Marion Crane
Marion Crane (known in the original novel as Mary Crane), also under the alias Marie Samuels, is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch in his 1959 thriller novel Psycho. She is portrayed by Janet Leigh in the 1960 version of Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock, by Anne Heche in the 1998 version of Psycho, and by Rihanna in the television series, Bates Motel (2017).[1] For her performance in Psycho, Leigh was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the Academy Awards and won a Golden Globe Award in the same category.
Marion Crane
Psycho (1959)
Janet Leigh (Psycho (1960))
Vera Miles (Psycho trailer)
Anne Heche (Psycho (1998))
Rihanna (Bates Motel (2017))
Female
Lila Crane (sister)
Mary Loomis (deceased niece; film canon only)
Sam Loomis (deceased boyfriend/brother-in-law)
Appearances and references in the rest of the series[edit]
Psycho's first sequel, 1983's Psycho II, starts off with a flashback to the shower scene. Marion's sister, Lila Crane (Vera Miles), now Lila Loomis, is on a crusade to keep Norman locked up. The film introduces Mary Loomis (Meg Tilly), Lila's daughter with Sam and Marion's niece. Both are killed in the film; Lila is stabbed by a woman who looks like him in his "Mother" guise (later revealed to be Emma Spool, portrayed by Claudia Bryar), and Mary is shot by police when she attempts to kill Norman.
In the second sequel, 1986's Psycho III, the shower scene appears again in a flashback, this time when Norman sees Maureen Coyle (Diana Scarwid) who reminds him of Marion. "Mother" tries to kill Maureen in exactly the same room and bathroom of the Bates Motel where Marion died, only to find that Maureen slit her wrists in a bathtub filled with water in an attempted suicide. Later, after being rescued by Norman, "Mother" kills Maureen by pushing her down the same stairs of the Bates house where private investigator Milton Arbogast died.
Marion makes no appearance in the final sequel, 1990's Psycho IV: The Beginning. She is merely referred to a few times as "the girl [Norman] killed in the shower".
Comic books[edit]
Marion appears in the 1992 three-issue comic book adaptation of the 1960 film Psycho, released by Innovation Publishing.
Portrayals[edit]
Marion was played by Janet Leigh in the 1960 film Psycho and by Anne Heche in the 1998 remake. Leigh was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Heche was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress.
Rihanna portrayed Marion in the fifth and final season of the TV series Bates Motel, a contemporary prequel to the 1960 film Psycho. This version of the character is a contemporary take on the role.[3] In this continuity, she is a notary public living in Seattle, Washington. She is in a long-distance relationship with Sam Loomis (Austin Nichols), who, unbeknownst to her, is married. She meets him at the Bates Motel for a tryst, and the proprietor, Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore), spies on them through a peephole as they make love.[4] Sam tells Marion he is in too much debt to marry her. Marion rushes to her real estate office and asks her boss George Lowery (Raphael Sbarge) for a promotion and a pay raise, but he refuses. She drives to Sam's hometown of White Pine Bay, Oregon and tells him to meet her at the motel.[5] She meets Norman, who tells her that Sam is using her, and gives her his address. When she arrives at Sam's house, she sees him arguing with his wife and realizes Norman is right, and that Sam has played her for a fool; enraged, she takes a lug wrench to his car and smashes it. She returns to the motel and seeks comfort from Norman, who fears that his "Mother" personality (Vera Farmiga) will take control and kill her. To save her, he urges her to leave and never come back. She drives away with the money to begin a new life, while Norman kills Sam, who came to the motel to find her; in a nod to the original film, Norman stabs Sam to death in the shower.[6]