Gregory Peck
born: 05-04-1916
birth place: California, USA
died: 13-06-2003
Peck was born Eldred Gregory Peck. His parents divorced when he was five, and he was brought up by his grandmother.
He studied at Berkeley, where he got the acting bug and changed the focus of his studies. He enrolled in the Neighbourhood Playhouse in New York and debuted on Broadway, after graduation, in Emlyn Williams' stage play 'The Morning Star'.
By 1943, he was in Hollywood, where he debuted in the RKO film 'Days of Glory'.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for 'Keys of the Kingdom' and again for 'The Yearling', for which he won the Golden Globe.
Peck's on-screen persona as the rugged, decent hero was cemented, and he appeared in similar vein in several Westerns in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. He was nominated again for an Academy Award for his roles in 'Gentleman's Agreement' and 'Twelve O’clock High'.
With a string of hits behind him, Peck took the decision to only work in films that interested him, appearing in 'Captain Horatio Hornblower' and 'Moby Dick'. He also worked with Audrey Hepburn on 'Roman Holiday'.
After four nominations, Peck finally won the Oscar for his performance in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.
In the 1970s, he began producing, with 'The Trial of the Catonsville Nine', and 'The Dove', but his acting career waned until he made a comeback in the horror film, 'The Omen', in 1976.
In the 1980s, Peck moved into television, in the mini series 'The Blue and the Gray', and also appeared in the movie 'The Scarlet and the Black'.
Peck has received the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and the Medal of Freedom.
Always politically liberal, he was active in charity and political work. He died peacefully, aged 87, with his second wife Veronica by his side, on 12th June 2003.
