Alfred Hitchcock is one of the best-known filmmakers in the world. This gentle looking, overweight Englishman has connected the cinema audience with some of the most mysterious and frightening films ever made. The 39 Steps made in 1939 was the film that made him famous outside Britain. He received many offers from Hollywood, where he went to make Rebecca . This was the most expensive film he had made, costing over a million dollars. This was impossible in Britain, where budgets were very small. But as soon as shooting started on Rebecca , the Second World War started. Like many other film people, Hitchcock decided to stay in America, and was sometimes called a traitor at home. But he was too old to fight, and the British film industry had closed down. He finished Rebecca , and got his first Oscar, for The Best Film of the Year. He was also the first film director to become a TV star. In 1955, he started a TV show which showed mystery and horror stories, called "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." This was a new idea, for most of the Hollywood people hated television and thought it was beneath their talents to work in the TV world. The audience loved Hitchcock, however, and he made more shows. These shows gave him more opportunity to try new ideas and make more and more mysterious or frightening films.