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The Globe and Mail (31/Dec/1979) - Queen knights Hitchcock in New Year Honors List

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Queen knights Hitchcock in New Year Honors List

Eighty-year-old film director Alfred Hitchcock has been knighted by the Queen in Britain's New Year honors list.

The London-born director, whose suspense films have made him a movie giant, has been named a knight commander of the Order of the British Empire and will be known as Sir Alfred.

He has been based in Los Angeles since 1939 and became a U.S. citizen in 1955. Among his best-known films are The Lady Vanishes, Dial M For Murder and Psycho.

Several other famous figures from the arts and show business are in the list, including conductor Colin Davis, who also is knighted, and pop singer Cliff Richard, awarded the Order of the British Empire.

For the first time since 1974 the list contained awards for services to politics. The top honor went to Lord Thorneycroft, a former chancellor of the exchequer, who was named a Companion of Honor.

As chairman of the Conservative Party, Lord Thorneycroft, 70, was architect of the campaign that swept Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to power in last May's general election.

Two of Britain's best-known retailers were honored - Sir Marcus Sieff, chairman of the Marks and Spencer chain, was made a baron, and John Sainsbury, head of Sainsbury food stores, received a knighthood.

Norris McWhirter, compiler of the Guinness Book of Records, one of the world's top-selling publications, was made a commander of the Order of the British Empire.

There were also awards for Britons serving in trouble spots. Among them was Henry Baillie, a Northern Ireland police chief involved in the battle against Irish Republican Army guerrillas, who also became a CBE.

Another was veteran diplomat Sir Antony Duff, a key figure in the Rhodesia peace talks and now serving as deputy governor in the British colony. He received the Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George.

Athletes did not figure prominently in this year's list but former England soccer team captain Emlyn Hughes was awarded an OBE.

Among the thousands of awards was a Member of the Order of the British Empire for William Luff, an elderly violin maker whose instruments are played in orchestras all over the world.

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