Alfred Hitchcock's Leading Ladies

Alfred Hitchcock had a tendency to work with the same actors time and time again. When it came to his leading ladies, he also had a tendency to use all blonde women, thus giving them the nickname the "Blonde Girls." IMDB quotes him as having once said, "Blondes make the best victims. They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints." So, who were some of his leading ladies?

Ethyl Barrymore

Ethyl Barrymore was in one of Hitchcock's early films, The Paradine Case, also starring Gregory Peck. The movie was Hitchcock's final movie for produce David O. Selznick, who basically tried to take over Hitchcock's directorial control.

Barrymore was also offered a role in Notorious, but turned it down.

Ingrid Bergman

Ingrid Bergman is the Swedish-born actress who played in the Hitchcock classic Notorious as well as his Spellbound and Under Suspicion. She was also the inspiration for his classic movie Rear Window, due to her famous love affair with war photographer Robert Capa.

Her famous dream sequence in Spellbound was designed by surrealist artist Salvador Dali.

Madeline Carroll

Madeline Carroll is considered Hitchcock's first "Icy Blonde" character for her work in the movies 39 Steps and Secret Agent. 39 Steps is the movie that propelled her, and Hitchcock, to international fame. It is also interesting to note that Hitchcock kept her handcuffed to her costar Robert Donat for hours on end, to create real welts on her wrists for realism in his movie plot.

Doris Day

Doris Day starred in Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 remake of his movie The Man Who Knew Too Much. Her rendition of the song, "Que Sera, Sera" won an Academy Award and was her biggest musical hit.

Doris Day began her efforts to prevent animal abuse while working on this movie. During the filming, she was able to witness first-hand the mistreatment of animals in the public marketplaces overseas.

Joan Fontaine

Joan Fontaine became famous for her portrayal of The Second Mrs. de Winter in the Best Picture Academy Award-winning movie Rebecca. She was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for this role in 1940, but lost to Ginger Rogers. The following year, however, she was nominated again for her role in the Hitchcock classic Suspicion, and won, beating out big sister Olivia de Havilland. Olivia had also been one of the first choices to play Fontaine's role in Rebecca. The two sisters have had a strained relationship for decades because of these early issues.

Tippi Hedren

Tippi Hedren was discovered by Alfred Hitchcock in a commercial that aired during an episode of the Today Show. Hitchcock cast her in his classic The Birds, and even made the opening scene resemble the commercial. Later, he also cast her in Marnie. She was also in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Hitchcock unsuccessfully pursued a relationship with her during the filming of Marnie which caused a strain on their working relationship. He also became bitter when she moved on to working on other big movies, including Charlie Chaplin's last film.

Tippi Hedren is the mother of actress Melanie Griffith.

Patricia Hitchcock

Patricia Hitchcock is the sole child of Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville. She also starred in three of his movies: Stage Fright, Strangers on a Train, and Psycho. She also did work on his show Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Most of her time in Hollywood has ended up revolving around her father's legacy.

Claude Jade

Claude Jade was in Hitchcock's Topaz. The movie was Hitchcock's greatest failure.

According to his official website, Hitchcock was once quoted as saying, "Claude Jade is a brave nice young lady. But I don't give any guarantee what she will do on a taxi's back seat."

Grace Kelly

Grace Kelly, famous for marrying Prince Rainier of Monaco, had gained his attention from her work in classics, such as Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief, Dial 'M' for Murder, and Rear Window. In fact, she first noticed the royal grounds in Monaco during the filming of To Catch a Thief.

Hitchcock wanted her to play the role of Melanie in The Birds, but the Royal Family of Monaco would not hear of it. He also inquired about her playing the title role in Marnie, but Kelly again had to turn him down. When she married Prince Rainier, she had not yet fulfilled her contract to MGM, and therefore couldn't work for another studio, anyway.

Janet Leigh

Janet Leigh's major role was in Psycho. Her character Marion has stolen a great deal of money from her boss, and now she is on the run. Unfortunately for her, she stops at the Bates Motel. She only appears in the film for a short time, though she was promoted as being the main character of the story. Her total time on set filming the movie was three weeks, one of which was devoted exclusively to the shower scene.

Psycho was Hitchcock's final movie for Paramount Pictures, as well as his last one filmed in black and white. He felt that the shower scene would be too gory in black and white. He was also intrigued at how well "B" horror movies shot in black and white did at the box office and wanted to see how well a well-done horror movie could do.

She is also the mother of actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

Vera Miles

Vera Miles starred in Hitchcock's Psycho, as Janet Leigh's character's sister, who ends up coming to the Bates Motel searching for her. She also did an episode of and worked with him when he directed an episode of Startime.. In the movie, she is wearing a wig, because she had shaved her head for another role.

Miles also stars opposite Henry Fonda in The Wrong Man.

Vera Miles is also the screaming face seen in the theatrical trailer for the movie. In the trailer, Hitchcock is walking viewers on the set and arrives at the infamous shower. When he pulls back the curtain, it is Vera Miles screaming, not Janet Leigh, because Leigh was unavailable for the shooting of the trailer.

Kim Novak

Kim Novak starred opposite James Stewart, taunting him as the mysterious and elusive Madeleine and very real Judy in Vertigo. She is oft-quoted as saying how much she appreciated Hitchcock giving her creative license and freedom with her role in the movie. After the movie was released, and suffered from critical and commercial failure, Hitchcock first blamed James Stewart for looking too old. He also later said that he felt Novak was miscast in her role.

Anny Ondra

Anny Ondra was born in what is now known as Poland. She is considered to be Hitchcock's first "Blonde," starring in Blackmail. The movie was England's and Hitchcock's first "talking film," as sound production became available while the film was being made. A silent version was also produced for those theatres not yet equipped for sound. (Because the film was originally done as a silent film, some consider Madeline Carroll to be the first "Blonde," at least as far as his "talkies" are concerned.)

Anny was also married to famous German boxer Max Schmeling for over 50 years.

Alma Reville

Alma Reville took on the most important roles for Hitchcock, as his wife, his confidant, and his closest collaborator. Alma assisted him during the writing process and other pre-production steps. She had been an editor before meeting her husband. Hitchcock reportedly even preferred spending time with her after a long day on the set, instead of socializing with other cast and crew members.

According to the official Hitchcock website trivia page, he couldn't stand to even look at Alma when she was pregnant with their daughter, Patricia. Perhaps this was due in part to issues he had with his own mother? (These issues are somewhat revealed in the movie Psycho.)

Eva Marie Saint

Eva Marie Saint played in Hitchcock's North by Northwest with Cary Grant, which is her most famous role, next to her Academy Award winning role in On the Waterfront. She greatly admired Hitchcock, once saying, "Hitchcock said, 'I don't want you going back to sink-to-sink movies. You do movies where you wash the dishes looking drab in an apron. The audience wants to see their leading ladies dressed up.' He saw me as others didn't."

Saint was Hitchcock's first choice for the starring role in his movie Torn Curtain, but the studio insisted he use Julie Andrews, instead.

Resources:

Alfred Hitchcock on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000033/
Alma Reville on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0720904/
Anny Ondra on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0648565/
Claude Jade on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0415283/
Doris Day on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000013/
Ethyl Barrymore on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000856/
Eva Marie Saint on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001693/
Grace Kelly on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000038/
Ingrid Bergman on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000006/
Joan Fontaine on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000021/
Kim Novak on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001571/
Madeline Carroll on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0140914/
The Official Alfred Hitchcock Website http://www.alfred-hitchcock.com/index.html
Patricia Hitchcock on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0386877/
Tippi Hedren on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001335/
Vera Miles on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0587256/