Scottie, a former police investigator suffering from acrophobia. He develops an obsession with a woman he has been hired to shadow (Kim Novak). His obsession leads to tragedy, and this time Hitchcock does not opt for a happy ending. Vertigo is one of his most personal and revealing films, dealing with the Pygmalion-like obsessions of a man who crafts a woman into the woman he desires. Psycho (1960) was Hitchcock's great shock masterpiece, mostly for its haunting performances by Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins and its shower scene, and The Birds (1963) became the unintended forerunner to an onslaught of films about nature-gone-mad, and booth films were phenomenally popular. Film companies began to refer to his films as "Alfred Hitchcock's": Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972), and Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot (1976). During the making of Frenzy (1972), Hitchcock's wife Alma suffered a paralysing stroke which made her unable to walk very well. In 1979, Hitchcock was knighted, making him Sir Alfred Hitchcock. A year later, in 1980, he died peacefully in his sleep due to renal failure. Hitchcock was survived by his wife and daughter. After the funeral, his body was cremated. His remains were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.

Sources: Bruce Eder (AllMovie), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

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