Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood. In 1956 he became an American citizen while retaining his British citizenship.

Over a career spanning more than half a century, Hitchcock fashioned for himself a distinctive and recognizable directorial style. Viewers are made to identify with the camera which moves in a way meant to mimic a person's gaze and which forces viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism. He framed shots to manipulate the feelings of the audience and maximize anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative film editing to demonstrate the point of view of the characters. His stories frequently feature fugitives on the run from the law alongside "icy blonde" female characters. Many of Hitchcock's films have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring depictions of murder and crime, although many of the mysteries function as decoys or "MacGuffins" meant only to serve thematic elements in the film and the extremely complex psychological examinations of the characters. Hitchcock's films also borrow many themes from psychoanalysis. Through his cameo appearances in his own films, interviews, trailers, and the television program Alfred Hitchcock Presents, he became an iconic cultural figure.

Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades. Often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, he came first in a 2007 poll of film critics in Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, which said: "Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else." MovieMaker has hailed him as the most influential filmmaker of all time.

Alfred Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a British film director and producer, closely associated with the suspense thriller genre. He is a well-known man and an award-winning director. He directed and produced two of the 100 Greatest American Movies, Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960), two psychological thrillers.

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• The Birds could be the most terrifying motion picture I have ever made.
  • Movie trailer for the 1960s film The Birds

• Never turn your back on a friend.
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents

• I am a typed director. If I made Cinderella, the audience would immediately be looking for a body in the coach.
  • Newsweek (11 June 1956)

• Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it.
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents. 1960

• I’m frightened of eggs, worse than frightened, they revolt me. That white round thing without any holes … have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its yellow liquid? Blood is jolly, red. But egg yolk is yellow, revolting. I’ve never tasted it.
  • News summaries (31 December 1963)

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Fri Jul 23 17:07:48 2010