Janet Leigh’s Body Double Recalls Infamous ‘Psycho’ Shower Scene

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock hired Playboy covergirl Marli Renfro to play Janet Leigh’s body double in the hit ‘60s film, Psycho. Now in her mid-80s, Marli still refers to the iconic cinema moment when she stripped down in the shower and got stabbed to death by Anthony Perkins’ Norman Bates.

The scene was celebrated in the 2017 documentary 78/52 and put her in the spotlight of author Robert Graysmith’s 2009 release, The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock’s Shower. Marli also frequents comic cons to meet up with fans and, more recently, worked on a production about the Playboy Club set to premiere next year.

Marli was a natural in her birthday suit

Marli learned of “the master of suspense’s” need for a body double while working as a model. She headed for the casting call at Universal Studios, where Hitchcock had her stripped down just to her underpants. “I was a nudist and being without clothes was very natural to me,” she recalled. “I put my clothes back on, and we went to see Janet Leigh. I had to strip for her also, to see if our bodies were about the same.”

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She confessed to being a huge fan of Hitchcock, who did not mind working for free just to be in his presence, though she did get paid $500 for a few days. “That was it. And that was fine by me,” Marli said. She appreciated the director for treating her with “great respect” and helping her look past her insecurity about her injured ring finger. “I was so nervous to tell him…he said, ‘Don’t worry about it,’” she added.

Marli was wrong about her expectations

Marli was self-conscious and expected to be received differently on set. “I thought, ‘Oh, boy.’ They’re thinking, ‘Here’s the stripper ready to put on a show.’ Well, my thing about being a nudist was to get a full tan, for one thing, but also to play volleyball,” she said. She also needed full body makeup and a wig that took long to apply.

Surprisingly, “everybody was professional,” throughout the shoot, including the 78 setups and 52 cuts for the legendary scene. “I had a very strong idea that he talked with everybody who was involved when I was on the set. There was no snickering … and it turned out that it was a very comfortable working situation,” Marli added. “And I think everybody there just got used to seeing me with no clothes.”