Gregory Peck

California native Gregory Peck was born in La Jolla on April 5, 1916. After catching the acting bug while at the University of California, Berkeley, he moved to New York, where his 1942 stint in a Broadway play brought scores of Hollywood movie offers.

Peck made his screen debut in 1944's Days of Glory and hit pay dirt later that year in The Keys of the Kingdom, which earned him his first Oscar nod. By 1949, he had also chalked up Oscar nods for The Yearling (1946), Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and Twelve O'Clock High (1949). In the 1950s, he took on diverse parts in Roman Holiday (1953), Moby Dick (1956) and The Big Country (1958). The actor's most celebrated role came in 1962's To Kill a Mockingbird: Playing a courageous Southern attorney, Peck collected a Best Actor Oscar.

Peck's other memorable films include The Omen (1976) and Old Gringo (1989). He died in Los Angeles June 12, 2003.

To Kill a Mockingbird

1962 NR

Southern comforts abound in this big-screen adaptation of Harper Lee's novel as lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck, in an Oscar-winning role) defends an innocent black man (Brock Peters) against rape charges but ends up in a maelstrom of hate and prejudice. Meanwhile, with help from a friend (John Megna), Finch's children, Jem (Phillip Alford) and Scout (Mary Badham), set their sights on making contact with a reclusive neighbor (Robert Duvall).