Charter Member, National Council on the Arts. [1964-1966]
Charter Member, National Council on the Arts. [1968-1974]
Children, with Kukkonen, Jonathan (b. 1944 - d. 1975), Stephen Peck (b. 1945), Carey Paul Peck (b. 1949).
Chosen by producer Darryl F. Zanuck for the epic film David and Bathsheba (1951) because Zanuck thought Peck had a "biblical face".
During his lean salad days, he supported himself as a Radio City Music Hall tour guide and as a catalog model for Montgomery Ward.
During the Vietnam War Peck was a vocal supporter of teenagers who dodged the draft, calling them "patriots" and "heroes" and saying that burning their draft cards was part of their civic duty. He produced an anti-war film, The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1972) using his own money in order to provoke more opposition to the conflict.
Father-in-law of Daniel Voll.
Formed a solid friendship with Mary Badham, who played his daughter "Scout" in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). They remained in contact until his passing. According to Badham, she always called him "Atticus" and he always called her "Scout".
Grandfather of actor Ethan Peck.
He and The Big Country (1958) co-star Charlton Heston both played the infamous Nazi war criminal Dr. Josef Mengele: Peck in The Boys from Brazil (1978), Heston in Rua Alguem 5555: My Father (2003).
He did not get along with director Elia Kazan while filming Gentleman's Agreement (1947). Kazan told the press he was very disappointed with Peck's performance and the two men never worked together again.
He had always wanted to act in a Shakespearean play, but by the time the opportunity presented itself in 1951 he decided it was too late to start.
He had always wanted to do a Walt Disney movie.
He had Armenian roots from his paternal grandfather, Sam "Peck", an immigrant from England. After Gregory married his second wife, Veronique Passani, she had his ancestry traced and discovered the Armenian lineage. Urging him to learn of his partial Armenian heritage and to learn the language, he took Armenian classes for a short time in his middle age.
He is listed in the Cal Berkeley Alumni roster as a graduate of the Class of 1942 who studied as an English major and where he acted in plays at the Associated Students sponsored 'Little Theatre' on campus. Incidentally while under the watch of the University's Committee on Music and Drama led by Professor William Popper as chairman, the University's Department of Dramatic Arts was just being established towards the end of his student tenure in 1941.
He regularly visited Humphrey Bogart while filming Designing Woman (1957) with Bogart's wife Lauren Bacall. Peck was reportedly devastated by the star's death in January 1957.
He took in former co-star Ava Gardner's housekeeper and dog after her death in 1990.
He visited Michael Jackson on the set of filming the "Smooth Criminal" segment for Moonwalker (1988). Also visiting the set was Robert De Niro and Bruce Willis.