Gregory Peck is one of Classic Hollywood’s most beloved and celebrated actors, having dazzled audiences with his performances for over five decades. The revered leading man first gained prominence when he appeared in the 1944 films Days of Glory and The Keys of the Kingdom, earning his first of many Oscar nominations for the latter. From that moment on, Peck became a hot commodity in the industry and dominated every project he took on.
From portraying a character from classic literature, the determined and fearless lawyer in To Kill a Mockingbird, to romancing iconic starlets like Audrey Hepburn and Ingrid Bergman in Roman Holiday and Spellbound, and even going toe-to-toe with tough-guy Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear, Peck has truly done it all on the silver screen. These are some of the best Gregory Peck movies.
9 The Gunfighter
Gregory Peck stars as a seasoned gunslinger who is continuously challenged by young bucks wanting to steal his crown as king of the draw in the 1950 Western The Gunfighter, with the iconic leading man portraying the reformed Jimmy Ringo, who has lost his desire to take anymore lives and simply wishes to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart and son.
Peck and director Henry King thoroughly researched the Wild West era to prepare for the role, and the actor famously donned an authentic period mustache that actually caused a tizzy for the studio; Fox bigwig Spyros P. Skouras reportedly declared, "That mustache cost us millions!" when it failed to rake in big bucks at the box office. However, The Gunfighter has gone on to become one of the greatest classic Westerns of all time with Peck's performance being lauded for both its grit and sophistication.
8 Designing Woman
Peck teamed up with the sensational Lauren Bacall in the 1957 romantic comedy Designing Woman, following the talented duo as they are caught up in a whirlwind romance despite coming from two vastly different social backgrounds. It doesn't take long until the blue collar Mike and fashionista Marilla realize they have very little in common aside from their passionate love for one another, but the unlikely couple find mutual ground when they face off against a dangerous ganster and reaffirm their undeniable bond.
Peck was actually given permission to choose his love interest in the picture, and he opted for Bacall instead of the originally intended star Grace Kelly; the actor himself nabbed the role when both Cary Grant and James Stewart turned the film down. The winning chemistry between Peck and Bacall earned praise and appreciation from critics, and the rom-com went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
7 The Guns of Navarone
Adapted from the Alistair MacLean novel of the same name, the 1961 adventure war drama The Guns of Navarone features Gregory Peck as an American Captain overseeing a six-man commando unit during World War II as they fight to rescue Allied troops stuck on the Greek island of Kheros by Nazi forces.
The big budget extravaganza went on to become the highest grossing release of the year and was lauded as one of the most popular adventure films of the '60s; The Guns of Navarone went on to win an Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama. Peck would later express that it seemed as though his team set out to defeat "the entire German army" and believed the plot was far-fetched, which led to him and his fellow co-stars having to "play their roles with complete conviction" to give the film authenticity.
6 Marooned
After three American astronauts become stranded in space when their return mission goes awry, NASA director Charles Keith (Peck) devises a daring rescue attempt to bring the men home in the 1969 sci-fi flick Marooned. The thrilling drama was released just four months after the groundbreaking Apollo 11 moon landing, and demonstrated the events surrounding the command and service module for the Apollo, with the filmmakers setting out to make the production and set as accurate as possible.
The special effects, breathtaking cinematography, and compelling performances helped make Marooned a slam dunk with both moviegoers and critics, and it went on to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects the year after 2001: A Space Odyssey.
5 The Big Country
Gregory Peck appeared alongside fellow silver screen stars Charlton Heston, Jean Simmons and Burl Ives in the 1958 epic Western The Big Country, with the actor portraying a decorated sea captain who heads to the great American West with his fiancée by his side in hopes of living a quiet, simple life on a sprawling ranch. His hopes of a peaceful retirement is dashed when he inadvertently becomes caught up in a dangerous land fued between two warring families, causing tension between him and his soon-to-be-wife.
Peck produced the engrossing Western alongside director William Wyler, and they were not pleased with the script so it underwent daily revisions that caused tension between the duo; he even reportedly stormed off set when Wyler refused to re-shoot an important close-up scene. Regardless of all the on-set turmoil, The Big Country was both a critical and commercial success and currently holds a highly-coveted 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
4 Spellbound
Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman were phenomenal when they teamed up with the "Master of Suspense" himself Alfred Hitchcock for the 1945 psychological thriller Spellbound, which tells the tale of a psychoanalyst who falls in love with a brilliant doctor at a mental hospital, only for her to later realize the man is not who he claims to be and is experiencing dissociative amnesia.
Peck is remarkable as the deeply troubled John Ballantyne, with his performance and chemistry with Bergman being singled out by critics. The New York Times called his portrayal "restrained and refined, is precisely the proper counter to Bergman's exquisite role" and the picture helped further establish the actor as a prominent leading man and even a sex symbol.
3 Cape Fear
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Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum engage in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game in the 1962 noir psychological thriller Cape Fear, with the former star portraying Georgia lawyer Sam Bowden, who finds his life and family terrorized by a menacing criminal seeking revenge for being sent to prison eight years earlier. The gritty picture garnered ire from film censors due to its controversial subject matter, and director J. Lee Thompson had to make 161 cuts in order to get it approved for a theatrical release.
Both Peck and Mitchum were lauded for their polar opposite characters and riveting performances, and the success of the tension-filled thriller led to a 1991 remake by Martin Scorsese with Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte taking over the lead roles. Peck made his final theatrical movie role in the remake, cameoing alongside Mitchum as the deranged Max Cady's lawyer Lee Heller.
2 Roman Holiday
One of the cinema's most beloved and enduring romantic-comedies of all time is without-a-doubt the 1953 classic hit Roman Holiday, which memorably features Peck engaging in an unexpected romance with a European princess, portrayed magnificently by the legendary Audrey Hepburn.
Peck was initially hesistant to sign on to the picture but was later convinced the filming experience would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He knew Hepburn was a star in the making and that he needed to jump at the role, having once expressed, "I'm smart enough to know this girl's going to win the Oscar in her first picture, and I'm going to look like a damned fool if her name is not up there on top with mine."
Hepburn did indeed go on to win the Academy Award for her performance, and the picture also nabbed 9 other nominations; Peck himself was the recipient of a British Academy Film Award nod for Best Foreign Actor. Roman Holiday landed on the American Film Institute's Top 10 romantic comedies list and is widely regarded as one of the best of its genre and a cherished cinema staple.
1 To Kill a Mockingbird
Peck rightfully won the Academy Award for Best Actor when he portrayed the honorable and kind-hearted lawyer Atticus Finch in the poignant 1962 drama To Kill a Mockingbird, an adaptation of the acclaimed Harper Lee novel that is widely acknowledged as the best courtroom film of all time and generally one of cinema's finest creations. Peck's character Finch nobly takes on a controversial case and defends a black man accused of sexual assault despite the claims being fabricated, causing massive waves in his small Alabama community during the early 1930s that puts a target on him and his family.
Atticus Finch was named the greatest movie hero of the 20th century by the American Film Institute, and the actor would later go on to say that this was his favorite film. Lee also went on to sing the actor's praises when she learned he was cast, writing, "I was of course delighted: here was a fine actor who had made great films – what more could a writer ask for? ... The years told me his secret. When he played Atticus Finch, he had played himself, and time has told all of us something more: when he played himself, he touched the world."