Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980), Film director

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock

Sitter in 15 portraits
London born film director; directed the first British talking film, Blackmail (1929), but worked in Hollywood from 1939 where he became known as the 'master of suspense' for films such as Spellbound (1945), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958) and North by Northwest (1959). Constantly exploiting technical innovations and prolifically inventive, Hitchcock's films vary widely from romantic drama and comedy thriller to the horror classic, Psycho (1960). The psychological manipulation of his audience was much admired by the French directors of the nouvelle vague.