Jasper
10-04-04, 09:30 AM
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Hollywood movie star Janet Leigh, best known as the slasher victim in the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock thriller, "Psycho," has died, a spokeswoman for her daughter, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, said Monday.
"Janet Leigh died peacefully in her home Sunday afternoon," said the spokeswoman, Heidi Schaeffer.
Leigh, 77, died in her Beverly Hills home surrounded by daughters Jamie Lee and Kelly Curtis and her fourth husband, Robert Brandt, Schaeffer said.
Leigh had been battling vasculitis -- an inflammation of the blood vessels -- for a year, she said.
Leigh married Brandt in 1962 after an 11-year marriage to actor Tony Curtis, the father of her two children.
The actress won a Golden Globe Award and received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role as an embezzling office worker in "Psycho." Her chilling death in the film's shower scene is famous among generations of moviegoers.
In addition to the Hitchcock classic, Leigh appeared in other films such as "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962), "Bye Bye Birdie" (1963), "Little Women" (1949) and "Touch of Evil" (1958). More recently, she appeared in "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later" (1998) with daughter Jamie Lee.
Leigh had requested that all donations in her name be made to the Motion Picture and Television Foundation.
Leigh's publicist, John Frazer, said the actress served on the board of directors for the fund, which provides health care and medical treatment to those who work in the entertainment industry.
"She was not only a legendary actress, but she was also an author and a humanitarian," Frazer said.
"Janet Leigh died peacefully in her home Sunday afternoon," said the spokeswoman, Heidi Schaeffer.
Leigh, 77, died in her Beverly Hills home surrounded by daughters Jamie Lee and Kelly Curtis and her fourth husband, Robert Brandt, Schaeffer said.
Leigh had been battling vasculitis -- an inflammation of the blood vessels -- for a year, she said.
Leigh married Brandt in 1962 after an 11-year marriage to actor Tony Curtis, the father of her two children.
The actress won a Golden Globe Award and received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role as an embezzling office worker in "Psycho." Her chilling death in the film's shower scene is famous among generations of moviegoers.
In addition to the Hitchcock classic, Leigh appeared in other films such as "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962), "Bye Bye Birdie" (1963), "Little Women" (1949) and "Touch of Evil" (1958). More recently, she appeared in "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later" (1998) with daughter Jamie Lee.
Leigh had requested that all donations in her name be made to the Motion Picture and Television Foundation.
Leigh's publicist, John Frazer, said the actress served on the board of directors for the fund, which provides health care and medical treatment to those who work in the entertainment industry.
"She was not only a legendary actress, but she was also an author and a humanitarian," Frazer said.