10 Actors Who Ruined Their Careers By Starring In Horror Movies

Janet Leigh was a rising star of Hollywood in the 1950s. After securing a contract with MGM, Leigh starred in big budget Hollywood features such as The Romance Of Rosy Ridge, Houdini, and Orson Welles’ Touch Of Evil.

In 1960, Leigh accepted an offer to work with acclaimed British thriller director Alfred Hitchcock on his new movie Psycho. However, working with Hitchcock and his demented approach to filmmaking traumatized Janet Leigh for many years afterwards. For example, because of the film’s famous ‘shower scene’ Leigh developed a phobia of taking showers that lasted until her death. Aside from a cameo in the 1960 comedy Pepe alongside her then husband Tony Curtis, Leigh took a hiatus from acting after what Psycho did to her mentally.

However, Leigh looks back on Psycho fondly as the role that defined her career. However, the question remains whether that was a good or bad thing because Leigh was sought after for horror films in years to come with roles in Night Of The Lepus, The Fog, and Halloween H20. Granted that by the 1970s Leighs best career days were behind her, there’s nonetheless a slight question as to whether passing up Psycho might have helped her and her career in the long run.