He grew up with his older siblings, William and Ellen Kathleen in Leytonstone, part of London's East End. Fascinated by numbers and technology, Hitchcock was educated at the Jesuits" St. Ignatius College, a day school for boys. He loved maps and times tables. He is said to have memorized the schedules of the English train lines. Most of his adolescence was spent working to help support his family. He left school at 16 though to study engineering and navigation at the University of London. Three years later, in 1914 when his dad died, he started work as a technical estimator at Henley Telegraph and Cable Company specializing in electric cables. He soon began to study art, economics, drawing, history and painting in the evenings. When his employers discovered he was taking art courses he was switched to the advertising department. There, he began to draw, designing ads for electric cables. .
Hitchcock was drawn to the silver screen. He read every technical film magazine he could. He was fascinated bye the mystery fiction of Edgar Allan Poe and spent much time at the local cinema. American and German films particularly appealed to him. After learning that Famous Players Lasky, now Paramount, was opening a studio in London, he submitted a portfolio of his work. He was hired as a title designer for silent films. His passion for films and eagerness to learn led him to apply for the job of Assistant Director. This gave him the experience of film making from every angle. .
At age 22, in1922, he started work on his directorial debut, the film Number 13. Although the two reeler was never completed, during production Hitchcock met his future wife Alma Reville, who also worked for the company. They were married in December of 1926 at Brompton Oratory. Alma had a good sense to detail and would go on to collaborate on all of Hitchcock's projects including one of his own favorite, Psycho. She oversaw initial script development through final post-production.
