Peck was born in La Jolla, California. His father was a druggist in San Diego. His parents divorced when he was five years old. An only child, he was sent to live with his grandmother. He never felt he had a stable childhood. His fond memories are of his grandmother taking him to the movies every week and of his dog, which followed him everywhere. He studied pre-med at Berkeley and, while there, P ...
show all Peck was born in La Jolla, California. His father was a druggist in San Diego. His parents divorced when he was five years old. An only child, he was sent to live with his grandmother. He never felt he had a stable childhood. His fond memories are of his grandmother taking him to the movies every week and of his dog, which followed him everywhere. He studied pre-med at Berkeley and, while there, Peck got the acting bug and decided to change the focus of his studies. He enrolled in the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and debuted on Broadway after graduation. His debut was in Emlyn Williams' stage play "The Morning Star" (1942). By 1943, he was in Hollywood where he debuted in the RKO film "Days of Glory (1944)".
Stardom came with his next film, "The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)", for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. Peck's screen presence displayed the qualities for which he became well known. He was tall, rugged, and heroic, with a basic decency that transcended his roles. He appeared in Alfred Hitchcock 's "The Spellbound (1945)" as the amnesia victim accused of murder. In "Yearling (1946)", Peck was again nominated for the Academy Award and won the Golden Globe. Peck appeared in Westerns such as "The Duel in the Sun (1946)", "Yellow Sky (1949)" and "Gunfighter (1950)". He was nominated again for the Academy Award with his roles in "Gentleman's Agreement (1947)", a story of discrimination, and "Twelve O'Clock High (1949)", a story of high level stress at bomber command.
With a string of hits behind him, Peck soon took the decision to only work in films that interested him. He continued to appear as the heroic figures in larger-than-life films such as "The Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. (1951)" and "Moby Dick (1956)". He worked with Audrey Hepburn in her debut film, "Roman Holiday (1953)". After four nominations, Peck finally won the Oscar for his performance as Lawyer Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)". In the early 60s, he appeared in two dark films, "Cape Fear (1962)" and "Captain Newman, M.D. (1963)", which dealt with the way people live. He also gave a powerful performance as Captain Keith Mallory in "Guns of Navarone (1961)", one of the biggest cinematic hits of that year.
In the early 70s, he produced two movies, "The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1972)" and "The Dove (1974)", while his film career waned. He made a comeback playing the wooden Robert Thorn in the horror film "The Omen (1976)". After that, he returned to the bigger than life roles as "The MacArthur (1977)" and the evil Doctor Mengele in "Boys from Brazil (1978)". In the 80s, Peck moved into television with the mini series "Blue and the Gray, The" (1982) (mini)" and the movie "Scarlet and the Black, The (1983) (TV)". In 1991, he appeared in the remake of his 1962 film, playing a different part, in "Cape Fear (1991)". He was also cast as the liberal owner of a wire and cable business in "Other People's Money (1991)".
In 1967, Peck received the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. He was also been awarded the Medal of Freedom. Always politically liberal, Peck was active in causes dealing with charities, politics or the film industry. He died in June 2003, aged 87.
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