108 Facts About Gregory Peck

Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Gregory Peck starred in a series of successful films, including romantic-drama The Valley of Decision, Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound, and family film The Yearling.

Gregory Peck encountered lukewarm commercial reviews at the end of the 1940s, his performances including The Paradine Case and The Great Sinner.

Gregory Peck reached global recognition in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing back-to-back in the book-to-film adaptation of Captain Horatio Hornblower and biblical drama David and Bathsheba.

Gregory Peck starred alongside Ava Gardner in The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday.

Gregory Peck won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, an adaptation of the modern classic of the same name which revolved around racial inequality, for which he received universal acclaim.

Gregory Peck was active in politics, challenging the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 and was regarded as a political opponent by President Richard Nixon.

Gregory Peck died in his sleep from bronchopneumonia at the age of 87.

Gregory Peck's father was of English and Irish heritage, and his mother was of English and Scots ancestry.

Gregory Peck converted to her husband's religion, Catholicism, and Peck was raised as a Catholic.

Gregory Peck's parents divorced when he was five, and he was brought up by his maternal grandmother, who took him to the movies every week.

Gregory Peck attended San Diego High School, and after graduating in 1934, enrolled for one year at San Diego State Teacher's College.

Gregory Peck had ambitions to be a doctor, and later transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, as an English major and pre-medical student.

At Berkeley, Gregory Peck's deep, well-modulated voice gained him attention, and after participating in a public speaking course, he decided to try acting.

Gregory Peck was encouraged by an acting coach, who saw in him perfect material for university theatre, and he became more and more interested in acting.

Gregory Peck was recruited by Edwin Duerr, director of the university's Little Theater, and appeared in five plays during his senior year, including as Starbuck in Moby Dick.

Gregory Peck did not graduate with his friends because he lacked one course.

Gregory Peck dropped the name "Eldred" and headed to New York City to study at the Neighborhood Playhouse with the legendary acting teacher Sanford Meisner.

Gregory Peck was often broke, and sometimes slept in Central Park.

Gregory Peck worked at the 1939 World's Fair as a barker, and Rockefeller Center as a tour guide for NBC television, and at Radio City Music Hall.

Gregory Peck dabbled in modelling before, in 1940, working in exchange for food at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, where he appeared in five plays, including Family Portrait and On Earth As It Is.

Gregory Peck made his Broadway debut as the lead in Emlyn Williams' The Morning Star in 1942.

Gregory Peck's acting abilities were in high demand during World War II since he had been exempted from military service because of a back injury suffered while receiving dance and movement lessons from Martha Graham as part of his acting training.

Gregory Peck portrayed the leader of Russian guerrillas resisting the Germans in 1941 who stumble across a beautiful Russian dancer, who had been sent to entertain Russian troops, and protect her by letting her join their group.

Gregory Peck considered his performance in the film as quite amateurish and did not wish to watch the film after it was released.

At the time of the film's release, critic Bosley Crowther of The New York Times assessed it as slow-moving and verbose, adding that Gregory Peck's acting was stiff.

The film shows the character aging from his 20s to 80; Gregory Peck featured in almost every scene.

At the time of release, Gregory Peck's performance was lauded by Variety and The New York Times, amidst mixed reviews for the film itself.

Gregory Peck later stated that he thought he was too young when he first worked with Hitchcock, and that the director's on-set indifference to his character's motivation, important to Gregory Peck's acting style, shook his confidence.

Gregory Peck's chemistry clicked with his screen partner Bergman; the actors were romantically linked at the time.

Gregory Peck won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for performance.

Gregory Peck took his first "against type" role, as a cruel, amoral cowboy in the western soap opera Duel in the Sun with top-billed Jennifer Jones as the provocative, temptress object of Gregory Peck's love, anger and desire.

In 1947, Gregory Peck co-founded The La Jolla Playhouse, at his birthplace, with Mel Ferrer and Dorothy McGuire.

Gregory Peck was very active in the development of the film, including recommending director Zoltan Korda.

Gregory Peck would indicate in his later years that the film was one of his proudest works.

In later years, Gregory Peck did not speak fondly of the making of the movie Released in 1947, The Paradine Case was a British-set courtroom drama about a defense lawyer in love with his client.

Gregory Peck shared top billing with Anne Baxter in the western Yellow Sky, the namesake setting as the ghost town Gregory Peck's group of bank robbers seek refuge in, encountering the spunky tomboy, Baxter, and her grandfather, alongside their gold.

Gregory Peck gradually develops an interest in Baxter's character, who in turn seems to rediscover her femininity and develops an interest in him.

Critics which commented on Gregory Peck's performance felt it to be solid.

Gregory Peck ended up becoming great friends with Gardner, and would later declare her his favorite co-star.

In modern times, the film has received mixed reviews but TV Guide says "this often gripping film" has strong performances, that "Gregory Peck is powerful" in his portrayal.

Gregory Peck initially rejected the film, his last movie under his MGM contract, eventually agreeing to do it as a favor to the studio's production head.

Gregory Peck was later recognized in the New York Film Critics Circle for the role.

Gregory Peck began the 1950s with two westerns, the first being The Gunfighter, directed by Henry King, who had worked with him previously on Twelve O'Clock High.

Gregory Peck plays an aging "Top Gun of the West" who is weary of killing and wishes to retire with his alluring but pragmatic wife and his seven-year-old son, both of whom he has not seen for many years.

The Gunfighter, received "solid reviews" upon release, with particular enthusiasm from some critics, and Gregory Peck's performance "bringing him some of his best notices".

Gregory Peck returned to swashbucklers in The World in His Arms, directed by Raoul Walsh, who had directed Captain Horatio Hornblower.

Gregory Peck portrays a seal-hunting ship captain in 1850 San Francisco who romances a Russian countess played by Ann Blyth and ends up engaging a rival sealer played by Anthony Quinn in a sailing race to Alaska.

Gregory Peck reunited with previous collaborators King, Hayward, and Gardner in The Snows of Kilimanjaro, an adaptation of a short story by Ernest Hemingway.

Gregory Peck portrayed American journalist Joe Bradley opposite Audrey Hepburn as a European princess in her first significant film role.

Gregory Peck had the same concern, but was persuaded by Wyler that the on-site filming in Rome would be an exceptional experience, and accepted the part, even eventually insisting that Hepburn's name be above the title of the film in the opening credits.

Gregory Peck was based in the United Kingdom for about eighteen months between 1953 and 1955; new tax laws had drastically raised the tax rate on high-income earners, but the tax amount due would be reduced if the payer worked outside the country for extended periods.

Gregory Peck starred in The Million Pound Note, based on a Mark Twain short story.

Gregory Peck enjoyed the film's production as "it was a good comedy opportunity" and "was given probably the most elegant wardrobe he had ever worn in film".

Gregory Peck plays a penniless American seaman in 1903 London who is given a onemillion pound bank note by two rich, eccentric brothers who wish to ascertain if he can survive for one month without spending any of it.

Gregory Peck portrayed a US army colonel investigating the kidnapping of a young soldier in Night People.

Gregory Peck later stated that the role of was one of his favorites as his lines were "tough and crisp and full of wisecracks, and more aggressive than other roles" he'd played.

Gregory Peck flew to Sri Lanka to film The Purple Plain, playing a Canadian bomber pilot with strong emotional problems during the Second World War.

Craig Butler of All Movie describes "Gregory Peck is astonishing, giving the sort of layered, intense yet nuanced performance that deserves major awards".

In 1954, Gregory Peck was named the third most popular non-British film star in the United Kingdom.

Gregory Peck next starred as Captain Ahab in the 1956 film adaptation of Herman Melville's Moby Dick; he was unsure about his suitability for the part but was persuaded by director John Huston to take the role.

Gregory Peck almost drowned twice during filming in stormy weather off the sea coasts of Ireland and several other performers and crew members suffered injuries.

For romantic comedy Designing Woman, Gregory Peck was permitted to choose his leading lady: Lauren Bacall, who was content to be busy with work as her husband was gravely ill at the time.

In recent years, the film and Gregory Peck's performance has received mixed reviews; with Time Out asserting that "Gregory Peck's "crisis of conscience.

In 1956, Gregory Peck made a foray into the film production business, organizing Melville Productions and later, Brentwood Productions.

The films were observed by some as becoming more political, although Gregory Peck said he tried to avoid any "overt preachiness".

The project ran into numerous issues; Wyler and Gregory Peck were dissatisfied with the script, which underwent almost daily revisions, causing stress for the performers.

Gregory Peck said in 1974 that he had tried producing and acting simultaneously and felt "either it can't be done or it's just that I don't do it well".

At the time of release, reviews for The Big Country were mixed, regarding the producers' prioritization of characterization versus technical filmmaking; opinions on Gregory Peck's performance were disparate.

Gregory Peck portrays a lieutenant during the Korean War who is ordered to use his infantry company to take the strategically insignificant Pork Chop Hill, as its capture would strengthen the US's position in the almost-complete armistice negotiations.

Gregory Peck comes through as a born leader, and yet it is quite clear that he has moments of doubt and of uncertainty.

Problem is primarily with Gregory Peck who brings to Fitzgerald the kind of clean-cut looks and youthful appearance that conflict with the image of a has-been novelist.

Gregory Peck starred next in On the Beach alongside Ava Gardner in their third and final film together.

Gregory Peck portrays a US submarine commander who has brought his crew to Australia from the North Pacific Ocean after nuclear bombs had been detonated in the northern hemisphere, and who eventually romances Gardner's character.

Gregory Peck was anxious to have Mitchum in the role of Cady, but Mitchum declined at first and only relented after Gregory Peck and Thompson delivered a case of bourbon to Mitchum's home.

At the Golden Globes, Gregory Peck won for Best Actor in a Drama and the film was nominated for Best Film and Director; the film was nominated for Best Film at the BAFTAs.

In 2003, Atticus Finch, as portrayed by Gregory Peck, was named the greatest film hero of the past 100 years by the American Film Institute.

When producer Alan J Pakula and director Robert Mulligan approached Peck about taking the role of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, Peck agreed to read the book.

Gregory Peck served as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1967, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the American Film Institute from 1967 to 1969, Chairman of the Motion Picture and Television Relief Fund in 1971, and National Chairman of the American Cancer Society in 1966.

Gregory Peck was a member of the National Council on the Arts from 1964 to 1966.

Gregory Peck starred with Christopher Plummer, John Gielgud, and Barbara Bouchet in the television film The Scarlet and The Black, about Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty, a real-life Catholic priest in the Vatican who smuggled Jews and other refugees away from the Nazis during World War II.

Gregory Peck played a business owner trying to save his company against a hostile takeover bid by a Wall Street liquidator played by Danny DeVito.

Gregory Peck spent the last few years of his life touring the world doing speaking engagements in which he would show clips from his movies and take questions from the audience.

Gregory Peck came out of retirement for a 1998 mini-series version of one of his most famous films, Moby Dick, portraying Father Mapple, with Patrick Stewart as Captain Ahab, the role Peck played in the earlier film.

Gregory Peck had been offered the role of Grandpa Joe in the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but died before he could accept it.

In 1947, while many Hollywood figures were being blacklisted for similar activities, Gregory Peck signed a letter deploring a House Un-American Activities Committee investigation of alleged communists in the film industry.

Gregory Peck was defeated both times by slim margins in races in 1978 and 1980 against Republican US Representative Bob Dornan, another former actor.

Gregory Peck was outspoken against the Vietnam War, while remaining supportive of his son, Stephen, who fought there.

In 1972, Gregory Peck produced the film version of Daniel Berrigan's play The Trial of the Catonsville Nine about the prosecution of a group of Vietnam protesters for civil disobedience.

Gregory Peck was a close friend of French president Jacques Chirac.

In 1978, Peck traveled to Alabama, the setting of To Kill a Mockingbird, to campaign for Democratic US Senate nominee Donald W Stewart of Anniston, who defeated the Republican candidate, James D Martin, a former US representative from Gadsden.

In 1987, Gregory Peck undertook the voice-overs for television commercials opposing President Ronald Reagan's Supreme Court nomination of judge Robert Bork.

Gregory Peck was a vocal supporter of a worldwide ban of nuclear weapons, and a life-long advocate of gun control.

Gregory Peck's eldest son was found dead in his home on June 26,1975, in what authorities believed was a suicide.

On New Year's Eve in 1955, the day after his divorce was final, Gregory Peck married Veronique Passani, a Paris news reporter who had interviewed him in 1952 before he went to Italy to film Roman Holiday.

Gregory Peck asked her to lunch six months later, and they became inseparable.

Gregory Peck's son Anthony is a former husband of supermodel Cheryl Tiegs.

Gregory Peck was Roman Catholic, and once considered entering the priesthood.

Later in his career, a journalist asked Gregory Peck if he was a practicing Catholic.

Gregory Peck was a significant fund-raiser for the missionary work of a priest friend of his, and served as co-producer of a cassette recording of the New Testament with his son Stephen.

On June 12,2003, Gregory Peck died in his sleep from bronchopneumonia at the age of 87 at his home in Los Angeles.

Gregory Peck is entombed in the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels mausoleum in Los Angeles.

Gregory Peck's eulogy was read by Brock Peters, whose character, Tom Robinson, was defended by Peck's Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Celebrities who attended Gregory Peck's funeral included Lauren Bacall, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Shari Belafonte, Harrison Ford, Calista Flockhart, Mike Farrell, Shelley Fabares, Jimmy Smits, Louis Jourdan, Dyan Cannon, Stephanie Zimbalist, Michael York, Angie Dickinson, Larry Gelbart, Michael Jackson, Anjelica Huston, Lionel Richie, Louise Fletcher, Tony Danza, and Piper Laurie.

On stage, Gregory Peck appeared in Gas Light at the La Jolla Playhouse and The Will Rogers Follies at the Palace Theatre.

Gregory Peck received five total Academy Award nominations for The Keys of the Kingdom, The Yearling, Gentleman's Agreement and Twelve O'Clock High before winning Best Actor for his performance in To Kill a Mockingbird.

In 1998, Gregory Peck received the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton for his contributions to acting.

Gregory Peck donated his personal collection of home movies and prints of his feature films to the Film Archive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1999.