![MAN OF SUSPENSE](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/10252/424899/5e69e04a423fe/MAN-OF-SUSPENSE.jpg)
It’s a sunny Sunday afternoon. I’ve just washed my car and, almost as if they have been watching, it is immediately precision bombed by one of our feathered ‘friends’.
Somehow it all puts me in mind of Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963), a horror film that depicted unexplained, violent bird attacks on humans. Born at the tail-end of the Victorian era (on August 13, 1899), Hitchcock, who began as a junior technician in 1920, graduated to motion picture director by 1925, then film producer. He’s still known today as the ‘master of suspense’ and there are any number of films from The 39 Steps (1935) to Psycho, a quarter of a century later, that have that undeniable ‘Hitchcock touch’.
Hitchcock was born in a flat above a shop at 517 High Road, Leytonstone, which was part of Essex in those days. It was a greengrocer’s shop, leased by his parents, William, a harsh disciplinarian, and Emma, who was overly protective by contrast.
Alfred was the youngest of three children born to this pair of half-Irish Roman Catholics, living on the outskirts of East London, and was raised as a strict Catholic. In fact, it was the East End that the young Hitchcock would come to know, as the family moved to Limehouse when he was six (where they leased a pair of shops), with Alfred attending school for the first time when he was seven (in Poplar in 1907). When Hitchcock was 11, the peripatetic family had moved again, to Stepney. His interest in films appears to have begun around 1915, by which time he was in his mid-teens, although his early ambition had been to be an engineer.
Denne historien er fra April 2020-utgaven av Essex Life.
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Denne historien er fra April 2020-utgaven av Essex Life.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![The rise of maskne](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/10252/539806/5f8eea3b74f95/crp_The-rise-of-maskne.jpg)
The rise of maskne
With the term ‘maskne’ becoming an increasingly common search online and on social media, Krystal Prince explains what it is and how you can control mask-induced acne
![The forgotten lady](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/10252/539806/5f8ee4f29cb7e/crp_The-forgotten-lady.jpg)
The forgotten lady
Charlotte Christie shares the life story of Anne Knight, an Essex pioneer for the abolition of slavery and women’s suffrage who’s achievements have almost been air-brushed from history
![Stride out in the Sampfords](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/10252/539806/5f8ee1abd46f5/crp_Stride-out-in-the-Sampfords.jpg)
Stride out in the Sampfords
This charming, circular winter walk takes you on a tour from the village of Great Sampford to its neighbour, Little Sampford, and back again
![MUCH TO TALK ABOUT](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/10252/539806/5f8ee816a7c9d/crp_MUCH-TO-TALKABOUT.jpg)
MUCH TO TALK ABOUT
As a presenter on Sky Music and the host of two TV talk shows of her own on Gidea Park-based Sky channel Spotlight TV, Hayley Palmer is never short of words. Nicky Adams asks her how she came to be in front of the camera
![LIFE and SOUL](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/10252/539806/5f8edcff21042/crp_LIFE-and-SOUL.jpg)
LIFE and SOUL
Radio 1 broadcaster and producer Charlie Hedges began her career as Britain’s youngest breakfast show host and is now one of the world’s most successful female DJs. Denise Marshall caught up with the Essex-based queen of the air waves
![Lest we forget](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/10252/539806/5f8edeb89888f/crp_Lest-we-forget.jpg)
Lest we forget
Remembrance Sunday will have a special poignance this month as 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Stephen Roberts profiles how much the county of Essex contributed to the war effort and how much it cost
![Lakeside Magic](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/10252/539806/5f8ee0a0a18f8/crp_Lakeside-Magic.jpg)
Lakeside Magic
The Lake House, nestled in Mill End on the outskirts of the village of Bradwell on Sea, has been owned by the same family for 60 years and was once a thriving four-buoy water-ski lake.
![Keep on running](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/10252/539806/5f8edba961078/crp_Keep-on-running.jpg)
Keep on running
BBC presenter and director David Whiteley shares his insightful view on stories from across the county of Essex
![Cheers!](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/10252/539806/5f8ee95b8a192/crp_Cheers.jpg)
Cheers!
Starting to get that festive vibe? Why not plan ahead by selecting not only the drinks you want to serve this Christmas, but also ticking off a few presents too?
![A doggy day out on… Saffron Walden](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/10252/539806/5f8ee2e749993/crp_A-doggy-day-out-on-Saffron-Walden.jpg)
A doggy day out on… Saffron Walden
Join Ernie, the county’s most famous Westie, as he steps back in time on a trip to this medieval market town