She played Janet Leigh's office coworker in Psycho.
Posted on 08/11/2021 7:14:05 AM PDT by Borges
Pat Hitchcock, the only child of Alfred Hitchcock who appeared in the thrillers Stage Fright, Strangers on a Train and Psycho for the legendary British director, has died. She was 93.
Hitchcock’s youngest daughter, Amblin executive Katie Fiala, told The Hollywood Reporter that her mother died Monday at her home in Thousand Oaks.
Also the daughter of film editor/screenwriter Alma Reville — Pat Hitchcock’s parents were married for 54 years — the London native showed up on 10 episodes of CBS’ Alfred Hitchcock Presents from 1955-60, “whenever they needed a maid with an English accent,” she told The Washington Post in 1984.
She played the hired help in the Jean Negulesco palace drama The Mudlark (1950), starring Irene Dunne and Alec Guinness, and had an uncredited part in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956).
Hitchcock’s most prominent role came in Strangers on a Train (1951) as the bespectacled Barbara Morton, who, as the kid sister of Ruth Roman’s character watches the unhinged Bruno (Robert Walker) nearly strangle a woman to death at a cocktail party.
After starring as a teenager in a pair of 1940s Broadway comedies, she had a small role as Chubby Bannister, a Royal Academy of Dramatic Art classmate of Jane Wyman’s character, in Stage Fright (1950). In real life, she was attending RADA at the time.
And in Psycho (1960), she appeared near the start of the movie as the plain office worker Caroline, who offers to share some tranquilizers with Janet Leigh’s Marion Crane.
In a 2004 chat for the TV Academy website The Interviews: An Oral History of Television, Hitchcock talked about working with her father, noting, “There wasn’t anything unusual about it. Just like with [any other actor], we would discuss the scene and do it. We didn’t try out stuff.”
Born on July 7, 1928, Patricia Alma Hitchcock spent two years away at boarding school starting at age 8. The family relocated to the U.S. in March 1939 when her dad accepted an offer from producer David O. Selznick to direct Rebecca (1940), and they settled in a house on Bellagio Road in Bel Air.
She liked to ride horses and always wanted to be an actress.
“I was brought up rather as an English child, so I knew what was expected, and I pretty much always did it,” she told the Post. “You didn’t speak unless spoken to, but it didn’t bother me or have any repercussions. I didn’t know anything else.
“However, my father didn’t believe in punishment. When I did something wrong, he would reason with me. Sometimes I wish he would have screamed more. He’d say, ‘Do you realize how you’ve hurt your mother and me?’ Of course, I’d want to go through the floor.
“I was very close to my father. He used to take me out every Saturday, shopping and to lunch. On Sundays, he took me to church regularly, until I could drive. Then I’d drive him to church regularly. It’s because of his diligence that my religion is so strong today.”
She played Janet Leigh's office coworker in Psycho.
“Strangers on a Train” is a superb movie! One of my Top 10 of all time.
Just re-watched it a couple of weeks ago. Pat Hitchcock was adorable in it.
Modern remake would be "Throw Mama from the Train" with Billy Crystal and Danny Devitto - funny in a silly sort of way.
Was Robert Walker related to other Walkers in Hollywood? Great flick. Farley Grangers’ wife was going out with other guys and eating ice cream with them. I’d think today they would be consuming something else.
I’ll bet April Fool’s Day was a real scream at the Hitchcock household. With Alfred’s devilish humour?
In the last years of his life Hitch confessed that one of his guilty pleasures was watching “Smokey and the Bandit.”
In 2011, I went to a party with Tippi Hedren after interviewing her on my old radio show. She LOVES to talk about her days with Hitchcock, THE BIRDS, and MARNIE - which she offered - as I know better than to talk shop with celeb actors. However, I would have liked to learn more about her sexy daughter. Ha! Lovely, strong, and hard working woman, who still manages her wild cat rescue ranch. Anyway, love Hitchcock lore.
Tippi is still around too. 91!
[In the last years of his life Hitch confessed that one of his guilty pleasures was watching “Smokey and the Bandit.”]
It might be fun to imagine that movie if Hitch had directed it.
Amazing Hollywood story. Who would have guessed that Alfred Hitchcock was a regular church goer, and that he passed on a strong religious foundation to his daughter. Bravo, Alfred!
RIP
Yes, Farley Grainger was a "Friend of Dorothy".
Tippi is pretty much singlehandedly responsible for the nail salon industry being nearly as 100% owned by Viet Namese women.
L
He was the father of Robert Walker, Jr, who played Charlie X on the Star Trek original series, and Ensign Pulver in the movie of the same name (the role played by Jack Lemmon in Mister Roberts).
-PJ
I remember reading that Farley had a brief affair with Ava Gardner. The guy was gay as hell, but in one of his shifts toward bisexuality, he scores with one of the silver screen's great goddesses. Amazing.
"I disqualify myself, 'cause I done them both!"
trivia question:
we all know that Hitchcock used to make appearances in his movies. But in one movie, his own car makes an appearance. Which movie?
Wow! I had zero idea about any of this and had to Google it! Thanks, L! Interesting...
Wow! Time just flies along. She was an ageless beauty at 81, when we hung out.
Pretty cool, isn’t it.
L
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