Joan Harrison (June 26, 1907 - August 14, 1994) was a film producer and screenwriter. In 1933, at the age of 26, she became the secretary of Alfred Hitchcock. Eventually, she began reading books and scripts for him and became one of Hitchcock's most trusted associates. When Hitchcock moved to Hollywood in March 1939 to begin his contract with David O. Selznick to direct films, Harrison went with him as an assistant and writer.
She gained the title of screenwriter when she wrote the film Jamaica Inn (1939) based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier. Harrison continued writing screenplays for films Rebecca (1940), also adapted from a du Maurier novel, Foreign Correspondent (1940), Suspicion (1941) (screenplay), Saboteur (1942), Dark Waters (1944) and Nocturne (1946).
Harrison was an uncredited screenwriter for Ride the Pink Horse (1947) and Your Witness (1950). She also became a film producer, producing such films as Nocturne, Ride the Pink Horse (1947), and They Won't Believe Me (1947). Harrison worked in television with Hitchcock when she produced his TV series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Harrison was educated at the Sorbonne and Oxford.
In 1933, she was hired to be a secretary by Alfred Hitchcock. She soon graduated to reading books and scripts, writing synopses and contributing to scripts. In 1939, she accompanied Hitchcock to Hollywood, working as his assistant and as a writer. In 1941, she was hired as a scriptwriter by MGM. In 1943, she became a producer at Universal. From 1955 to 1962, she produced the TV series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."
