The Star Of One Of Hitchcock’s Most Iconic Scenes Ever – Janet Leigh

Though only on screen for 45 minutes, Janet Leigh’s performance in Psycho is one of the most iconic in cinema history and the 1960 thriller is considered Hitch's best.

Born Jeanette Helen Morris on July 6^th 1927, Janet was discovered by the actress Norma Shearer who had seen a photo of her taken at the ski resort where her parents worked. And although she has no previous acting experience, signed a contract with Hollywood studio MGM.

From the beginning, Janet enjoyed a relatively successful movie career and when she married actor Tony Curtis - her third husband – in 1951, the pair went on to star in five movies together. However, it wasn’t until the 33-year-old Janet starred in Hitchcock’s 1960 thriller Psycho that her position as Hollywood legend was confirmed.

Playing Marion Crane, a secretary who steals money from her employer to free her lover from debt, Leigh’s character makes a pit stop at an eerie motel whilst driving from Phoenix, Arizona to California. The film, which was made towards the end of Hitch’s career, is seen as one of his best and the shower scene where Leigh’s character is stabbed in a frenzy, his most violent.

Playing Marion Crane in Psycho

So what was so iconic about a character who only appears in the film for 45 minutes? It’s not just the terrifying shower scene that propelled Janet into the limelight. From the moment she appears on screen, her outfits take centre stage. She  brought the concept of sexy secretary to a whole new level and her character was arguably the most overtly sexy of all Hitchcock’s heroines. 

Combining skin-tight knits with figure hugging pencil skirts, Janet’s character also used her bra to symbolise her journey from innocence into deception, something that has become an iconic reference point for today’s designers who have championed armour-like underwear as outerwear since the 1980s. From Madonna in Jean Paul Gaultier to Dolce and Gabbana’s fitted bustier style dresses, the influence of Leigh’s ultra feminine form in both bras can still be seen today.

From crop tops to Madonna, Janet's bra is still being referenced

Janet received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her part in the film and also got an Oscar nomination nod the same year and continued to enjoy a career in Hollywood, appearing in two horror films with her daughter, actress Jamie Lee Curtis. But although she had a long and fruitful careet as actress and later author, nothing could ever compare to her career defining role as one of Hitchcock’s leading ladies. 

See Scarlett Johansson take on the role of Janet Leigh in Hitchcock which hits Irish cinema’s on February 8th