Patricia Alma Hitchcock O'Connell (7 July 1928 – 9 August 2021)
was an English-American actress and producer, acting under the name Pat Hitchcock. She was the only child of English director
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
and film editor
Alma Reville
Alma Lucy Reville, Lady Hitchcock (14 August 1899 – 6 July 1982), was an English director, editor, and screenwriter. She was the wife of the film director Alfred Hitchcock. She collaborated on scripts for her husband's films, including ''Shad ...
, and had small roles in several of her father's films, with her most substantial appearance being in ''
Strangers on a Train'' (1951).
Early life
Hitchcock was born on 7 July 1928 in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, the only child of film director
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
and film editor
Alma Reville
Alma Lucy Reville, Lady Hitchcock (14 August 1899 – 6 July 1982), was an English director, editor, and screenwriter. She was the wife of the film director Alfred Hitchcock. She collaborated on scripts for her husband's films, including ''Shad ...
. The family moved to
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, in 1939.
As a child, Hitchcock knew she wanted to be an actress, and made her first onscreen appearance as an uncredited extra alongside her mother in
''Sabotage'' (1936).
In the early 1940s, she began acting on the stage and doing
summer stock
In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock the ...
. Her father helped her gain a role in the
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
production of ''Solitaire'' (1942).
[Adair, Gene (2002). ''Alfred Hitchcock: Filming Our Fears.'' Oxford University Press. p. 76. ] She also played the title role in the Broadway play ''Violet'' (1944).
After graduating from
Marymount High School
Marymount High School is an independent, Catholic, all-girls, college-preparatory high school located in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It sits on Sunset Boulevard across from the University of California, Los Angeles camp ...
in Los Angeles in 1947, she attended the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...
in London and also appeared on the London stage.
Career
In early 1949, her parents arrived in London to make ''
Stage Fright
Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when perf ...
'', Hitchcock's first British-made feature film since emigrating to
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. Pat did not know she would have a walk-on part in the film until her parents arrived. Because she bore a resemblance to the star,
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman ( ; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)["Actress, P ...](_blank)
, her father asked if she would mind also doubling for Wyman in the scenes that required "danger driving".
She had supporting roles in three of her father's films.
In ''Stage Fright'' (1950), she played a jolly acting student named Chubby Bannister, one of Wyman's school chums; ''
Strangers on a Train'' (1951), playing Barbara Morton, sister of Anne Morton (
Ruth Roman
Ruth Roman (born Norma Roman; December 22, 1922 – September 9, 1999) was an American actress of film, stage, and television.
After playing stage roles on the east coast, Roman relocated to Hollywood to pursue a career in films. She appeare ...
), the lover of Guy Haines (
Farley Granger
Farley Earle Granger Jr. (July 1, 1925 – March 27, 2011) was an American actor, best known for his two collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock: ''Rope'' in 1948 and '' Strangers on a Train'' in 1951.
Granger was first noticed in a small ...
); and Caroline in ''
Psycho'' (1960). In this role, she offers to share her tranquilizers with Marion Crane (
Janet Leigh
Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...
), having received them from her mother prior to her wedding night. Hitchcock was an extra in her father's film ''
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
'' (1936). She and her mother, Alma Reville, are in the crowd waiting for, then watching, the Lord Mayor's Show parade.
Hitchcock also worked for
Jean Negulesco
Jean Negulesco (born Ioan Negulescu; – 18 July 1993) was a Romanian-American film director and screenwriter.Oliver, Myrna"Jean Negulesco 1900–1993 ''The Los Angeles Times'', 22 July 1993. He first gained notice for his film noirs and later ...
on ''
The Mudlark
''The Mudlark'' is a 1950 film made in Britain by 20th Century Fox. It is a fictional account of how Queen Victoria was eventually brought out of her mourning for her dead husband, Prince Albert. It was directed by Jean Negulesco, written and p ...
'' (1950), which starred
Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne (born Irene Marie Dunn; December 20, 1898 – September 4, 1990) was an American actress who appeared in films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is best known for her comedic roles, though she performed in films of other gen ...
and
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...
, playing a palace maid, and again was cast as a maid in the first episode of the 1953 television series ''
Life with Father
''Life with Father'' is a 1939 play by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, adapted from a humorous autobiographical book of stories compiled in 1935 by Clarence Day. The Broadway production ran for 3,224 performances over 401 weeks to become the l ...
''.
She had a bit-part in
DeMille DeMille or De Mille is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Agnes De Mille, American dance and choreographer
*Beatrice deMille, English-born American playwright and screenwriter
*Cecil B. DeMille, American film director
*Constance A ...
's ''
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
'' (1956).
As well as appearing in ten episodes of her father's half-hour television programme, ''
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was ren ...
'', Hitchcock worked on a few others, including ''
Playhouse 90
''Playhouse 90'' was an American television anthology series, anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology dr ...
'', which was live, directed by
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits were ''Birdman of Alcatraz'' (1962), ''The Manchurian Candidate'' (1 ...
. Acting for her father, however, remained the high point of her acting career, which she interrupted to bring up her children. (Hitchcock has a small joke with her first appearance on his show – after saying good night and exiting the screen, he sticks his head back into the picture and remarks: "I thought the little leading lady was rather good, didn't you?")
She also served as executive producer of the documentary ''
The Man on Lincoln's Nose'' (2000), which is about
Robert F. Boyle
Robert Francis Boyle (October 10, 1909 – August 1, 2010) was an American film art director and production designer.
Born in Los Angeles, Boyle trained as an architect, graduating from the University of Southern California (USC). When he los ...
and his contribution to films.
For several years, she was the family representative on the staff of ''
Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine
''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'' (AHMM) is a bi-monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime and detective fiction. ''AHMM'' is named for Alfred Hitchcock, the famed director of suspense films and television.
History
''AHMM'' ...
''. She supplied family photos and wrote the foreword of the book ''Footsteps in the Fog: Alfred Hitchcock's San Francisco'' (2002) by Jeff Kraft and Aaron Leventhal. A biography of her mother, ''Alma Hitchcock: The Woman Behind the Man'', was co-written with Laurent Bouzereau, and published in 2003.
Personal life and death
Hitchcock married Joseph E. O'Connell, Jr., son of Boston businessman Joseph E. O'Connell, on 17 January 1952, at Our Lady Chapel in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York. The couple had three daughters, Mary Alma Stone, Teresa "Terry” Carrubba, and Kathleen "Katie" Fiala. O'Connell died in 1994.
Hitchcock died of natural causes
In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...
in her sleep at her home in Thousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...
, on 9 August 2021, one month after her 93rd birthday. Her daughter Teresa made the following statement: "She was always really good at protecting the legacy of my grandparents and making sure they were always remembered. ... It’s sort of an end of an era now that they’re all gone."
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
Pat Hitchcock
at Find a Grave
Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchcock, Pat
Alfred Hitchcock
1928 births
2021 deaths
20th-century English actresses
21st-century English actresses
Actresses from London
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Burials at Valley Oaks Memorial Park
English emigrants to the United States
English film actresses
English film producers
English people of Irish descent
English stage actresses
English television actresses
People from Solvang, California