During his long career as a filmmaker, Alfred Hitchcock worked with some of the most famous actors in Hollywood — including Cary Grant, Grace Kelly and James Stewart. But his films also involved fantastic work in a host of supporting roles by an array of great character actors.
Among them was Norman Lloyd, described in a 2015 appreciation as having “one of the most extraordinary careers in show business.” And while his work with Hitchcock involved some of the best-known roles of his career, it was far from all of it — you might just as easily know Lloyd from his time on St. Elsewhere or his role in Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck. His death last year at the age of 106 resulted in a host of tributes to his time in front of the camera.
In a new article at CrimeReads, Keith Roysdon zeroed in on some of Lloyd’s best work — both as an actor and a writer. He spent several years in a writer/producer role on Alfred Hitchcock Presents — something which revived his career after he had been blacklisted due to his politics. Roysdon observed that Lloyd “appeared to be Hitchcock’s right-hand man on the series.” Overall, Lloyd directed 19 episodes of the series — two more than the man who gave it its title.
At a time when a growing number of people best known for their acting work pivot to writing and directing, it’s instructive to look at a much earlier example of this phenomenon. If you’re looking for a map of a career to follow, you could do far worse than Lloyd’s.
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