Gregory Peck (biography, filmography, personal life)

Gregory Peck (full name - Eldred Gregory Peck) is an American actor, Hollywood superstar. He was born on April 5, 1916 in the provincial town of La Jolla, California. Father Gregory, an earnest Catholic, worked as a pharmacist in a pharmacy, and a mother who accepted Catholicism after marriage was a housewife. When the boy was three years old, his parents divorced. My mother left, and little Gregory remained in the care of my grandmother Kate Ayers.

University of

Gregory was an obedient, judicious child, respecting the traditions of the older generation. As soon as he turned 17 years old, the young man entered the Humanities Department of the University of California. Gregory Peck, whose biography is full of difficult moments, experienced certain difficulties. I had to pay for my studies, but he did not have any money. However, Gregory tried to earn, swept the streets, washed dishes in restaurants, carried orders to homes. The first university years Peck devoted to the study of literature, as well as acting. He became a regular participant in student performances, taking place on the theatrical stage of the university.

Theatrical New York

In 1939, Gregory Peck graduated from the University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree. But even before the completion of his studies, he decided to devote himself to the acting profession, and since the Mecca of theatrical art at the time was New York, Peck and went straight to Broadway. However, the metropolis took it unfriendly, the money quickly ran out, Gregory was forced to again look for work. The barker at the fairs, the ticket dealer in the music hall, the model in the inexpensive store - all these attempts to make a living were exhausting, but helped at least somehow to exist. At the same time, Peck understood that it was impossible to get a role in the theater with his diploma, a completely different qualification was needed, but it was not.

Diploma of the actor

When the Second World War began, Gregory Peck did not undergo a medical commission in connection with spine disease. According to the results of medical examinations, as well as his social belonging, Peck received a rather impressive scholarship. Considering this as a gift of fate, Gregory passed a full course of mastery of the actor in the Stanislavsky system, received a diploma. Being fully armed Peck rushed to storm the Broadway theaters. He was accepted willingly, but all the performances in which Gregory participated were burned out.

First successes

He did not feel guilty about this, but it did not exist: in obedience to his artistic talent from nature, Gregory played lightly, without the slightest strain. Critics who used to discuss every performance of the theater on Broadway, unanimously noted Pek's talent. The further participation of Gregory in theatrical productions brought the performances to a new level, his game became more vivid, and the characters - all the more authentic. Gradually, actor Gregory Peck became one of the most popular, life was improved, money appeared, and with them new acquaintances. Although it can not be said that the actor was open to everyone without exception, he was selective enough in the choice of friends and acquaintances. Gregory Peck, whose photo has already started appearing on the covers of glossy magazines, has become a popular actor. Friends of him significantly increased and among the fair sex.

Film-making

Work in Broadway theaters continued for Peck a few more years, until it was noticed by the agents of one of the Hollywood studios. After short negotiations and one screen test, Gregory Peck was confirmed for the main role. He was to play the commander of the Russian partisan detachment. The image turned out to be unconvincing, the appearance of the actor sinned aristocratic, and no makeup could be hidden. The same thing was observed in the role of Anka-machine gunner, which was played by the ballerina Tamara Tumanova - Russian emigrant. She dressed up as she was, she was still a pampered beauty. But since the director of the film "Days of Glory" Jacques Turner had neither a real commander nor a machine gunner, he was content with what was, and continued shooting. Fortunately, the finished film (or rather, a parody of it), American critics considered the Soviet propaganda and put on the shelf.

Popularity

The beginning of the film career was laid, and Gregory Peck, whose filmography already contained one motion picture, starred in the next film called "The Keys of the Kingdom" directed by John Stall, in which the actor again played the main role - the priest Francis Chezholme. In the image of Gregory got accustomed flawlessly, he managed to convey the spirit of that time and unobtrusively present to the viewer the noble image of the priest.

After the release of the picture on the screen, Peck became a star, his demand was off scale, and films with Gregory Peck were shown in cinemas for two or three weeks. Most Hollywood actors were drafted into the army and were in military units, the studios actually remained without performing male roles, so Peck was snapped up. However, he did not succumb to the temptation to act in several film projects at once, he was thoughtful about his roles, read and re-read the scripts for weeks.

Main roles

In 1946, Gregory Peck starred in the movie "Deer" directed by Clarence Brown. Children's picture with the participation of adult characters, in the center of the plot - 11-year-old Jody, his father Penny Baxter and mother Orri Baxter, as well as an orphan deer, whose fate is the basis of the film. Seven "Oscar" awards and one "Golden Globe" - this is the result of the film.

The next main role was in Gregory in the movie "Duel in the Sun" directed by David Selznick. There Peku got the character of Lute McCannles - one of the two brothers, seeking the location of Pearl Chavez.

The action-sensitive detective "Case Paradine" staged by Alfred Hitchcock was filmed in 1947. The character of Gregory Peck - a respectable lawyer Anthony Keane - defends Anna Paradain, suspected of killing her husband. Anthony falls in love with her client. He is ready to do anything to justify it. But Anna does not stand up and confess to the crime.

Peck played only two or three minor roles in his entire career in Hollywood, almost all of his images were the main ones. Directors valued the actor as a typical high-level performer, they tried to use it in the maximum number of tapes. But the actor Gregory Peck, whose height exceeded 190 cm, sometimes for this reason refused the role, because he believed that in the film everything should be in harmony.

"Roman holiday"

In the filmography of Gregory Peck, there are several pictures of pearls, which combine all the best traditions of American cinema. One such work is "Roman holidays" directed by William Wyler. Peck's character is a journalist Joe Bradley, whom fate brought with the slightly erratic princess Anna, who came to Rome for the affairs of her kingdom. Not wishing to sit in the embassy, she arranged for herself a walk through the night city. However, his heiress did not calculate the strength: Anna fell asleep right on the stone parapet, where Bradley walked on it. Anna and Joe spent the next day together, they were sent to each other by heaven. And if it were not for Anna's royal status, how to know, maybe the feeling that arose between young people would turn into love. Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in a real life were close friends. Perhaps they were connected by some deeper feelings.

The first "Oscar"

Another picture, which is considered to be a masterpiece of world cinema, is "To kill a mockingbird." The film was directed by Robert Mulligan in 1962 on the novel of the same name by Harper Lee. The character of Gregory Peck is attorney Atticus Finch, who appears in court as the defender of the Negro offender, who is accused of abusing a white woman. The accusation was false, but the slave-owning ambitions of the white Americans prevailed, then it was possible to blame the Negroes for anything. In this particular case, it came to the prosecutor, the judicial process was launched. The film received several prestigious prizes, and Gregory Peck personally received an Oscar and a Golden Globe, both awards in the category "Best Actor in Drama."

Filmography

Gregory Peck, whose filmography includes about 50 paintings, was most actively filmed in the period from 1958 to 1998.

• 1958 - "The Great Country", directed by William Wyler. Peck in the role of James McKay.
• 1959 - "Bravados", directed by Henry King, Gregory in the role of Jim Douglas. "Beloved Pagan", directed by Henry King, the role - Scott Fitzgerald. "On the shore," directed by Stanley Kramer, Peck as Dwight Lionel.
• 1961 - "Cannons of the island of Navarone", directed by Jay Lee Thompson, Peck's character - Keith Mallory.
• 1962 - "How the West was conquered," directed by Richard Thorpe, Peck in the role of Cleve Van Weilen. "Kill a Mockingbird", directed by Robert Mulligan, Gregory - Atticus Finch.
• 1963 - "Captain Newman", directed by David Miller. The role of Peck is Joseph Newman.
• 1964 - "Behold the horse pale," directed by Fred Zinnemann. Gregory as Manuel Ortego.
• 1966 - "Arabesque", directed by Stanley Donen. Peck in the role of David Pollock.
• 1968 - "In the footsteps of the moon", directed by Robert Mulligan. Gregory is Sam Warner.
• 1969 - "Gold McKenna", directed by Jay Lee Thompson. Peck as McKenna.
• 1974 - "Billy Two Hats", directed by Ted Cotcheff. Role - Archie Dean.
• 1976 - "An omen," directed by Richard Doner. Peck as Robert Thorn.
• 1977 - "MacArthur", directed by Joseph Sargent. Peck - Douglas MacArthur.
• 1980 - "Sea Wolves", directed by Andrew McClaglen. The role of Peck is Lewis Pug.
• 1982 - "Blue and gray", directed by Andrew McClaglen. Gregory in the role of Abraham Lincoln.
• 1989 - "Old Gringo", directed by Louis Puensot. The role is Ambros Bierce.
• 1991 - Cape of Fear, directed by Martin Scorsese. Peck in the role of Lee Heller.
• 1998 - "Moby Dick", directed by John Huston. The role of Gregory - Mapple.

Personal life

The personal life of Hollywood superstar Gregory Peck completely corresponds to his character - thoughtful, measured and judicious. The first marriage of the actor took place in late 1942, when Gregory turned 26 years old. His wife became the Finnish Greta Kukkonen. The couple lived together for 13 years, followed by a divorce. After parting, they kept a warm relationship. The couple had three sons: the eldest Jonathan was born in 1942, and died in 1975, having committed suicide. Middle, Stephen, was born in 1946, and the third son, Carey Paul, was born in 1949.

Stephen Peck is engaged in social and political activities (support for veterans of the Vietnam War). Cary Paul Peck twice ran for Congress from California. The first attempt was in 1978, the second in 1980. Both times he was actively supported by family members and himself Gregory Peck, but in the first and second case, Carey could not get around Republican Bob Dornan.

After the divorce from Greta Kukkonen Gregory married again. His second choice was the Frenchwoman Veronique Passani. They were familiar since 1953. Passani, being a journalist of one of the publications that covered the life of movie stars, interviewed Pek on the eve of his departure for the shooting of the film "Roman Holidays." Six months later, Gregory decided to resume his acquaintance with Veronique, since his marriage with Greta had already cracked by that time. The meeting took place, and when Peck divorced, Passani became his wife. The couple lived together for nearly 50 years, separated by Gregory Peck's death on June 12, 2003. Gregory and Veronique had two children-Cecilia's daughter and Anthony's son.