Gregory Peck

Gregory Peck

  • Birthday: 1916-04-05
  • Deathday: 2003-06-12
  • Place of birth: La Jolla, California, USA
  • Also know as: Eldred Gregory Peck

Biography

Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. After studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse with Sanford Meisner, Peck began appearing in stage productions, acting in over 50 plays and three Broadway productions. He 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). Peck reached global recognition in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing back-to-back in the book-to-film adaptation of Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) and biblical drama David and Bathsheba (1951). He starred alongside Ava Gardner in The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952) and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday (1953), which earned Peck a Golden Globe award. Other notable films in which he appeared include Moby Dick (1956, and its 1998 mini-series), The Guns of Navarone (1961), Cape Fear (1962, and its 1991 remake), The Omen (1976), and The Boys from Brazil (1978). Throughout his career, he often portrayed protagonists with "fiber" within a moral setting. Gentleman's Agreement (1947) centered on topics of antisemitism, while Peck's character in Twelve O'Clock High (1949) dealt with post-traumatic stress disorder during World War II. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), an adaptation of the modern classic of the same name which revolved around racial inequality, for which he received universal acclaim. In 1983, he starred opposite Christopher Plummer in The Scarlet and The Black as Hugh O'Flaherty, a Catholic priest who saved thousands of escaped Allied POWs and Jewish people in Rome during the Second World War. Peck was also active in politics, challenging the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 and was regarded as a political opponent by President Richard Nixon. President Lyndon B. Johnson honored Peck with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 for his lifetime humanitarian efforts. Peck died in his sleep from bronchopneumonia at the age of 87.

Filmography

The Omen

1976

As Robert Thorn

Moby Dick

1956

As Captain Ahab

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

1952

As Harry Street

The Guns of Navarone

1961

As Capt. Keith Mallory

Yellow Sky

1948

As James "Stretch" Dawson

Cape Fear

1962

As Sam Bowden

MacArthur

1977

As Douglas MacArthur

Arabesque

1966

As Prof. David Pollock

Captain Horatio Hornblower

1951

As Capt. Horatio Hornblower R.N

The Paradine Case

1947

As Anthony Keane

Billy Two Hats

1974

As Arch Deans

The Big Country

1958

As James McKay

Designing Woman

1957

As Mike Hagen

Gentleman's Agreement

1947

As Philip Schuyler Green

Captain Newman, M.D.

1963

As Capt. Josiah "Joe" Newman, MD

The Million Pound Note

1954

As Henry Adams

Marooned

1969

As Charles Keith

The Macomber Affair

1947

As Robert Wilson

On the Beach

1959

As Dwight Towers

David and Bathsheba

1951

As King David

The Stalking Moon

1968

As Sam Varner

Pork Chop Hill

1959

As Lt. Joe Clemons

The Bravados

1958

As Jim Douglass

Twelve O'Clock High

1949

As Brigadier General Frank Savage

The Scarlet and the Black

1983

As Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty

The Boys from Brazil

1978

As Dr. Josef Mengele

The Gunfighter

1950

As Jimmy Ringo

Mackenna's Gold

1969

As Marshal MacKenna

The Keys of the Kingdom

1944

As Fr. Francis Chisholm

The Yearling

1946

As Ezra "Penny" Baxter

The Sea Wolves

1980

As Col. Lewis Pugh

Mirage

1965

As David Stillwell

I Walk the Line

1970

As Sheriff Henry Tawes

The Purple Plain

1954

As Bill Forrester

The World in His Arms

1952

As Captain Jonathan Clark

Only the Valiant

1951

As Capt. Richard Lance

Night People

1954

As Col. Steve Van Dyke

The Chairman

1969

As John Hathaway

The Portrait

1993

As Gardner Church

Beloved Infidel

1959

As F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Sinner

1949

As Fedja

The Hidden World

1958

As Narrator

Behold a Pale Horse

1964

As Manuel Artiguez

Shoot Out

1971

As Clay Lomax

Africa

1967

As Self - Narrator (voice)

Stars of Cabaret

1956

As Self (archive footage)

To Kill a Mockingbird

1962

As Atticus Finch

Roman Holiday

1953

As Joe Bradley

Spellbound

1945

As John Ballantine

Other People's Money

1991

As Andrew Jorgenson

Old Gringo

1989

As Ambrose Bierce

The Valley of Decision

1945

As Paul Scott

Days of Glory

1944

As Vladimir

Fallout

2013

As Self (archive footage)

Audrey Hepburn: In Her Own Words

1993

As Himself - Introduction

Duel in the Sun

1946

As Lewton "Lewt" MacCanles

Pictura

1951

As Narrator: Carpaccio episode (voice)

The Curse of 'The Omen'

2005

As Self (archive footage)

Fearful Symmetry

1998

As Self

Amazing Grace and Chuck

1987

As President

The Will Rogers Follies: A Life In Revue

1993

As Mr. Ziegfeld (voice)

How the West Was Won

1962

As Cleve Van Valen

Cape Fear

1991

As Lee Heller

Restoring Roman Holiday

2002

As Joe Bradley (archive footage)

Backstory: 'Gentleman's Agreement'

2001

As Self (archive footage)

The Art Director

1949

As Self - Philip Schuyler Green (archive footage) (uncredited)

Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood

1999

As Self (archive footage)

Uncertain Verification

1965

As (archive footage)

Legenden: Audrey Hepburn

2005

As Self (archive footage)

Edith Head: The Paramount Years

2002

As (archive footage)

Hollywood: The Dream Factory

1972

As Self (archive footage)

Sinatra: 80 Years My Way

1995

As Presenter

Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey

1995

As John Ballantyne (archive footage) (uncredited)

Close Up

2012

As Self (archive footage)

Anthony Quinn: An Original

1990

As Self (archive footage)

Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star

1991

As Self (archive footage)

Ingrid Bergman Remembered

1996

As Self (archive footage)

Boom on Paris

1954

As Self

The Love Goddesses

1965

As (archive footage)

Hollywood: The Selznick Years

1961

As Self (uncredited)

Terror in the Aisles

1984

As Robert Thorn (Archive Footage)

The Movie Orgy

1968

As Captain Ahab (archive footage)

Night of 100 Stars

1982

As Self

And the Oscar Goes To...

2014

As Self (archive footage)

Production

The Big Country

1958

As Producer

The Dove

1974

As Producer

The Portrait

1993

As Executive Producer

To Kill a Mockingbird

1962

As Producer

Pork Chop Hill

1959

As Executive Producer

The Macomber Affair

1947

As Co-Producer

Captain Newman, M.D.

1963

As Producer

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