Actor Gregory Peck Dies in Los Angeles at Age 87-reuters-30613

By Steve Gorman and Arthur Spiegelman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gregory Peck, one of the last great stars from Hollywood's golden era and a man who embodied on-screen heroism and dignity, died peacefully early Thursday at his home, his spokesman said on Thursday.

He was 87, and his films included some of Hollywood's most memorable: "To Kill a Mockingbird," in which he played a white lawyer defending a black man; "Roman Holiday," the film that made Audrey Hepburn a star; "Gentleman's Agreement," one of the first movies to confront the subject of anti-Semitism; and Alfred Hitchcock's "Spellbound."

Spokesman Monroe Friedman said Peck's French-born wife of 48 years, Veronique Passani Peck, was at his side when he died. "She told me he just died peacefully. She said she was holding his hand and he just closed his eyes and went to sleep and he was gone," Friedman told Reuters.

His death came just days after the American Film Institute named his role as the idealistic Southern lawyer Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird" as the greatest movie hero of all time. The role earned Peck an Oscar for best actor in 1963.

The tall, lean, square-jawed Peck began his film career in the 1940s and became a Hollywood symbol of moral strength and sincerity both on screen and off. At one point, Democrats tried to persuade him to run for governor of California -- a role that Republicans later succeeded in casting Ronald Reagan for.

The California-born Peck, who once thought of becoming a priest, attended a military academy as a boy and his soldier-like bearing served him well in such roles as Captain Ahab in "Moby Dick," King David ("David and Bathsheba"), Gen. Douglas MacArthur ("MacArthur") and even Abraham Lincoln (television's "The Blue and the Gray").

'GOOD GUY' ROLES

Rarely in more than 50 films did he play anything but a "good guy," a notable exception being the Nazi villain doctor, Josef Mengele, in the popular "The Boys From Brazil" (1978).

He earned a total of five Oscar nominations even though critics could be unkind. The New Yorker's Pauline Kael once labeled Peck "competent but always a little boring."

But John Huston, who directed Peck in "Moby Dick," echoed the comments of many in Hollywood when he praised the "superb dignity" of the actor's performances. "Greg is one of the nicest, straightest guys I ever knew, and there's a size to him," Huston wrote in his autobiography.

Time magazine film critic Richard Schickel called him "the embodiment of American integrity."

Martin Scorsese, who directed Peck in one of his last film roles, a cameo in a 1991 "Cape Fear" remake (Peck co-starred in the 1962 original), said Peck "understood the tensions and doubts, the frustrations and disappointments of the decent man, the man who couldn't fall apart in public, who had to keep things together."

Actor Charlton Heston likewise saluted his onetime co-star: "From our fight scene in 'Big Country' to his willingness to stand up for what he believed personally, Gregory Peck faced life's challenges with great vigor and courage."

Peck was active in the film industry, serving as founding chairman of the AFI and as head the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1967 to 1970. In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson awarded him the Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor.

With typical reserve, he once summed up his career this way: "I enjoy practicing my craft as well as I possibly can. I enjoy the work for its own sake."

Born Eldred Gregory Peck on April 5, 1916, his first name came from a telephone directory and was quickly dropped.

Peck entered St. John's Military Academy in Los Angeles at the age of 10. There he received discipline and large doses of Catholic training, and briefly considered becoming a priest.

Moving to New York, he was a barker at the 1939 World's Fair and soon started acting. His first Broadway appearance, in 1942's "Morning Star," earned him a test with movie producer David O. Selznick -- who turned him down.

In 1944, however, he starred as a Russian guerrilla fighter in "Days of Glory," which led to a role the next year as a thoughtful priest in "The Keys of the Kingdom," a role that garnered his first Oscar nomination.

CHOICE OF STUDIOS

A bad back kept Peck out of World War II, and with many stars in uniform, Peck had his choice of studios but refused to sign long-term contracts or tie himself to a single studio.

Among his early films were "The Yearling" (1946), "The Macomber Affair" (1947), "Duel in the Sun" (1947), "Yellow Sky" (1948), "Twelve O'Clock High" (1950), "The Gunfighter" (1950), "Captain Horatio Hornblower" (1951), "The World in His Arms" (1952), and "David and Bathsheba" (1951).

In 1956 Peck starred in two of his most successful movies, "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" and "Moby Dick." In 1958, Peck co-produced and starred in "The Big Country," a success that was followed by the bigger ones of "The Guns of Navarone" (a 1962 war thriller) and "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Peck's straight-backed style proved as perfect for the 1976 hit horror film "The Omen" as for "MacArthur" (1977) and the 1959 nuclear war parable "On the Beach."