REMINISICNG …
TIPPI HENDREN
From working for (Best Director) Alfred Hitchcock, to a movie written by (Worst Director) Edward D. Wood Jr., Tippi Hedren, the Minnesota girl of Scandinavian descent, has had a distinctive career.
She was working as a New York fashion model when she married her first husband, actor and producer Peter Griffith, She gave birth to her only child, future star Melanie Griffith, born on August 9, 1957.
Alfred Hitchcock discovered Tippi, the pretty cover girl, while viewing a 1962 TV commercial on NBC's "Today" (1952). He put her under personal contract and cast her in The Birds (1963). Her performance earned her both the Golden Globe award and the Photoplay award as Most Promising Newcomer. Her next film was playing the title role in Hitchcock's Marnie (1964) opposite Sean Connery, where she played a challenging and difficult role of a frigid, habitual thief.
Charles Chaplin cast her in a supporting role in his final film A Countess from Hong Kong (1967), which flopped.
Tippi and her husband Marshall collected big cats and other wildlife for the film Roar (1981), which they starred in and produced. The film took 11 years and $17 million to make, but it only made $2 million worldwide. Nevertheless, the film was a turning point in her life; she became actively involved in animal rights, as well as a wide variety of humanitarian and environmental causes.
Tippi has devoted much time and effort to charitable causes: she is a volunteer International Relief Coordinator for "Food for the Hungry". She has travelled worldwide to set up relief programs following earthquakes, hurricanes, famine and war, and has received numerous awards for her efforts, including the "Humanitarian Award" presented to her by the Baha'i Faith.
She continues to work frequently in films, theater and TV. She appeared in I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998), finally bringing to the big screen the last screenplay written by the late Edward D. Wood Jr. in 1974 (and featuring Wood regulars Vampira and Conrad Brooks, just about the only surviving members of Wood's stock company). She also enjoyed playing comedic roles, such as an abortion rights activist in Alexander Payne's satire Citizen Ruth (1996) and slapping Jude Law in I Heart Huckabees (2004). S
She enjoys spending time with her daughter, Melanie Griffith, and grandchildren Alexander Bauer, Dakota Johnson, and Stella Banderas.
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