Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho of Hitchcock biographies—Donald Spoto’s "The Dark Side of Genius" and Patrick McGilligan’s "Alfred Hitchcock", among them—but here, though focusing on a single film, Rebello offers a close-up look at the director that is perhaps more revelatory about the man’s character and working style than any full-length biography. A wonderful, absolutely essential book." Production commenced on April 13, 2012 of a film based upon the book. The film is directed by Sacha Gervasi and stars Anthony Hopkins as director Alfred Hitchcock, Helen Mirren as his wife Alma Reville, Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, and James D'Arcy
Alfred Hitchcock AFI Life Achievement Award in 1979 and was knighted in December that year, four months before he died. Hitchcock was born in the flat above his parents' leased grocer's shop at 517 High Road, Leytonstone, on the outskirts of east London (then part of Essex), the youngest of three children: William (born 1890), Ellen Kathleen ("Nellie") (1892), and Alfred Joseph (1899). His parents, Emma Jane Hitchcock, née Whelan (1863–1942), and William Hitchcock (1862–1914), were both Roman Catholics, with partial roots in Ireland; William was a greengrocer as his father had been. There was a large extended family, including Uncle John