Janet Lee is an American Hollywood diva who owes her fame to the master of fear and tension Alfred Hitchcock, who offered her the role of Marion Crane in the film "Psycho" made in 1960. She was awarded the Golden Globe for best supporting role, and was nominated for an Oscar.
Many were surprised by the choice of the famous director, considering that the actresses in his previous films were all blondes.
Janet Lee was the first black woman to become a star of Hitchcock's film, she married the famous actor Tony Curtis with whom she had two daughters, both actresses, and her scene in the shower entered the annals of world cinema.
After the publication of "Psyche", the public speculated whether Janet Lee was naked in the shower. Hollywood censors cut the film, and Janet received a lot of criticism and was declared an "immoral and easy" actress. It was later revealed that she had a costume that only simulated nudity.
Also, it was discovered that chocolate syrup was used instead of blood, and that the sounds of a knife stabbing through Marion Kane's body were actually stabbing blades into a watermelon.
In her book "Psycho: Behind the Scenes of a Classic Thriller", Janet Lee revealed how filming that role was easy for her until the last 20 seconds, when she had to express all her horror just before Norman Bates stabbed her character.
Janet Lee appeared with her daughter Jamie Lee Curtis in two horror films - "Fog" and "Halloween", and the last one in which she appeared was "Bad Girls from Valley High".
During her life, she wrote four books, of which her memoir entitled “There Really Was a Hollywood”, which she wrote first, was declared a bestseller.
She died on October 3, 2004. at her home in Los Angeles at age 77, and her body was cremated.
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