Janet Leigh dies

[brownie]

From AP (and other sources)

Actress Janet Leigh Dies at 77

NEW YORK - Janet Leigh, the wholesome beauty who co-starred with James Stewart, John Wayne and Frank Sinatra in films of the 1940s to 1960s and achieved her most lasting fame as the victim of a shower slashing in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," died Sunday at her Beverly Hills, Calif., home, the New York Daily News reported on its Web site Monday. She was 77.

The actress' daughters, Kelly Curtis and actress Jamie Lee Curtis  were at their mother's side when she died, Jamie Lee Curtis' spokeswoman, Heidi Schaeffer, told the newspaper. Leigh had suffered in recent months from vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels, the Daily News said.

Schaeffer did not immediately return calls before business hours Monday from The Associated Press. The Beverly Hills Police Department, the Los Angeles County coroner's office or Leigh's agent, John Frazier, could immediately confirm the death.

A stunning blonde beauty, Leigh enjoyed a long and distinguished career, appearing in such films as "The Manchurian Candidate" in 1962 and in Orson Welles' 1958 film noir classic "Touch of Evil."

But she gained her most lasting fame in "Psycho" as the embezzling office worker who is stabbed to death in the shower by cross-dressing madman Anthony Perkins. The role earned her an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

Leigh wrote in her 1995 book "Psycho: Behind the Scenes in the Classic Thriller" that the filming was easy until the last 20 seconds when she had to express total horror as her character was being slashed to death.

She often said she hadn't been able to take a shower since the movie. "It's not a hype, not something I thought would be good for publicity," she insisted. "Honest to gosh, it's true."

Her other films included "Act of Violence," "Little Women," "Holiday Affair," "Strictly Dishonorable," "The Naked Spur," "Living It Up," "Jet Pilot," "Bye Bye Birdie" and "Safari."

Leigh appeared with daughter Jamie Lee in the 1980 thriller "The Fog" and made occasional television appearances in her later years. She had married Curtis' father, Tony Curtis, in 1951 when both stars were at the height of their fame. They divorced in 1962.

Her filmography is quite impressive. She was in several masterpieces including 'Psycho', 'Touch of Evil' and 'The Naked Spur'.

[sheldonm]

r.i.p.

[J.A.W.]

Another favorite gone...

[Bright Moments]

[Dave James]

It's amazing to me how much a single role can define an actor's entire career. When you consider that Leigh was probably on screen for only the first half hour of Psycho but the degree to which she is and will always be remembered for those 30 minutes of work...well, like I said amazing. I will bet you the average man on the street couldn't name another Janet Leigh movie, but Psycho is hard wired into the memory banks of almost anyone over the age of 30.

Up over and out.

Edited October 4, 2004 by Dave James

[Johnny E]

I believe Janet Leigh was one of the most beautiful Hollywood Actresses of all time. Her beauty came from her lovely face, perfect body, but also her earthy and unmistakably real charm. RIP janet.

[BruceH]

NPR replayed a 1995 interview with her, and sure enough, most of it was about the shower scene in Psycho. Like most charming actresses, she was wasted by Hollywood. RIP.

[BERIGAN]

She was in films since the 40's....I saw her in Romance of Rosy Ridge, which while not a great film by any stretch, is better than the title, and she is beautiful in it!!!

Allmovie says she was born in 1926, which would make her 78...

R.I.P.

[BERIGAN]

I think most people picture her with short hair...

[maren]

Yeah, that headline to the obit was annoying, but this (from the editorial page) was interesting:

Marion Crane

By VERLYN KLINKENBORG

Published: October 5, 2004

Marion Crane is the character played by Janet Leigh in "Psycho," the Alfred Hitchcock movie released in 1960. It is the kind of movie that devours an actor's career - think of Anthony Perkins - and Ms. Leigh, who died on Sunday at 77, will forever be remembered for the scene that devours the movie itself: the shower scene. That is the apex of Hitchcock's horror, a narrowing gyre of voyeurism, violence and ink-dark blood. It is also, in a sense, the most childish and most primal moment in the movie. To be frightened by it, you need to know only that a woman is being stabbed in the shower - and stabbed, as well, by the composer Bernard Herrmann's score.

But there's so much more to know about Marion Crane. Her story leads us backward from the Bates Motel to a hotel in downtown Phoenix where checkout time is 3 p.m. and the décor is late Raymond Chandler. Marion sits on the bed, photographed in a black-and-white that is almost as demonic as the black-and-white in Orson Welles's "Touch of Evil," which Ms. Leigh had starred in two years earlier. Sam Loomis, played by John Gavin, is bare-chested, and she is beginning to dress. The short half-life of sex decays in the room, and the talk is of true love driven into hiding by money troubles, including Sam's alimony payments. He tries to imagine how it would be to marry on his hardware-store pay. She says, "You make respectability sound - disrespectful."

And that is Marion Crane. She clamors for respectability, but she also knows what it hides. Janet Leigh captures this perfectly. She is half-dressed, and yet her body seems curiously more virtuous than her eyes, which see more than they want to. This opening scene is every bit as riveting as the more famous episode in Cabin One of the Bates Motel. Getting stabbed in the shower is a complete surprise to Marion Crane. Nothing prepares her for it or justifies it. But this scene - two lovers rehearsing what has been rehearsed too often before - is nearly as chilling.