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.
Known For
Atticus Finch
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lee Heller
Cape Fear
Robert Thorn
The Omen
Joe Bradley
Roman Holiday
Captain Ahab
Moby Dick
Captain Ahab (archive footage)
The Movie Orgy
John Ballantine
Spellbound
Capt. Keith Mallory
The Guns of Navarone
Self (archive footage)
Ingrid Bergman Remembered
Harry Street
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
James "Stretch" Dawson
Yellow Sky
Sam Bowden
Cape Fear
Andrew Jorgenson
Other People's Money
Douglas MacArthur
MacArthur
Prof. David Pollock
Arabesque
Capt. Horatio Hornblower R.N
Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.
Self (archive footage)
Backstory: 'Gentleman's Agreement'
Anthony Keane
The Paradine Case
Cleve Van Valen
How the West Was Won
Arch Deans
Billy Two Hats
Lewton "Lewt" McCanles
Duel in the Sun
Philip Schuyler Green
Gentleman's Agreement
Mike Hagen
Designing Woman
James McKay
The Big Country
Capt. Josiah "Joe" Newman, MD
Captain Newman, M.D.
Henry Adams
The Million Pound Note
Charles Keith
Marooned
Tom Rath
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Robert Wilson
The Macomber Affair
Dwight Towers
On the Beach
King David
David and Bathsheba
Sam Varner
The Stalking Moon
Lt. Joe Clemons
Pork Chop Hill
Ambrose Bierce
Old Gringo
Brigadier General Frank Savage
Twelve O'Clock High
Paul Scott
The Valley of Decision
Jim Douglass
The Bravados
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty
The Scarlet and the Black
Dr. Josef Mengele
The Boys from Brazil
Self (archive footage)
Close Up
Jimmy Ringo
The Gunfighter
Fr. Francis Chisholm
The Keys of the Kingdom
Marshal MacKenna
Mackenna's Gold
Ezra "Penny" Baxter
The Yearling
David Stillwell
Mirage
Col. Lewis Pugh
The Sea Wolves
Self (archive footage)
Legenden: Audrey Hepburn
Sheriff Henry Tawes
I Walk the Line
Bill Forrester
The Purple Plain
Captain Jonathan Clark
The World in His Arms
Capt. Richard Lance
Only the Valiant
Col. Steve Van Dyke
Night People
Vladimir
Days of Glory
Clay Lomax
Shoot Out
Self
Fun in the Big Country
John Hathaway
The Chairman
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Gardner Church
The Portrait
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Beloved Infidel
Self
The Making of 'Cape Fear'
(archive footage)
La verifica incerta
Fedja
The Great Sinner
Narrator
The Hidden World
Narrator
Super Chief: The Life and Legacy of Earl Warren
Self
A Conversation with Gregory Peck
Self
Fearful Symmetry
John Ballantyne (archive footage) (uncredited)
Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey
Manuel Artiguez
Behold a Pale Horse
Self / Narrator (voice)
From Russia to Hollywood: The 100-Year Odyssey of Chekhov and Shdanoff
Self
Boum sur Paris
Self (uncredited)
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Narrator: Carpaccio episode (voice)
Pictura
Archive Footage
To Kill a Mockingbird: All Points of View
President
Amazing Grace and Chuck
(archive footage)
Edith Head: The Paramount Years
Self
Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret
Joe Bradley (archive footage)
Restoring Roman Holiday
Self
Barbra Streisand: The Concert - Live at the MGM Grand
Self - Presenter
Sinatra: 80 Years My Way
Himself - Introduction
Audrey Hepburn: In Her Own Words
Self
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class
Self
Charlton Heston: For All Seasons
Self (archive footage)
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
Self
Audrey Hepburn: Remembered
Self (archive footage)
Anthony Quinn: An Original
Self - Narrator (voice)
Africa
Self
The Making of 'Cape Fear'
Narrator
John F. Kennedy: Years of Lightning, Day of Drums
Self (archive footage)
Gregory Peck, le gentleman acteur
Self (archive footage)
Fallout
Self
Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick
Self (archive footage)
The Men Who Made the Movies: King Vidor
Self
Sammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration
Self (archive footage)
Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood
Mr. Ziegfeld (voice)
The Will Rogers Follies: A Life In Revue
Self
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Self - Philip Schuyler Green (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Art Director
Self
Salute to Stan Laurel
Narrator
The Hunt for Adolf Eichmann
Self (archive footage)
Stars of Cabaret
Self
Jack Lemmon: America's Everyman
Self (archive footage)
And the Oscar Goes To...
Self
Directed by William Wyler
Self (archive footage)
The Curse of 'The Omen'
Self
Gregory Peck: His Own Man
Self
Night of 100 Stars
Himself
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Extraordinary Seaman
Narrator
American Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith
Self
The Making of Moonwalker
Self
Mickey's 50
Narrator (voice)
Island of Whales
Self
Look at Life: All in a Day's Work
Self
Intimate Portrait: Lauren Bacall
The All-Star Christmas Show
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
115
Gender
Male
Birthday
1916-04-05
Place of Birth
La Jolla, California, USA
Also Known As
Eldred Gregory Peck