Gregory Peck

Acting

Born: 1916-04-05
Died: 2003-06-12
From: La Jolla, California, USA
Gender: Male
Height: 189.00 m
Popularity: 2.1

Also Known 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.

Photos12

Awards & Nominations19 won · 14 nominated

🏆 Won

Marian Anderson Award

1999
Nominated

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

Moby Dick

1998
🏆 Won

Honorary César

1995
🏆 Won

Honorary Golden Bear

1993
🏆 Won

Kennedy Center Honors

1991
🏆 Won

AFI Life Achievement Award

1989
🏆 Won

Donostia Award

1986
Nominated

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

The Boys from Brazil

1978
Nominated

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

MacArthur

1977
🏆 Won

Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award

1970
🏆 Won

Presidential Medal of Freedom

1969
🏆 Won

Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award

1968
🏆 Won

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

1968
Nominated

Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award

1968
🏆 Won

Academy Award for Best Actor

To Kill a Mockingbird

1963
🏆 Won

David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor

To Kill a Mockingbird

1963
🏆 Won

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

To Kill a Mockingbird

1963
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Actor

To Kill a Mockingbird

1963
Nominated

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Captain Newman, M.D.

1963
Nominated

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

To Kill a Mockingbird

1962
🏆 Won

Henrietta Award

1954
Nominated

Henrietta Award

1954
🏆 Won

Henrietta Award

1950
Nominated

Henrietta Award

1950
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Actor

Twelve O'Clock High

1950
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Actor

Gentleman's Agreement

1948
🏆 Won

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role

The Yearling

1947
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Actor

The Yearling

1947
Nominated

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

The Yearling

1946
Nominated

Academy Award for Best Actor

The Keys of the Kingdom

1946
🏆 Won

star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

🏆 Won

National Medal of Arts

🏆 Won

Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres

Acting131 titles

Production9 titles