Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899, in Leytonstone, Essex, England. The son of a greengrocer, Hitchcock was a well-behaved child who did well in school – usually in the top five of his class. He attended St. Ignatius College and studied engineering at the University of London. After his father died, Hitchcock took a job as a technical clerk but took night classes in art history, painting, economics, and political science as well. He was too young to enlist at the start of World War I, but when he was old enough, he joined a cadet regiment of the Royal Engineers.