Gregory Peck

Gregory Peck entered movies in brooding, handsome, troubled roles, and emerged as one of Hollywood's most treasured movie stars, representing decency, conviction, intelligence and moral fortitude. He wowed audiences with his strong physique and suave good looks, and, with four Oscar nominations and one Oscar win, the critical establishment did not fail to acknowledge his talents as an actor.

He made his big screen debut in 1944, as a resistance fighter in 'Days of Glory', and then won his first Academy Award nomination for his second film role in the same year, as a priest in 'The Keys of the Kingdom'. Peck went on to star, mostly as the good guy hero, in more than 60 movies. After worthy performances in 'Cape Fear' in 1962, 'spellbound' in 1945, 'Roman Holiday' in 1953, and 'Moby Dick' in 1956, he stoically faced the end of the world in 'On the Beach' in 1959, and won the war in 'The Guns of Navarone' in 1961.

But it was his role as the small-town defense lawyer Atticus Finch in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in 1962 that finally won him an Oscar for Best Actor.

Peck remained a star into old age, and also stuck around to do the cameos in remakes of his earlier vehicles 'Cape Fear' and 'Moby Dick' in the 1990's. He always chose his roles with great care. Also noted for being civic-minded, for his Roman Catholic faith, and for his liberal politics, he served as president of the Academy Awards body, and was active in the Motion Picture and Television Relief Fund, American Cancer Society, National Endowment for the Arts, and other causes. He won many awards, including the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1967, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American film Institute in 1989, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his humanitarian work.