• LIFE

Gregory Peck’s Centennial: How an Actor Became an Icon of Moral Decency

2 minute read

Since the advent of Gary Cooper no screen hero has said ‘Shucks!’ with more conviction than Gregory Peck, who is sometimes called, because of his homespun look, ‘the Lincoln of Beverly Hills.’

So went the editor’s note about Peck’s 1947 LIFE cover, cementing in the minds of readers—if there were any for whom it wasn’t already cemented—that he was the handsome, wholesome hero at the heart of the Hollywood dream. He was still 15 years away from the role that would win him an Oscar and solidify his legacy as an exemplar of moral decency (Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird), but he was already as respected as he was beloved.

The actor, born Eldred Gregory Peck 100 years ago on April 5, 1916, began his career in the theater in the early 1940s, exempted from the draft thanks to a back injury. Though he was often penniless during those years and sometimes slept on the street, the launching of his film career brought swift success. After releasing his first movie, Days of Glory, in 1944, he went on to receive four Academy Award nominations in the next five years. His fifth would be the one he finally took home.

Though the pages of LIFE are filled with glowing reviews of Peck’s performances, the legacy he left behind transcends the bounds of stage and screen. Peck, who died in 2003, is remembered as every bit the decent soul as his version of Atticus Finch was. As TIME’s late film critic Richard Corliss wrote in his obituary for the actor:

It’s dangerous to confuse an actor with his movie roles. But by all accounts the reel and the real Gregory Peck were close kin. He was a model of probity, a loyal friend to colleagues in distress, a father confessor to the Hollywood community. He chaired the National Society of This, the American Academy of That. He was laden with official honors: Lyndon Johnson gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom; Richard Nixon put him on his Enemies List. Peck received perhaps his sweetest laurel last week when the reclusive [Harper] Lee, on hearing of his death, said, “Gregory Peck was a beautiful man. Atticus Finch gave him the opportunity to play himself.”

December 1, 1947 cover of LIFE magazine with Gregory Peck.
December 1, 1947 cover of LIFE magazine with Gregory Peck.Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Gregory Peck in costume during summer stock in Cape Cod, 1946.
Gregory Peck in costume during Summer Stock in Cape Cod, 1946. Eileen Darby—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Gregory Peck talking on the telephone during summer stock in Cape Cod, 1946.
Peck talks on the telephone during Summer Stock in Cape Cod, 1946.Eileen Darby—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Gregory Peck reading a script on the beach during summer stock at Cape Cod in 1946.
Peck reads a script on the beach in Cape Cod in 1946.Eileen Darby—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Gregory Peck smoking a pipe for a scene in the movie "The Yearling." 1947.
Peck smokies a pipe for a scene in the movie "The Yearling." 1947.Walter Sanders—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Gregory Peck and Ann Todd, starring in Alfred Hitchcock's film The Paradine Case. 1947.
Peck with Ann Todd, his costar in Alfred Hitchcock's film "The Paradine Case," 1947.Ralph Crane—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Potrait of Gregory Peck in New York, 1947.
Portrait of Gregory Peck in New York City, 1947.Nina Leen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner watching Walter Huston as he gambles in scene from film "The Great Sinner." 1949.
Peck and Ava Gardner watch Walter Huston as he gambles in a scene from film "The Great Sinner," 1949.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Actor Gregory Peck at the beach in La Jolla, California. 1949.
Peck at the beach in his birthplace of La Jolla, California, 1949.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Gregory Peck costumed as WWII American Air Forces bomber pilot for movie "Twelve O'Clock High." 1950.
Peck costumed as WWII American Air Force bomber pilot for the movie "Twelve O'Clock High," 1950.W. Eugene Smith—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward on the set of the 1951 film "David and Bathsheba."
Peck and Susan Hayward on the set of the 1951 film "David and Bathsheba."Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Gregory Peck on a set in Hollywood, California. 1955.
Peck on set in Hollywood, California. 1955.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Gregory Peck in promotional shot for the film "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit." 1956.
Peck in a promotional shot for the film "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit," 1956.J. R. Eyerman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Write to Eliza Berman at eliza.berman@time.com