Jeanette Helen Morrison
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4
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2
Awards
Janet Leigh won a Golden Globe for her 45-minute role as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho 1960. Discovered by Norma Shearer, she starred in more than 50 films including The Manchurian Candidate 1962. Married to Tony Curtis, she gave birth to daughters Kelly and Jamie Lee Curtis. Leigh died of vasculitis at her Beverly Hills home in 2004 at age 77.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Janet Leigh — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Janet Leigh by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Janet Leigh — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Born Jeanette Helen Morrison on July 6, 1927 in Merced, California, Janet Leigh was the only child of Frederick Robert Morrison and Helen Lita Westergard. Her family moved often, and she skipped several grades, graduating from high school at age 15. A lonely child, she found solace in movie theaters. She studied music and psychology at the University of the Pacific until a photograph of her at a ski resort led to a screen test with MGM.
Janet Leigh made her film debut in The Romance of Rosy Ridge 1947, discovered by Norma Shearer. She played ingenue roles opposite stars including Errol Flynn and James Stewart in Little Women 1949 and Scaramouche 1952. In Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho 1960, her 45-minute screen time as Marion Crane, including the shower scene, earned her a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination. She starred with Frank Sinatra in The Manchurian Candidate 1962. In the 1970s she moved to television movies. In 1980 she appeared alongside her daughter Jamie Lee Curtis in John Carpenter’s The Fog. She reunited with Jamie Lee in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later 1998.
Janet Leigh married four times. She eloped at age 15 with John Kenneth Carlisle; the marriage was annulled. In 1945, she married Stanley Harold Reames, divorcing in 1948. The marriage to actor Tony Curtis in 1951 produced two daughters, Kelly Curtis born 1956 and Jamie Lee Curtis born 1958; the couple divorced in 1962. Later that year she married stockbroker Robert Jay Brandt, remaining with him until her death. Leigh also suffered a miscarriage in 1953 while married to Curtis.
Janet Leigh’s performance in Psycho 1960 set a new standard for suspense in horror films. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960. After her death, the city of Stockton, California dedicated Janet Leigh Plaza in 2006, and the University of the Pacific renamed its campus movie theater the Janet Leigh Theatre in 2010. In 2004, she received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the university. Her role as Marion Crane and the shower scene changed horror film history.
Browse the complete filmography of Janet Leigh — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Janet Leigh — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Janet Leigh's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Janet Leigh — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Don’t Know What It Is I Exude. but Whatever It Is, It’s Whatever I Am!
Little-known facts about Janet Leigh — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis and her mother Janet Leigh appear together in John Carpenter’s The Fog 1980, not meeting until the film’s ending. They also appear together in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later 1998 early in the film when Janet reports to Jamie on a problem with the girls’ shower at a private school.
She gave birth to her second child at age 31, a daughter Jamie Lee Curtis on November 22, 1958. The child’s father was her third ex-husband Tony Curtis.
At age 15 she eloped; the marriage was later annulled. Thus Tony Curtis was her third husband when she married him at age 23.
On TCM she said that Van Johnson was responsible for her stage name. While filming The Romance of Rosy Ridge 1947, he suggested she shorten her first name to Janet and spell her last name Leigh instead of Lee, despite possible confusion with Vivien Leigh.
She co-starred with Tony Curtis in five films: Houdini 1953, The Black Shield of Falworth 1954, The Vikings 1958, The Perfect Furlough 1958, and Who Was That Lady? 1960.
In June 2010, Pacific Theatre, the campus movie theater of the University of the Pacific, was renamed and dedicated as Janet Leigh Theatre. The theater houses Janet Leigh movie posters, movie stills, college and family photos, and a display cabinet with many personal and professional Janet Leigh artifacts, including the lavender gown she wore to the 1961 Academy Awards.
She actually made Touch of Evil 1958 with a broken arm. Her arm was in a cast when she showed up for production, so they took her arm out of the cast and used every trick they could to hide it.
She turned down the role of Simone Clouseau in The Pink Panther 1963, which went to Capucine. Recently divorced and remarried, she didn’t want to go on location in Europe and be distanced from her family.
She was discovered by Norma Shearer from a photo on the desk of Janet Leigh’s father.
She was two months pregnant with her daughter Kelly Curtis when she completed filming Safari 1956 and five months pregnant with her when she recorded an appearance on The Rosemary Clooney Show 1956.
She gave birth to her first child at age 28, a daughter Kelly Curtis on June 17, 1956. The child’s father was her third ex-husband Tony Curtis.
She became pregnant with her first child by husband Tony Curtis in May 1953 but suffered a miscarriage on July 8, 1953 at age 26.
She was the daughter of Frederick Robert Morrison and Helen Lita Westergard. Her father had English, German, Northern Irish Scots-Irish, and Swiss-German ancestry; her mother was from a family of Danish immigrants.
Originally she was considered for the role of Lila Crane in Psycho 1960 and Vera Miles was intended for the role of Marion Crane. After screen tests, the actresses’ roles were reversed when they and Hitchcock agreed that it would be better for both them and the characters.
She wrote four books: There Really Was a Hollywood 1984 autobiography, Psycho: Behind the Scenes of the Classic Thriller 1995 co-authored with Christopher Nickens, House of Destiny 1996 novel, and The Dream Factory 2002 novel.
She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1777 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.
She has appeared in four films selected for the National Film Registry: The Naked Spur 1953, Touch of Evil 1958, Psycho 1960, and The Manchurian Candidate 1962.
She attended and graduated from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history, ranking #99.
She was cremated after death and her ashes are interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.
She was portrayed by Scarlett Johansson in the 2012 film Hitchcock.
In 2006, the city of Stockton, California renamed and dedicated a downtown cinema and plaza in her honor, called Janet Leigh Plaza, located two blocks away from the Bob Hope Theater.
Has a ski trail named after her, Leigh Lane, at Sun Valley Resort’s Bald Mountain Ski Area in Sun Valley, Idaho.
She was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California on May 14, 2004. She delivered an inspirational speech to graduating students, faculty, and administrators.
She was an active Democrat and appeared alongside Tony Curtis at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California.
She felt insulted when Stanley Kubrick asked her to play Charlotte Haze in Lolita 1962, as it was a character actress part, not a sexy star coming off a box office smash. She turned it down and the role went to Shelley Winters.
Interviewed in Tom Weaver’s book Science Fiction Stars and Horror Heroes McFarland & Co., 1991.
Her husband Bob Brandt was a stockbroker.
Her biography appears in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 326-329.
She was engaged to Arthur M. Loew Jr.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Janet Leigh.
Celebrities similar to Janet Leigh — same craft, ranked by reach.
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