(Aug. 13, 1889 - Apr. 29, 1980) Alfred Hitchcock was a British film director and producer, a master of the suspense thriller genre. He directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades, from the silent film era, through the invention of talkies, to the colour era. Hitchcock remains one of the best known and most popular directors of all time, famous for his expert and largely unrivaled control of pace and suspense throughout his movies.