An upcoming biography sheds light on famed director Alfred Hitchcock's intricate, often tumultuous connections with his stunning, blonde leading ladies. The unorthodox dynamics commenced with his unconventional introductions on set. "Call me Hitch," he would declare, "without the c**k," as detailed in Hitchcock's Blondes: The Unforgettable Women Behind the Director's Dark Obsession by Lawrence Leamer, set to be published on October 10.
Hitchcock's mesmerizing female stars in blockbuster hits included Grace Kelly in the 1953 film Dial M for Murder, Ingrid Bergman in 1945's Spellbound, Kim Novak in 1958's Vertigo, Janet Leigh in the 1960 classic Psycho, and Tippi Hedren in the 1963 thriller The Birds.
While Kelly, Bergman, and Leigh seemingly tolerated Hitchcock's crude demeanor, Hedren and Novak reportedly suffered under his direction, negatively impacting their lives, according to the author.
Despite Hitchcock's obsession with sex, he never consummated relationships with any of the actresses. In The Birds, where killer birds terrorize a small town, Hitchcock used real trained birds to attack Hedren on set, attaching them to her body with rubber bands. The birds squawked and pecked close to Hedren's eyes, creating a harrowing experience.
Hedren was also subjected to Hitchcock's lewd jokes, purportedly aimed at extracting more from her acting. The author notes that Hitchcock, an anomaly in Hollywood, never consummated relationships with actresses in his films but remained fixated on sex.
Hitchcock's sexual hang-ups, rooted in his childhood with his 'imperious mother' Emma Jane Hitchcock, influenced his adult life. Leamer describes how Hitchcock, once seen as a 'little lamb' by his mother, struggled with unrequited desires for love and intimacy.
The director's voracious appetite for food added another layer to his complex persona. Known to consume large quantities, he struggled with both unfulfilled desires for love and an insatiable hunger for food.
Despite his cinematic legacy with over 50 films spanning six decades, Hitchcock's relationships with the actresses who graced his films continue to captivate writers, unveiling the director's intricate and often bizarre interactions with the leading ladies on his sets.
