It’s the winter of 1945.

 


Jeanette Helen Morrison is 18 years old and living a quiet life. Her parents work at a ski resort, and they are very proud of her. They even have a photo of her displayed at the resort. One day, famous movie star Norma Shearer visits the resort and notices the photo. She can’t stop looking at it. That smile, she says, is the most interesting face she’s seen in years. She feels like she has to show it to someone in Hollywood.

Norma talks to Jeanette’s parents, borrows the photo, and takes it back with her. She shows it to a top Hollywood agent, Lew Wasserman. Even though Jeanette has never acted before, he sees something special in her and gets her a contract with MGM.

That’s when everything changes. Jeanette becomes Janet Leigh and soon becomes a star. She also ends up marrying another big star, Tony Curtis.

Her first movie is The Romance of Rosy Ridge, with actor Van Johnson. It’s said that Van helped her choose the name Janet Leigh. She didn’t want “Leigh” at first because she was worried people would mix her up with actress Vivien Leigh. Van joked that he didn’t mind being confused with Van Heflin, so she went with it. Norma Shearer even came to wish her luck—bringing along the photo that started it all.

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