Vera Miles, a Hitchcock Actress Who Was Nearly a Star, Eludes Her Biographer
Miles is 95 and has been retired from acting for nearly 30 years. She has not written a memoir, and the author makes no mention of having tried to contact her. His biography is mainly based on secondary sources.
‘Vera Miles: The Hitchcock Blonde Who Got Away’
By Christopher McKittrick
University Press of Kentucky, 320 Pages
Vera Miles was supposed to star in “Vertigo.” Hitchcock had spotted her in an impressive television performance and was, according to Christopher McKittrick, “positioning Ms. Miles as his favored leading lady, a role that had been abandoned by Grace Kelly.” On screen and off, Ms. Miles was dressed only in “black, gray, or white,” with only pearls as jewelry. A famous costume designer, Edith Head, followed the director’s specifications for a “complete wardrobe.”
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