JANET LEIGH

She appeared naked and wet (okay, it was a body double) in one of the most famous of all movie scenes; thousands of people vowed to never shower again after seeing it. Janet Leigh, though she was killed off early in the terrifying Psycho (1960), was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for her performance. With Anthony Perkins as the baby-faced psychotic, this is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best and to this day gives people nightmares. The 1998 remake pales in comparison.
Janet Leigh was an extremely pretty girl-next-door, which made her murder all the scarier. In the late 50's and early 60's she was in some very good films. She left us too soon, at 77. 
An overlooked Leigh performance is in Orson Welles’ dark masterpiece, Touch of Evil (1958). Ms. Leigh’s wholesome prettiness plays off perfectly against Marlene Dietrich’s tawdry beauty in this story of corruption and evil in a border town. Mr. Welles, Charlton Heston and Zsa Zsa Gabor complete the most unlikely of casts but somehow it all works.  Absolutely no one could use black and white film like Mr. Welles. 
In The Manchurian Candidate (1962), a top-notch, edge-of-your seat thriller, you aren’t sure to the end who is evil and who isn’t. Janet Leigh is the honorable anchor that you are sure of, and it isn’t giving anything away to say that you would be right. Now guess what the rest of the cast does! Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury and James Gregory will keep you guessing.
Bye Bye Birdie (1963) is a serviceable musical comedy about the reaction of a small town to the appearance of a rock star. The singer has just been drafted (sound familiar?) and is coming to town to give his fans “one last kiss.” Though it lacks the bite of the stage play on which it is based, it is pleasant and entertaining. Bobby Rydell is the rocker; the luscious Ann-Margaret a smitten teenager; Paul Lynde, Maureen Stapleton, Dick Van Dyke and Janet Leigh are worried parents. 
A more delightful musical is My Sister Eileen (1955) about two extremely naive but gorgeous Ohio girls trying to make it in the Big Apple. The girls are Ms. Leigh and Betty Garrett. Also on board are Dick York, Kurt Kaznar, Jack Lemmon and an incredibly young and talented Bob Fosse. Not memorable, but very nice. Note: Beware the 1942 version. 
All of the movies in this article are available on on DVD. The last two are for all ages; the rest for grown-ups.