The Cal 100: No. 100 — Gregory Peck

Rower Eldred Peck became Academy Award winner Gregory Peck after his time at Cal

We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.

No. 100: Gregory Peck

Cal Sports Connection: A member of Cal's rowing team in 1937 and 1938.

Claim to Fame: Legendary actor best known for his Academy Award-winning performance in the role of Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

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While the United States was trying to climb out of the Great Depression, Cal students would not have guessed that a pre-med classmate and JV rower named Eldred Peck would become an Oscar-winning actor.

Eldred Peck was a member of the Cal rowing team for two years (1937 and 1938), but he never got beyond junior varsity status for the powerful Cal crew.  (Cal's crew won the Olympic gold medal in 1928, 1932 and 1948.)  However, he claimed skills he learned as a rower -- such as rhythm, harmony and balance – helped him succeed professionally.  

Peck struggled financially while at Cal and fell one course short of graduating. But it was in college that he was introduced to acting and realized the power of his strong baritone voice. 

The name Eldred Peck did not have a Hollywood ring, so he dropped his first name and used his middle name, Gregory, when he moved to New York.

Peck had little money early on in his pursuit of an acting career, forcing him to sleep in Central Park at times, but eventually he became one of the biggest movie stars of his era. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Peck No. 12 on its list of the greatest male stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema. 

His roles in “Spellbound,” “Roman Holiday,” “Gentlemen’s Agreement” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” are legendary. His portrayal of Atticus Finch in “To Kill and Mockingbird” earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1962.

As famous as he became, Peck never forgot the importance of his time as a Cal athlete. He made that apparent when he  donated $25,000 to the Cal rowing program in honor of his Cal rowing coach, Ky Ebright.

Peck died in 2003 at the age of 87.

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