Janet Leigh
Known for Acting · 131 credits
- Born
- 1927-07-06
- Died
- 2004-10-03
- Place of birth
- Merced, California, USA
- Also known as
- Jeanette Helen Morrison · جنت لی
Biography
Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, Leigh was discovered at 18 by actress Norma Shearer, who helped her secure a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Leigh appeared in radio programs before her first formal foray into acting, making her film debut in the drama The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). With MGM, she appeared in many films which spanned a wide variety of genres, which include the crime-drama Act of Violence (1948), the drama Little Women (1949), the comedy Angels in the Outfield (1951), the romance Scaramouche (1952) and the western drama The Naked Spur (1953). She played dramatic roles during the late 1950s, in such films as Safari (1956) and Orson Welles's film noir Touch of Evil (1958). With RKO Radio pictures she co-starred in the romantic comedy Holiday Affair (1949) with Robert Mitchum.
Leigh achieved her biggest success starring as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Psycho (1960). For her performance, Leigh won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Intermittently, she continued to appear in films, including Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Harper (1966), Night of the Lepus (1972), and Boardwalk (1979). She made her Broadway debut in 1975 in a production of Murder Among Friends. She would also go on to appear in two horror films with her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis: The Fog (1980) and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998).
In addition to her work as an actress, Leigh also wrote four books between 1984 and 2002, two of which were novels. Leigh had two brief marriages as a teenager (one of which was annulled) before marrying actor Tony Curtis in 1951. The pair's highly publicized union ended in divorce in 1962, and after starring in The Manchurian Candidate that same year, Leigh remarried and scaled back her career. She died in October 2004 at age 77, following a year-long battle with vasculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels.
Known For
TV Shows (26)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
Columbo
1971
as Grace Wheeler Willis
Murder, She Wrote
1984
as Cornelia Montaigne Harper
The Love Boat
1977
as Joan Philipps / Gail
Golden Globe Awards
1944
as Self
What's My Line?
1950
as Self / Self - Panelist
Touched by an Angel
1994
as Vera King
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
as Virginia Ballard
The Twilight Zone
1985
as Barbara LeMay
Tales of the Unexpected
1979
as Joan Stackpole
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
as Self
Intimate Portrait
1993
as Self (archive footage)
Family Law
1999
as Mary Sawyer
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
as Self
Matt Houston
1982
as Ramona
The Oscars
1953
as Self
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1964
as Miss Diketon
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1968
as Self (uncredited)
This Is Your Life
1952
as Self
Ghost Story
1972
as Carol
The Hollywood Palace
1964
as Self - Host
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
as Self
Scene by Scene
1997
as Self
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
The Rosemary Clooney Show
1956
as Self
Movies (105)
Psycho
1960
as Marion Crane
Little Women
1949
as Meg
The Fog
1980
as Kathy Williams
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
1998
as Norma Watson
The Manchurian Candidate
1962
as Eugenie Rose Chaney
The Vikings
1958
as Morgana
Angels in the Outfield
1951
as Jennifer Paige
Touch of Evil
1958
as Susan 'Susie' Vargas
Psycho II
1983
as Marion Crane (archive footage) (uncredited)
Psycho III
1986
as Marion Crane (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bye Bye Birdie
1963
as Rosie DeLeon
Harper
1966
as Susan Harper
Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special
1999
as Self (uncredited)
Night of 100 Stars II
1985
as Self
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
2025
as Self (archive footage)
Safari
1956
as Linda Latham
Rat Pack
2022
as Self (archive footage)
Act of Violence
1949
as Edith Enley
The Naked Spur
1953
as Lina Patch
Night of 100 Stars
1982
as Self
Night of the Lepus
1972
as Gerry Bennett
Houdini
1953
as Bess Houdini
Scaramouche
1952
as Aline de Gavrillac de Bourbon
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987
as Self
Prince Valiant
1954
as Princess Aleta
Jet Pilot
1957
as Lt. Anna Marladovna Shannon / Olga Orlief
The Fabulous Allan Carr
2017
as Self (archive)
The Black Shield of Falworth
1954
as Lady Anne of Mackworth
Pepe
1960
as Janet Leigh
Who Was That Lady?
1960
as Ann Wilson
Telethon
1977
as Elaine Cotten
Holiday Affair
1949
as Connie Ennis
Walking My Baby Back Home
1953
as Chris Hall
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mirror, Mirror
1979
as Millie Gorman
Kid Rodelo
1966
as Nora
Words and Music
1948
as Dorothy Feiner
A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954
as Self
Hello Down There
1969
as Vivian Miller
Grand Slam
1967
as Mary Ann
The Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972
as Self (archive footage)
The Spy in the Green Hat
1967
as Miss Diketon
Bad Girls from Valley High
2005
as Mrs. Witt
The Monk
1969
as Janice Barnes
Rogue Cop
1954
as Karen Stephanson
My Sister Eileen
1955
as Eileen Sherwood
The American Nightmare
2000
as Self
It's a Big Country
1951
as Rosa Szabo Xenophon
I Am Alfred Hitchcock
2021
as Self (archive footage)
The Deadly Dream
1971
as Laurel Hanley
Fearless Fagan
1952
as Abby Ames
Anthony Perkins: A Life in the Shadows
1999
as Self
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
1947
as Lissy Anne MacBean
Living It Up
1954
as Wally Cook
House on Greenapple Road
1970
as Marian Ord
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012
as Self (archive footage)
Inside the Dream Factory
1995
as Self
Pete Kelly's Blues
1955
as Ivy Conrad
That Forsyte Woman
1949
as June Forsyte
If Winter Comes
1947
as Effie Bright
Hollywood: No Sex, Please!
2018
One Is a Lonely Number
1972
as Gert Meredith
The Perfect Furlough
1958
as Lt. Vicki Loren
The Red Danube
1949
as Olga Alexandrova aka Maria Buhlen
Three on a Couch
1966
as Dr Elizabeth Acord
The Doctor and the Girl
1949
as Evelyn 'Taffy' Heldon
Pictures of Ghosts
2023
as Self (archive footage)
Fear on Film: Inside 'The Fog'
1980
as Self
The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal
1986
as Self
An American Dream
1966
as Cherry McMahon
Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius
1999
as Self
Jerry Lewis: The Last American Clown
1996
as Self - Interviewee
Tales from the Mist: Inside 'The Fog'
2002
as Self
Come Back Little Shiksa
1952
Howard Hughes: His Women and His Movies
2000
as Self
Mary Pickford: A Life on Film
2000
as Self
Murdock's Gang
1973
as Laura Talbot
Wives and Lovers
1963
as Bertie Austin
Honeymoon with a Stranger
1969
as Sandra Latham
Confidentially Connie
1953
as Connie Bedloe
The Story of Lassie
1994
as Self
Just This Once
1952
as Lucy Duncan
Cubby Broccoli: The Man Behind Bond
2000
as Herself
Murder at the World Series
1977
as Karen Weese
In My Sister's Shadow
1997
as Kay Connor
How to Smuggle a Hernia Across the Border
1949
Boardwalk
1979
as Florence Cohen
Two Tickets to Broadway
1951
as Nancy Peterson
Strictly Dishonorable
1951
as Isabelle Perry
The Making of 'Psycho'
2005
as Self
The Re-Inforcer
1951
as Mary Muck
Emergency: Donald Trump’s "Touch of Evil"
2019
as (archive footage)
Hitchcock: Alfred the Great
1994
as Himself
Miss Glucksman Visits Hollywood
1954
Fairfax Avenue
1951
Unmasking the Horror
1998
People, Hopes, Medals
1960
as Self
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
1995
as Self
Bob Hope Christmas Show
1965
as Self
Hills of Home
1948
as Margit Mitchell
An Eye for an Eye
1952
The Egg
1993
as The egg (voice) (archive footage)
Rat Pack: A Conference of Cool
1999
as Self
Nightmare
1956
as Janet
About Janet Leigh
Janet Leigh (born Jeanette Helen Morrison; July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004) was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, Leigh was discovered at 18 by actress Norma Shearer, who helped her secure a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Leigh appeared in radio programs before her first formal foray into acting, making her film debut in the drama The Romance of Rosy Ridge (1947). With MGM, she appeared in many films which spanned a wide variety of… With 131 credits spanning from 1944 to 2025, Janet Leigh has appeared in 105 films and 26 TV shows.
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Most Popular Janet Leigh Movies
- Psycho (1960) — as Marion Crane
- Little Women (1949) — as Meg
- The Fog (1980) — as Kathy Williams
- Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) — as Norma Watson
- The Manchurian Candidate (1962) — as Eugenie Rose Chaney
Where to Watch Janet Leigh Films
Most Janet Leigh movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Janet Leigh, check our movies catalogue and browse page.