Alfred Hitchcock - Early Life

Early Life

Hitchcock was born on 13 August 1899 in Leytonstone, London, England, the second son and youngest of three children of William Hitchcock (1862–1914), a greengrocer and poulterer, and Emma Jane Hitchcock (née Whelan; 1863–1942). Named Alfred after his father's brother, Hitchcock was raised Catholic and was sent to Salesian College and the Jesuit Classic school St Ignatius' College in Stamford Hill, London. His mother and paternal grandmother were of Irish extraction. He often described his childhood as being very lonely and sheltered, a situation compounded by his obesity.

Around the age of 5, according to Hitchcock, he was sent by his father to the local police station with a note asking the officer to lock him away for five minutes as punishment for behaving badly. This idea of being harshly treated or wrongfully accused is frequently reflected in Hitchcock's films.

Hitchcock's father died when he was 14. In the same year, Hitchcock left St. Ignatius to study at the London County Council School of Engineering and Navigation in Poplar, London. After leaving, he became a draftsman and advertising designer with a cable company called Henley's. During the First World War, Hitchcock was rejected for military service for his weight, a glandular condition, and his father's death. But nevertheless the young Hitchcock signed up for a cadet Regiment of the Royal Engineers in 1917. His military stint was very limited in that he received theoretical briefings, weekend drills and exercises. Hitchcock would march around Hyde Park, and was required to wear puttees, which he could never master how to wrap around his legs properly.

It was while working at Henley's that he first started to dabble creatively. Upon the formation of the company's in-house publication, The Henley Telegraph, in 1919, Hitchcock started to submit short articles, eventually becoming one of its most prolific contributors. His first piece was "Gas" (1919), published in the very first issue, in which a young woman imagines that she is being assaulted one night in Paris – only for the twist to reveal that it was all just a hallucination in the dentist's chair, induced by the anaesthetic. His second piece was "The Woman's Part" (1919), which involves the conflicted emotions a husband feels as he watches his wife, an actress, perform onstage."Sordid" (1920) surrounds an attempt to buy a sword from an antiques dealer, with another twist ending. The short story "And There Was No Rainbow" (1920) was Hitchcock's first brush with possibly censurable material. A young man goes out looking for a brothel, only to stumble into the house of his best friend's girl. "What's Who?" (1920), while being very funny, was also a precursor to the famous Abbott and Costello "Who's on First?" routine. "The History of Pea Eating" (1920) was a satirical disquisition on the various attempts mankind has made over the centuries to eat peas successfully. His final piece, "Fedora" (1921), was his shortest and most enigmatic contribution. It also gave a strikingly accurate description of his future wife, Alma (whom he had not yet met).

During this period, Hitchcock became intrigued by photography and started working in film production in London, working as a title card designer for the London branch of what would become Paramount Pictures. In 1920, he received a full-time position at Islington Studios with its American owner, Famous Players-Lasky, and their British successor, Gainsborough Pictures, designing the titles for silent movies. His rise from title designer to film director took five years.