Support from Behind the Scenes

It's 1950's Hollywood. The golden age of cinema where glamour, glitz, and beauty lit up the stage. Imagine during that time working side by side with one of the most prolific and domineering directors and screenwriters of all time. It was a time when women's voices tended to get lost in the shuffle of three-piece-suited, cigar-smoking titans who ruled the director's chair. Little attention was paid to the assistant standing next to the man behind the camera, and few knew the influence she would have on the future of cinema.

Margaret (Peggy) Singer Robertson was born in 1917 in London, England. She was a writer at heart and had a creative eye that would later assist in innovative film techniques that would forever change the way movies were filmed. She worked at England's Denham Studios, where she met Alfred Hitchcock and served as his script supervisor for his movie "Under Capricorn". She made quite an impact on Hitchcock, who hired her permanently a year later.

Peggy served as Hitchcock's Personal Assistant on dozens of films, including Vertigo, North by Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds. She assisted in all aspects of production, including story selection, casting, shooting, and previewing. Assisting Hitchcock on and off the set, she also had a close friendship with Lady Hitchcock, Alma Reville. As a trusted advisor and confidant, Peggy was a significant influence and force behind the look and sound of his films. She wasn't afraid to push back on the gruff, egocentric director if it meant getting a better performance out of an actor or obtaining the perfect film shot.

Peggy was a meticulous note-taker whose notebooks are still used to this day by film scholars who want to learn more about the Director's film and TV career. With such a remarkable presence in the Director's life, Peggy was even portrayed in the 2012 biography film "Hitchcock".

Assisting Hitchcock for over thirty years until his death in 1980, Peggy's grit, determination, and loyalty are nothing short of inspiring. Without her partnership with Alfred Hitchcock, cinematography may not be what it is today.