After studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse with Sanford Meisner, he began appearing in stage productions, acting in over fifty plays and three Broadway productions. Peck first gained critical success in "The Keys of the Kingdom" (1944), a John M. Stahl–directed drama which earned him his first Academy Award nomination. He starred in a series of successful films, including romantic-drama "The Valley of Decision" (1944), Alfred Hitchcock's "Spellbound" (1945), and family film "The Yearling" (1946). He encountered lukewarm commercial reviews at the end of the 1940s, his performances including "The Paradine Case" (1947) and "The Great Sinner" (1948).