Alfred Hitchcock was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1980.
More precisely, Hitchcock was appointed a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the 1980 New Year Honours. The honour made him “Sir Alfred Hitchcock,” a title he received only months before his death in April 1980.
Hitchcock was too ill to travel to London for a traditional investiture. On 3 January 1980, the British consul general presented the official papers to him at Universal Studios in California. He had a pacemaker and suffered from serious health problems, including arthritis, which prevented the journey.
The year can cause confusion because the honour was announced in late December 1979, when the New Year Honours list was published. The formal appointment and presentation occurred in January 1980, so 1980 is the standard answer to the quiz question. Hitchcock had previously declined a CBE in 1962 before accepting the later knighthood.