Alfred Hitchcock vs Aretha Franklin
Two child prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Alfred Hitchcock | Aretha Franklin | |
| Field | Film | Music |
| Sub-field | Screenwriter | Rock |
| Born | 1899 | 1942 |
| Died | 1980 | 2018 |
| Country of birth | United Kingdom | United States |
| Star sign | Leo | Aries |
Who they are
Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899, in Leytonstone, a quiet district of east London, to a greengrocer and his wife. He was a shy, overweight child who found that stories — their architecture, their capacity to generate unease — interested him more than almost anything else. His father once sent him to the local police station with a note, and the duty officer locked him in a cell for five minutes as a lesson in what happens to naughty boys. Hitchcock later described this as the defining trauma of his life, the…
Full biography of Alfred Hitchcock →
Aretha Franklin
There are voices, and then there is Aretha Franklin. Born on March 25, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee, and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Aretha Louise Franklin possessed something that cannot be taught, manufactured, or replicated — a raw, torrential instrument that transformed every room it entered. By the time she was twelve years old, singing in her father's New Bethel Baptist Church, gospel insiders already whispered that they were witnessing something singular. By the time she was twenty-five, the entire world had no choice but to agree.
Full biography of Aretha Franklin →
What they share
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Different fields: Film for Alfred Hitchcock, Music for Aretha Franklin.
- Born in different countries: United Kingdom and United States.
- 43 years separate their births (1899 and 1942).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Alfred Hitchcock or Aretha Franklin?
- Alfred Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock was born in 1899, Aretha Franklin in 1942.
- What field is each of them in?
- Alfred Hitchcock is filed under Film (Screenwriter). Aretha Franklin is filed under Music (Rock).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.