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The
last of the classic leading men from Hollywood's Golden
Age, Gregory Peck became a star during the 1940s when a
spinal injury prevented him from joining the armed forces
during World War II. With many of its male stars in uniform,
Hollywood turned to the tall, dark, and handsome Peck, who
soon made a name for himself playing men of moral fortitude
and great dignity. A five-time Academy Award nominee and
Oscar winner for Best Actor for his wonderful turn as Atticus
Finch in the classic To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Peck
was a versatile actor who was able to take on a wide range
of roles, including those depicting the darker side of humanity.
A tireless supporter of the film industry, Peck has served
on almost every major film and arts council. But Hollywood's
dedicated elder statesman will undoubtedly always be best
remembered as the actor who became a pop culture icon by
unflinchingly showing America both the best and the worst
about itself.
Peck
was born in the beach town of La Jolla, California, the
son of the town's only pharmacist. Eldred's parents divorced
when he was six, but the boy continued to live in the seaside
resort community with his mother and grandmother until age
ten, when he was sent to St. John's Military Academy in
Los Angeles. Upon graduating from the academy after ninth
grade, Peck moved in with his father in San Diego, where
the teenager attended San Diego High School. The handsome
six-foot-two-inch boy was an average student who enjoyed
being on the rowing team, but because his father wanted
him to become a doctor, Eldred studied at San Diego State
University before transferring to study medicine at the
University of California, Berkeley. There he quickly realized
that he was more interested in literature than in medicine
and, as an English major, he fell in with an artistic crowd
and was soon persuaded to audition for a production of Moby
Dick. Cast as Starbuck, Peck so fell in love with the theater
that shortly before graduation he dropped out of school
and caught the train for New York City.
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