Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most influential filmmakers in cinema history. Born in England in 1899, his first successful film, 'The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog' (1927), helped to shape the thriller genre. Soon afterwards he became known as the "Master of Suspense" for an astonishing run of nail-biting, edge-of-seat motion pictures, many of which are ranked among the greatest films of the 20th century and include the intriguing ‘North by Northwest’ (1959) and the truly disturbing ‘Psycho’ (1960).
His movies garnered a total of 46 Oscar nominations and six wins. Eight of them have been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Yet he never won the Best Director Academy Award, an oversight considered a crime by many film critics and historians.
So, which of Hitchcock’s mysteries, thrillers, and chillers are your favorites? Click through the following gallery and learn more about the Master of Suspense and take a look at some vintage images of the legendary director at work.