Deft biography captures Hitchcock's enigmatic essence

Biography: Alfred Hitchcock. By Peter Ackroyd. Chatto & Windus, €17.50.

Tippi Hedren was Alfred Hitchcock’s muse in The Birds and Marnie, but his treatment of her verged on the sadistic Daly
Tippi Hedren was Alfred Hitchcock’s muse in The Birds and Marnie, but his treatment of her verged on the sadistic Daly

Alfred Hitchcock was watching TV one day in the early 1960s. An advert for a diet drink came on where a blonde actor turned her head to the camera to acknowledge a wolf-whistle.

Hitchcock was transfixed. The next day, before he ever met or spoke to her, he offered the unknown actor a seven-year ...