He was born in London in 1899, raised in a world of strict Catholicism and developed an abiding interest in the work of Edgar Alan Poe. His first job in the business was as an illustrator. Soon, he was a director. By his 30th birthday, he had moved on to talkies and was the "wunderkind of British cinema". At 40, he moved to Hollywood, where he achieved artistic and financial success. He worked initially for David O. Selznick, but prospered in the 50's and 60's as the studio system broke down and he could contract his services to whomever he wished. He wanted and usually achieved complete and total independence. As no one was particularly interested in 'Psycho', he wound up owning 60% and made $15m in 1960.
He, apparently, was as odd as his public image. Ackroyd is one of my favorite writers and here, he takes a bit of a leap trying to sort out and assess Hitch's odd, if not very odd, relationships with women. Ackroyd suggests it was a strict, sexually repressive Catholic bringing that led to an almost chaste marriage with career partner, Alma Reville, the mother of his only child, Patricia. He was obsessed with his leading ladies, particularly Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly. He was so intense with Tippi Hedren that he purportedly ruined her career for her refusal of his advances. He would fail any and all modern tests of harassment by endlessly focusing on sexual innuendo in the workplace. He sounds like a very weird, fat, asexual in appearance, little man, who happened to make some of the most memorable movies of the century. He died in 1980.
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