Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930)
is an
American actress and former
fashion model with a career spanning six decades. She is primarily known for her roles in two
Alfred Hitchcock films,
The Birds and
Marnie, and her extensive efforts in animal rescue at
Shambala Preserve, an 80-acre (320,000 m
2) wildlife habitat which she founded in 1983.
Hedren is the mother of
Academy Award nominee
Melanie Griffith, and they share credits on several productions, notably
Pacific Heights (1990).
Early life
Hedren was born in
New Ulm, Minnesota in 1930 to Dorothea Henrietta (
née Eckhardt) and Bernard Carl Hedren.
Her paternal grandparents were immigrants from
Sweden, and her maternal ancestry was
German and
Norwegian, Her father ran a small general store in the small town of
Lafayette, Minnesota and gave her the nickname "Tippi." "My father thought Nathalie was a little bit much for a brand new baby," Hedren explained at a 2004 screening of
The Birds.
As a teenager, Hedren took part in department store fashion shows. Her parents relocated to
California while she was still a high school student. When she reached her 18th birthday, she bought a ticket to New York and began a professional modeling career. Within a year she made her film debut (minus dialogue) as a Petty Girl model in
The Petty Girl (1950) musical comedy, although in interviews she refers to
The Birds (1963) as her first film.
Career
Hedren had a successful modeling career in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing on covers of national magazines, such as
Life magazine.
She was discovered by Hitchcock, who was watching
The Today Show when he saw Hedren in a commercial for Sego, a diet drink. Hitchcock was looking for an actress who possessed something of the sophistication, self-assurance and cool-blonde sex appeal of
Grace Kelly, with whom he had made three films. Hedren, expensively groomed and mentored by Hitchcock, appeared in his films
The Birds and
Marnie. At the time of the films' releases, she was criticized for being too passive in
The Birds and too expressive in
Marnie. It took years before she received respect for her work in both films from
American film critics.
At a packed house in
Lancaster, California's
Antelope Valley Independent Film Festival Cinema Series screening of
The Birds on September 28, 2004, Hedren recalled how she was mysteriously selected for a lead role:
"I said, 'Well, who is this person? Who is interested?'... Nobody would tell me who it was." (It was Alfred Hitchcock, who soon announced his choice of Hedren.)
[citation needed]
Hitchcock put Hedren through a then-costly
$25,000 screen test, doing scenes from his previous films, such as
Rebecca,
Notorious and
To Catch a Thief with actor
Martin Balsam. He signed her to a multi-year exclusive personal contract, something he had done in the 1950s with
Vera Miles. Hitchcock's plan to mold Hedren's public image went so far as to carefully control her style of dressing and grooming.
Hitchcock insisted for publicity purposes that her name should be printed only in single quotes, "Tippi". The press mostly ignored this directive from the director, who felt that the single quotes added distinction and mystery to Hedren's name. In interviews, Hitchcock compared his newcomer not only to her predecessor
Grace Kelly but also to what he referred to as such "ladylike", intelligent, and stylish stars of more glamorous eras as
Irene Dunne and
Jean Arthur. Later, Hedren indicated that she didn't want to be known as the next Grace Kelly but rather as the first Tippi Hedren.
Her appearance in
The Birds brought a wealth of publicity. In a December 1962
Look magazine cover story "Hitchcock's New Grace Kelly", Alfred Hitchcock compared her to his star of
To Catch a Thief and
Rear Window, saying, "'Tippi' has a faster tempo, city glibness, more humor. She displayed jaunty assuredness, pertness, an attractive throw of the head. And she memorized and read lines extraordinarily well and is sharper in expression."
Hedren said of Hitchcock, "He is subtle as a psychiatrist and never gives displaced encouragement." With the release of the film, she got a very tepid reception, the only exceptions being critic Bob Thomas ("Miss Hedren makes an impressive debut") and
Time ("pleasant and ladylike, as Grace Kelly was.") Years after the film's release, she remembered the location work at
Bodega Bay as dangerous and taxing, commenting, "For a first film, it was a lot of work."
For the final attack scene in a second-floor bedroom, filmed on a closed set at Universal-International Studios, Hedren had been assured by Hitchcock that mechanical birds would be used. Instead, Hedren endured five solid days of prop men, protected by thick leather gloves, flinging dozens of live gulls, ravens and crows at her (their beaks clamped shut with elastic bands).
Cary Grant visited the set and told Hedren, "I think you're the bravest lady I've ever met." In a state of exhaustion, when one of the birds gouged her cheek and narrowly missed her eye, Hedren sat down on the set and began crying.
A physician ordered a week's rest, which Hedren said at the time was riddled with "nightmares filled with flapping wings".
The Birds brought her a Golden Globe as Most Promising Newcomer.
Premiere magazine chose Hedren's character, Melanie Daniels in
The Birds as one of "The 100 Greatest Characters of All Time".
Marnie (1964), a
psychological thriller from the novel by
Winston Graham, was Hedren's second Hitchcock assignment, co-starring with
Sean Connery. She recalls
Marnie as the favorite of her two films for Hitchcock because of the central character, an emotionally battered young woman who travels from city to city assuming various guises in order to rob her employers On release, the film was greeted by mixed reviews and indifferent box-office returns. Although Hitchcock continued to have Hedren in mind for several other films after
Marnie, the actress declined any further work with him. Other directors who wanted to hire her had to go through Hitchcock, who would inform them she was unavailable. "It grew to be impossible. He was a very controlling type of person, and I guess I'm not about to be controlled", said Hedren. When Hedren tried to get out of her contract, she recalls Hitchcock telling her he'd ruin her career.
"And he did: kept me under contract, kept paying me every week for almost two years to do nothing."
By the time Hitchcock sold her contract to Universal and she was fired for refusing work on one of its television shows, Hedren's career had stalled.
On April 13, 2011, at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, NY, Hedren stated in an interview with Turner Classic Movies' Ben Mankiewicz, prior to a screening of
The Birds, that because she refused Hitchcock’s sexual advances, Hitchcock effectively stunted her career.
Charles Chaplin cast her as the sophisticated, brittle, cheated-upon wife of
Marlon Brando in his shipboard comedy
A Countess from Hong Kong (1967). She made more than 40 films between 1967 and 2006, including
Pacific Heights,
Citizen Ruth and
I Heart Huckabees.
More recently, she has appeared in episodes of
The 4400 in 2006 and
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2006. She was a cast member of the night-time soap opera
Fashion House in 2006. Hedren has also appeared in many independent films. In 2009, she co-starred with actress
Brittany Murphy in the made-for-television movie
Tribute.
Along with
Kim Novak,
Eva Marie Saint and
Joan Fontaine, she will participate to the Motion Picture Academy Tribute to the “Hitchcock Blondes” (2011).
Influence
A
Louis Vuitton ad campaign in 2006 paid tribute to Hedren and Hitchcock with a modern-day interpretation of the deserted railway station opening sequence of
Marnie.
Her 1963 publicity picture from
The Birds was the cover for
Jean-Pierre Dufreigne's book
Hitchcock Style (2004). In interviews,
Naomi Watts has stated that her character interpretation in
Mulholland Drive (2001) was influenced by the look and performances of Hedren and
Kim Novak in Hitchcock films.
Watts and Hedren later acted in
I Heart Huckabees (2004) but didn't share any scenes together onscreen. Off-screen, the film's director
David O. Russell introduced them both, and Watts has said about Hedren,
"I was pretty fascinated by her then because people have often said that we're alike." Watts was once expected to star in a remake of
The Birds (1963)
and has dressed up as Hedren's title character from
Marnie for a photo shoot for March 2008 issue of
Vanity Fair magazine. In the same issue,
Jodie Foster dressed up as Hedren's character, Melanie Daniels from
The Birds (1963).
In
another issue of
Vanity Fair, the magazine referred to
January Jones's character in
Mad Men as "Tippi Hedren's soul sister from
Marnie". The
New York Times television critic earlier had echoed the same sentiment in his review of
Mad Men.
January Jones said that she "takes it a compliment of sorts" when compared to Grace Kelly and Hedren.
Actress
Tea Leoni said that her character in the film
Manure (2009) is made up to look like Hedren.
Shambala Preserve
In 1981, Hedren produced
Roar, an 11-year project that ended up costing $17 million and starring dozens of African lions. "This was probably one of the most dangerous films that Hollywood has ever seen", remarked the actress. "It's amazing no one was killed." During the production of
Roar, Hedren, her husband at the time,
Noel Marshall, and daughter Melanie were attacked by lions;
Jan de Bont, the director of photography, was scalped. She later co-wrote the book
Cats of Shambala (1985) about the experience.
Roar made only $2 million worldwide. Hedren ended her marriage to Marshall a year later in 1982. The film directly led to the 1983 establishment of the
non-profit Roar Foundation and Hedren's
Shambala Preserve, located at the edge of the
Mojave Desert in
Acton, California between the Antelope Valley and the
Santa Clarita Valley 40 miles (64 km) northeast of
Los Angeles. Shambala currently houses some 70 animals, including African lions,
Siberian and
Bengal tigers,
leopards,
servals,
mountain lions and
bobcats. Hedren lives on the Shambala site and conducts monthly tours of the preserve for the public. Hedren took in and cared for Togar, a lion that belonged to
Anton LaVey, after he was told by San Francisco officials that he couldn't keep a fully grown lion as a house pet. More recently, Shambala became the new home for
Michael Jackson’s two Bengal tigers, Sabu and Thriller, after he decided to close his zoo at his
Neverland Valley Ranch in
Los Olivos, California. On December 3, 2007, Shambala Preserve made headlines when Chris Orr, a caretaker for the animals, was mauled by a tiger named Alexander.
[citation needed]
Several documentaries have focused on Shambala Preserve, including the 30-minute
Lions: Kings of the Serengeti (1995), narrated by Melanie Griffith, and
Animal Planet's
Life with Big Cats (1998), which won the Genesis Award for best documentary in 1999. The animals at the preserve served as the initial inspiration for the life's work of artist
A. E. London, who started her career working for Hedren.
Personal life
Hedren met and married actor/producer
Peter Griffith in 1952. Their daughter, actress
Melanie Griffith, was born on August 9, 1957. They were divorced in 1961. She married her then-agent
Noel Marshall, who later produced three of her films, in 1964; they divorced in 1982. She married businessman Luis Barrenechea in 1985 and divorced in 1995.
Hedren has three grandchildren from daughter Griffith: musician Alexander Bauer, actress and model
Dakota Johnson and Stella Banderas. Her current son-in-law is actor
Antonio Banderas.
In a
Los Angeles Times article and featured on a CBC news story, Hedren was described as being a pivotal figure in the modern development of
Vietnamese owned-nail salons in the United States and later spread rapidly along the East and to Canada. Drawn to the plight of refugees from the
Vietnam War, she began visiting a tent city at
Hope Village, and in 1975, helped Vietnamese immigrants, primarily female, by having her
manicurist teach them the skills of the trade and working with a local beauty school to help them find jobs. In Canada, the nail parlour industry is now dominated by Vietnamese immigrants and refugees.
Filmography
Year Title Role Other notes
2011 Cousin Sarah Betty pre-production
2010 Batman: The Brave and the Bold Queen Hippolyta Animated series
2009 Tribute Mrs. Hennessey TV movie
2008 Birdemic: Shock and Terror Actor on TV archive footage
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Karen Rosenthal (1 episode, 2008)
Her Morbid Desires Aunt Gloria
2007 Dead Write Minnie
2006 Fashion House Doris Thompson
2005 The Last Confederate: The Story of Robert Adams Grandmother Adams
Diamond Zero Eleanor Kelly
The 4400 Lily Moore Tyler, aged
2004 I Heart Huckabees Mary Jane Hutchinson
Raising Genius Grandma Babe
Return to Babylon Mrs. Peabody
2003 Rose's Garden Rose
DarkWolf Mary
Searching for Haizmann Dr. Michelle Labner
111 Gramercy Park Mrs. Granville
IceMaker Mrs. Kelly
Julie and Jack Julie McNeal
2001 Tea with Grandma Grandma Rae
Ice Cream Sundae Lady
2000 Mind Rage Dr. Wilma Randolph
1999 Replacing Dad Dixie
The Darklings Martha Jackson
The Storytellers Lillian Glosner
1998 I Woke Up Early The Day I Died Maylinda Austed
Break Up Mom
Expose unknown
1997 Mulligans Dottie
1996 Citizen Ruth Jessica Weiss
1994 Inevitable Grace Dr. Marcia Stevens
Treacherous Beauties Lettie Hollister
The Birds II: Land's End Helen
Teresa's Tattoo Evelyn Hill
1993 Perry Mason: The Case of the Skin-Deep Scandal Beverly Courtney
Murder, she wrote Catherine Noble
1992 Through the Eyes of a Killer Mrs. Bellano
1991 Shadow of a Doubt Mrs. Mathewson
In the Heat of the Night Annabelle Van Buren
1990 Pacific Heights Florence Peters
Return to Green Acres Arlenn
1989 Deadly Spygames Chastity
1985 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Waitress
1984 Terror in the Aisles archival appearance
1982 Foxfire Light Elizabeth Morgan
1981 Roar Madeline
1976 The Bionic Woman Susan Victor
1976 Where the Wind Dies unknown
1973 The Harrad Experiment Margaret Tenhausen
Mr. Kingstreet's War Maggie Kingstreet
1970 Satan's Harvest Marla Oaks
1968 Tiger by the Tail Rita Armstrong
1967 A Countess from Hong Kong Martha
1964 Marnie Marnie Edgar
1963 The Birds Melanie Daniels Golden Globe
1950 The Petty Girl Ice Box Petty Girl uncredited
