Which actor played the male lead in 'Vertigo'?

James Stewart played the male lead, John “Scottie” Ferguson, in Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo.

Scottie is a former San Francisco police detective who retires after a rooftop incident leaves him with acrophobia and vertigo. Gavin Elster then hires him to follow Madeleine, whose strange behavior draws Scottie into a mystery involving obsession, identity, and murder.

Stewart’s performance was deliberately different from his familiar image as a warm, dependable hero. As Scottie becomes increasingly obsessed with recreating an idealized woman, his behavior grows controlling and psychologically destructive. That unsettling transformation is central to the film’s lasting reputation.

Vertigo co-stars Kim Novak in the dual roles of Madeleine Elster and Judy Barton, while Barbara Bel Geddes plays Midge, Scottie’s former fiancée. Cary Grant, another major Hitchcock leading man, was not in Vertigo; he starred in films such as North by Northwest and Notorious.