Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex, England, to Emma Jane Whelan and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock. His parents were of half English and half Irish ancestry, and he had two older siblings. Raised as a strict Catholic, Hitchcock attended Saint Ignatius College, a school run by Jesuits, and had a regular upbringing.
His interest in movies began at around 1915, when he frequently visited the cinema and read US trade journals. Hitchcock entered the film industry in 1919 as a title card designer, where he met Alma Reville, though they never really spoke to each other. It was only after the director for Always Tell Your Wife (1923) fell ill and Hitchcock was named director to complete the film that he and Reville began to collaborate.
Hitchcock had his first real crack at directing a film, start to finish, in 1923, when he was hired to direct the film Number 13 (1922),though the production wasn't completed due to the studio's closure. He later remade it as a sound film. Hitchcock didn't give up then. He directed The Pleasure Garden (1925),a British/German production, which was very popular.
