Women We Love: Janet Leigh

The second "Woman We Love" in Movie Dearest's Halloween salute to Hollywood scream queens is the woman whose screams were heard 'round the world in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, thereby making her, in fact, the queen of scream queens. I'm talking about, of course, Janet Leigh.

Leigh was discovered by Norma Shearer when the legendary star saw a picture of her at the ski resort Leigh's father worked at; an MGM screen test followed, and Janet was cast in the lead role in her first film, The Romance of Ruby Ridge. At first cast as girl-next-door types in such films as Little Women, Angels in the Outfield and My Sister Eileen, Leigh soon graduated to more adult, sensual roles in Pete Kelly's Blues, Touch of Evil, The Manchurian Candidate and Bye Bye Birdie. But it was Psycho that insured her cinematic immortality.

Playing good girl gone bad Marion Crane, Leigh's famous shower scene still shocks today, but it was even more controversial back in 1960. It was the first time an established star appeared nude onscreen, and her early exit from the story sent audiences reeling. No matter, Leigh was nominated for an Oscar and won the Golden Globe for her performance (although she said she never took a shower again).

Like most actresses of her day, Leigh eventually segued into television work, but she always maintained her connection to her most famous role, co-starring in the horror films The Fog and Halloween H20: 20 Years Later with her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis, who will be profiled in next week's "Women We Love".