Thursday, January 31, 2008

Living Hitchcock Actors: Who's Left?


Who among the living Hitchcock actors most conjures up the Master and his movies? My answer: Tippi Hedren, who tops my list of the Top Ten Most Significant Living Hitchcock Actors (plus 84 others). Why the list? Just for fun and for Hitchcock fans who want to know that these actors are still with us. Side note: Namoi Watts is slated to play the lead in the 2009 remake of The Birds!




TOP TEN:

1. Tippi Hedren (b. 1930) (The Birds, Marnie)
2. Kim Novak (b. 1933) (Vertigo)
3. Joan Fontaine (b. 1917) (Rebecca, Suspicion)
4. Farley Granger (b. 1925) (Rope, Strangers on a Train)
5. Eva Marie Saint (b. 1924) (North By Northwest)
6. Nova Pilbeam (b. 1919) (The Man Who Knew Too Much [1934], Young and Innocent)
7. Doris Day (b. 1924) (The Man Who Knew Too Much [1956])
8. Rod Taylor (b. 1930) (The Birds)
9. Pat Hitchcock (b. 1928) (Stage Fright, Strangers on a Train, Psycho)
10. John Forsythe (b. 1918) (The Trouble With Harry, Topaz, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: “I Saw the Whole Thing”)

THE REST (Alphabetical):

1. Kathryn Adams (b. 1920) (Saboteur)
2. Mary Anderson (b. 1920) (Lifeboat)
3. Julie Andrews (b. 1935) (Torn Curtain)
4. Brigitte Auber (b. 1928) (To Catch A Thief)
5. Diane Baker (b. 1938) (Marnie)
6. Laurinda Barrett (b. 1931) (The Wrong Man)
7. Charles Bates (b. 1934) (Shadow of a Doubt, Spellbound)
8. Kimberly Beck (b. 1956) (Marnie)
9. Henry Beckman (b. 1921) (The Wrong Man, Marnie)
10. Martin Benson (b. 1918) (Under Capricorn)
11. Karen Black (b. 1939) (Family Plot)
12. Morgan Brittany (b. 1951) (The Birds)
13. Faith Brook (b. 1922) (Suspicion)
14. Frank Cady (b. 1915) (Rear Window)
15. Veronica Cartwright (b. 1950) (The Birds)
16. Sean Connery (b. 1930) (Marnie)
17. Charles Cooper (The Wrong Man)
18. Carolyn Conwell (b. 1930) (Torn Curtain)
19. Bernard Cribbins (b. 1928) (Frenzy)
20. Roger Dann (I Confess)
21. Bruce Dern (b. 1936) (Marnie, Family Plot)
22. William Devane (b. 1937) (Family Plot)
23. Douglas Dick (b. 1920) (Rope)
24. Karin Dor (b. 1938) (Topaz)
25. M’el Dowd (b. 1940) (The Wrong Man)
26. Robert Ellenstein (b. 1923) (North By Northwest)
27. Jon Finch (b. 1941) (Frenzy)
28. Gisela Fischer (Torn Curtain)
29. Rhonda Fleming (b. 1923) (Spellbound)
30. Bonnie Franklin (b. 1944) (The Wrong Man)
31. Sally Fraser (North By Northwest)
32. Jimmy Gardner (b. 1924) (Frenzy)
33. John Gavin (b. 1931) (Psycho)
34. Kathryn Grant (Rear Window)
35. Rand Harper (Rear Window)
36. Barbara Harris (b. 1935) (Family Plot)
37. Mariette Hartley (b. 1940) (Marnie)
38. John Heldabrand (The Wrong Man)
39. Katherine Helmond (b. 1928) (Family Plot)
40. Paul Jasmin (voice, Psycho)
41. Louis Jourdan (b. 1919) (The Paradine Case)
42. Martin Landau (b. 1931) (North By Northwest)
43. Harry Landers (b. 1921) (Rear Window)
44. Louis Latham (b. 1922) (Marnie)
45. Ed Lauter (b. 1940) (Family Plot)
46. Joan Leslie (b. 1925) (Foreign Correspondent)
47. Barbara Leigh-Hunt (b. 1935) (Frenzy)
48. Norman Lloyd (b. 1914) (Saboteur, Spellbound)
49. Alec McCowen (b. 1925) (Frenzy)
50. Hector MacGregor (Stage Fright)
51. Shirley MacLaine (b. 1934) (The Trouble With Harry)
52. Patrick MacNee (b. 1922) (Alfred Hitchcock Presents: “Arthur”)
53. Karl Malden (b. 1912) (I Confess)
54. Joe Mantell (b. 1920) (The Birds)
55. Jean Marsh (b. 1934) (Frenzy)
56. Anna Massey (b. 1937) (Frenzy)
57. Jerry Mathers (b. 1948) (The Trouble With Harry)
58. Vera Miles (b. 1929) (The Wrong Man, Psycho)
59. Martin Milner (b. 1931) (Dial M For Murder)
60. Patricia Morrow (b. 1944) (The Wrong Man)
61. Bill(y) Mumy (b. 1954) (Alfred Hitchcock Presents: “Bang! You’re Dead”)
62. Kate Murtagh (Family Plot)
63. Paul Newman (b. 1925) (Torn Curtain)
64. Maureen O’Hara (b. 1920) (Jamaica Inn)
65. Christopher Olsen (b. 1946) (The Man Who Knew Too Much)
66. Adele Pearce (aka Pamela Blake) (b. 1918) (Mr. & Mrs. Smith)
67. Gilles Pelletier (I Confess)
68. Nehemiah Persoff (b. 1919) (The Wrong Man)
69. Michel Piccoli (b. 1925) (Topaz)
70. Robert Quarry (b. 1925) (Shadow of a Doubt)
71. Marge Redmond (b. 1930) (Family Plot)
72. Frances Reid (b. 1913) (voice; The Wrong Man)
73. Melody Thomas Scott (b. 1956) (Marnie)
74. John Stephenson (b. 1923) (Topaz)
75. Michel Subor (b. 1935) (Topaz)
76. Clive Swift (b. 1936) (Frenzy)
77. Richard Todd (b. 1919) (Stage Fright)
78. Philip Truex (b. 1911) (The Trouble With Harry)
79. Charles Tyner (b. 1925) (Family Plot)
80. Peggy Webber (The Wrong Man)
81. Billie Whitelaw (b. 1932) (Frenzy)
82. Elizabeth Wilson (b. 1921) (The Birds)
83. Googie Withers (b. 1917) (The Lady Vanishes)
84. Edna May Wonacott (b. 1932) (Shadow of a Doubt)

Alfred Hitchcock's cast of actors is dwindling, however. Since I compiled the list of the last 100 significant Hitchcock players in my blog entry of 11/05/07, two actors have passed and news of the passing of four others (who had died earlier in the year) was reported. The six who died are as follows: Lonny Chapman (1920-2007) (The Birds), Laraine Day (1917-2007) (Foreign Correspondent), Hansjorg Felmy (b. 1931-2007) (Torn Curtain), Teddy Infuhr (1936-2007) (Spellbound), Elizabeth Inglis (1913-2007) (The 39 Steps), and Suzanne Pleshette (1937-2007) (The Birds) [who today received a posthumous Star on the Walk of Fame— link].

This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will bestow a lifetime achievement award on art director/production designer Robert F. Boyle, who was one of Hitchcock's frequent collaborators— Boyle worked with Hitchcock on SABOTEUR, SHADOW OF A DOUBT, NORTH BY NORTHWEST (which earned him his first Oscar nomination), THE BIRDS, and MARNIE. Link to AMPAS press release.

1 comment:

aries moon said...

Great list, I'm a big Hitchcock fan and have always wondered which of the stars of his films may be still living.