Nobody bettered the art of suspense in movies than Sir Alfred Hitchcock, who died on 29 April, 1980.

His screen thrillers earned him the title of the Master of Suspense but he was also considered one of the greatest technical movie directors of all time.

He made more than 50 films in a dazzling 50-year career, including classics such as Psycho , Vertigo and The Birds .

And despite incredibly never winning an Oscar, he made an indelible mark on cinema history with his subtle blend of suspense, sex and humour.

Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on 13 August, 1899, in Leytonstone, London. He went to a Catholic school and later complained that his childhood was lonely. Even at an an early age he suffered from being overweight.

He became a draughtsman and advertising designer after graduating but soon developed a fascination with photography and landed a job at Islington Studios, designing titles for silent movies.

The Pleasure Garden was the first film he directed in 1925 but it was a flop. Undeterred, he made his entrance in the thriller genre in 1926 with The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog , which was well received and stamped him as a rising star.

In 1928 he married his assistant director Alma Reville and she would prove his main collaborator, writing some of his screenplays and helping him on every film he made. His 10th film, Blackmail , was one of the first-ever sound movies.

The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1939) are thought to be among his best early films and by the end of the 1930s he was quickly nearing the pinnacle of his career and was tempted to Hollywood by iconic producer David Selznick .

In the 1940s his work was diverse, beginning with the Oscar-winning Rebecca (1940) and culminating with Notorious (1946), which starred Hitchcock regulars Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant .

But his career really peaked in the early 1950s with Strangers On A Train (1951) and three movies starring Grace Kelly – Dial M For Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954) and To Catch A Thief (1955). He maintained his brilliant standards with Vertigo (1958), North By Northwest (1959), Psycho (1961) and The Birds (1963).

Psycho’s screeching string music in the shower murder scene was ground-breaking for the time, as was the electronic soundtrack in The Birds. He had also developed the habit of appearing in cameo roles in his own films.

From here his career began to dip. His poor health took its toll and 1972’s Frenzy was his last major success. His last film was Family Plot in 1976 and he died of renal failure in Los Angeles – four months after being made a knight.

Alfred Hitchcock’s use of suspense – rather than surprise – will forever have cinema audiences across the world on the edge of their seats.

He made 58 films, both in Britain and Hollywood, most of which have safely entered the movie hall of fame.

His willingness to experiment cinematically proved he was way ahead of his time although, incredibly, he never managed to win an Oscar – despite six nominations.

But he clearly knew how to suck in an audience, as he once said: “Always make the audience suffer as much as possible.”