1950–1960: Modeling On reaching her 20th birthday, Hedren bought a ticket to
New York City, where she joined the
Eileen Ford Agency. Within a year, she made her unofficial film debut as "Miss Ice Box" in the musical comedy
The Petty Girl. In interviews, she referred to
The Birds, her first credited role, as her first film. Although she received several film offers during that time, Hedren had no interest in acting, as she knew it was very difficult to succeed. Hedren had a highly successful modeling career during the 1950s and early 1960s, appearing on the covers of
Life, The Saturday Evening Post, ''
McCall's,
and Glamour,'' among others. In 1961, after seven years of marriage to the actor Peter Griffith, Hedren divorced and returned to California with her daughter,
Melanie, and rented an expensive home in
Sherman Oaks. She later said, "I thought I could continue my career as it had been in New York. I thought everything would be just fine, and it wasn't. So I thought, 'well, I don't type, what shall I do?
1961–1966: Transition to acting and Alfred Hitchcock Discovery (1961) On October 13, 1961, Hedren received a call from an agent who told her a producer was interested in working with her. When she was told it was
Alfred Hitchcock, who – while watching
The Today Show – had seen her in a commercial for a diet drink called
Sego, she agreed to sign a seven-year contract. During their first meeting, the two talked about everything except the role for which he was considering her. Hedren was convinced for several weeks it was for his television series,
Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Being an unknown actress with little training, Hitchcock put Hedren through an extensive color screen test that lasted two days and cost $25,000, doing scenes from his previous films, such as
Rebecca, Notorious, and
To Catch a Thief with actor
Martin Balsam. According to Balsam, Hedren was very nervous, but studied every line, did every move she was asked to, and tried to do everything right. Hitchcock asked costume designer
Edith Head to design clothes for Hedren's private life and he personally advised her about wine and food. Hitchcock was impressed with Hedren. As production designer
Robert F. Boyle explained, "Hitch always liked women who behaved like well-bred ladies. Tippi generated that quality." Afterward, Hedren was invited to lunch with Hitchcock, his wife,
Alma, and
Lew Wasserman, head of
Universal, at one of Hitchcock's favorite restaurants,
Chasen's. There, she was presented with a golden pin of three birds in flight, adorned by three tiny seed pearls, and was asked by Hitchcock to play the leading role in his upcoming film
The Birds. "I was so stunned. It never occurred to me that I would be given a leading role in a major motion picture. I had great big tears in my eyes," Hedren later recalled. Hedren said, "I probably learned in three years what it would have taken me 15 years to learn otherwise." She learned how to break down a script, to become another character, and to study the relationship of different characters. Hedren portrayed her role of Melanie Daniels as Hitchcock requested. She said, "He gives his actors very little leeway. He'll listen, but he has a very definite plan in mind as to how he wants his characters to act. With me, it was understandable, because I was not an actress of stature. I welcomed his guidance." During the six months of principal photography, Hedren's schedule was tight, as she was only given one afternoon off a week. Hitchcock told a reporter, after a few weeks of filming, that she was remarkable, and said, "She's already reaching the lows and highs of terror." Nonetheless, Hedren recalled the week she did the final bird attack scene in a second-floor bedroom as the worst of her life. 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). 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. Hitchcock protested, according to Hedren, saying she was the only one left to film. The doctor's reply was, "Are you trying to kill her?" Universal's executives, who did not back Hitchcock's decision to hire Hedren in the first place, were impressed with her performance and Wasserman described it as "remarkable". While promoting
The Birds, Hitchcock was full of praise for his new protégée, and compared her to
Grace Kelly. "Tippi has a faster tempo, city glibness, more humor [than Grace Kelly]. 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's performance was praised in
Varietys review: "Aside from the birds, the film belongs to Hedren, who makes an auspicious screen bow. She virtually has to carry the picture alone for the first 45-minute stretch, prior to the advent of the first wave of organized attackers from the sky. Miss Hedren has a star quality and Hitchcock has provided her with a potent vehicle to launch her career." Hedren received the
Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year at the
21st Golden Globe Awards, tied with
Elke Sommer for
The Prize and
Ursula Andress for
Dr. No. Her role as Melanie Daniels was named by
Premiere as one of the greatest film characters of all time.
Marnie (1964) '' (1964) Hitchcock was so impressed with Hedren's acting abilities, he decided to offer her the leading role in his next film,
Marnie (1964), a romantic drama and psychological thriller from the
novel by
Winston Graham, during the filming of
The Birds. Hedren was stunned and felt extremely fortunate to be offered to play "such a complicated, sad, tragic woman", and later said, "I consider my acting, while not necessarily being
method acting, but one that draws upon my own feelings. I thought Marnie was an extremely interesting role to play and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." As opposed to
The Birds, where she had received little acting guidance, for this film Hedren studied every scene with Hitchcock. Hedren recalled
Marnie as her favorite of the two films she did with Hitchcock for the challenge of playing Marnie Edgar, an emotionally battered young woman who travels from city to city assuming various guises to rob her employers. During the filming, Hitchcock was quoted as saying about Hedren, "an
Academy Award performance is in the making." On release, the film was greeted by mixed reviews and indifferent box-office returns, and received no Oscar nominations.
Variety wrote, "Hedren returns in a particularly demanding role. Miss Hedren, undertaking a role originally offered Grace Kelly for a resumption of her screen career, lends credence to a part never sympathetic. It's a difficult assignment which she fulfills satisfactorily." Hedren later said that
Marnie was "ahead of its time" because "people didn't talk about childhood and its effects on adult life. It was taboo to discuss sexuality and psychology and to put all that into a film was shocking." Despite its original lukewarm reception, the film was later acclaimed and described as a "masterpiece" and Hedren's performance is now regarded as one of the finest in any Hitchcock film.
Richard Brody of
The New Yorker wrote in his 2016 review of the film "Hedren's performance is one of the greatest in the history of cinema."
Allegations of sexual harassment Marnie was the second and last collaboration between Hedren and Hitchcock. In 1973, she admitted that a major lifestyle difference caused a split in their relationship. "He was too possessive and too demanding. I cannot be possessed by anyone. But, then, that's my own hangup." In 1983, author
Donald Spoto published his second book about Hitchcock,
The Dark Side of Genius, for which Hedren agreed to talk for the first time in detail about her relationship with the director. For years after its release, Hedren was not keen to talk about it in interviews, but thought the chapter devoted to her story was "accurate as to just what he was". Hedren later explained her long silence before telling her story, "It was embarrassing and insulting—there were a lot of reasons why I didn't want to tell the story. I didn't want it to be taken advantage of, twisted, turned, and made into an even uglier situation than it was." He then advised her on what she should eat, whom she should see, and how she should live. He told the cast and crew they were not allowed to talk to her. Hedren's co-star in
The Birds, Rod Taylor, later remembered, "Hitch was becoming very domineering and covetous of 'Tippi', and it was very difficult for her. No one was permitted to come physically close to her during the production. 'Don't touch the girl after I call "Cut! he said to me repeatedly." Hedren told his assistant,
Peggy Robertson, and the studio chief, Lew Wasserman, that she was becoming very unhappy about the whole situation. "But he was Alfred Hitchcock, the great and famous director, and I was Tippi Hedren, an inexperienced actress who had no clout." Hedren's own daughter, Melanie Griffith, remembered that while Hedren was doing
The Birds, she thought Hitchcock was taking her mother away from her. "Suddenly, I wasn't allowed even to visit my mom at the studio." During the filming of
Marnie, Hedren found Hitchcock's behavior toward her increasingly difficult to bear as filming progressed. "Everyone – I mean everyone – knew he was obsessed with me. He always wanted a glass of wine or champagne, with me alone, at the end of the day. He was really isolating me from everyone." Hedren's co-star in
Marnie, Diane Baker, later recalled, "She was never allowed to gather around with the rest of us, and he demanded that every conversation between her and Hitch be held in private... Nothing could have been more horrible for me than to arrive on that movie set and to see her being treated the way she was." Hitchcock revealed to Hedren one day he had a recurring dream where she came up to him and said, "Hitch, I love you – I'll always love you." When she heard this, Hedren replied "But it was a dream. Just a dream," and excused herself from his presence. She believed Hitchcock had no consideration for her feelings and remembered she was humiliated after he asked her to touch him, just before shooting a scene. "He made sure no one else could hear, and his tone and glance made it clear exactly what he meant." During that meeting, he apparently "made an overt sexual proposition" that Hedren "could neither ignore nor answer casually, as she could his previous gestures". In Spoto's third book about Hitchcock,
Spellbound by Beauty (2008), Hedren revealed that Hitchcock actually made offensive demands on her. "He stared at me and simply said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, that from this time on, he expected me to make myself sexually available and accessible to him – however and whenever and wherever he wanted." Hitchcock's demands led to a "horrible, horrible fight", according to Hedren. "He made these demands on me, and no way could I acquiesce to them." According to
Marnie's screenwriter,
Jay Presson Allen, Hitchcock was "mad" for Hedren. She felt unhappy for both and described the situation as "an old man's
cri de coeur", adding that Hitchcock had a "
Pygmalion complex about Tippi". She advised Hedren to finish the film and then get on with her life and be happy. Hedren's hairdresser, Virginia Darcy, even told Hitchcock he should not be possessive with Hedren. "Tippi felt rightly that she was not his property, but he'd say, 'You are, I have a contract. Hedren's contract terms gave Hitchcock the final say as to any work she could take on and he used that power to turn down several film roles on her behalf. She was particularly disappointed when French director
François Truffaut told her he had wanted her for one of them. The studio ultimately released her from her contract after she refused to appear on a television Western for them. ''s poster in 2012 In 2012,
The Girl, an
HBO/
BBC film about Hedren and Hitchcock's relationship, based on Donald Spoto's 2008 book
Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies, was released. When she was first told about the project, Hedren said she had mixed feelings about it, "To be still alive and have a film made about you is an awesome and incredibly frightening experience." Hedren and Hitchcock were respectively portrayed by
Sienna Miller and
Toby Jones. Although she was thrilled with the choice of Miller, Hedren was worried she would not be portrayed "as strong a character as I was – and still am. I had to be extremely strong to fight off Mr. Hitchcock." She described the moment she saw the film as "probably one of the most involved, emotionally tense 90 minutes that I have ever lived". The film was controversial, as others who knew and worked with Hitchcock responded to it negatively.
Kim Novak, who worked on Hitchcock's
Vertigo (1958), disputed Hitchcock's portrayal as a sexual predator in
The Girl: "I never saw him make a pass at anybody or act strange to anybody. And wouldn't you think if he was that way, I would've seen it or at least seen him with somebody? I think it's unfortunate when someone's no longer around and can't defend themselves." Novak previously described Hitchcock as a gentleman, and when asked about reports of his behavior, she said, "Maybe I just wasn't his type." Novak also stated, "I won't dispute Tippi if that's what she saw." Hedren herself was asked why her account of sexual harassment contrasted with the many interviews she gave about her time with Hitchcock, her presence at the
AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony honoring him in 1979, and her presence at his funeral. She explained that, "He ruined my career, but he didn't ruin my life. That time of my life was over. I still admire the man for who he was." She also said, "I've been able to separate the two. The man who was the artist. I mean, what he gave to the motion picture industry can never be taken away from him and I certainly wouldn't want to try. But on the other side, there is that dark side that was really awful." The relationship between Hedren and Hitchock was the basis for
John Logan's play
Double Feature with
Joanna Vanderham playing Hedren and
Ian McNeice playing Hitchcock. It opened at the
Hampstead Theatre in
London in February 2024.
Career setbacks (1967–1973) '' (1967) Hedren's first feature film appearance after
Marnie was in the 1967 film
A Countess from Hong Kong, starring
Marlon Brando and
Sophia Loren. She was told by writer-director
Charlie Chaplin that he was offering her a major supporting role as Ogden Mears (Brando)'s estranged wife Martha but had to accept the role without reading the script. However, when she arrived in England, where the filming took place, she finally received the script and realized that her part was little more than a
cameo. She asked Chaplin why he had lied to her. "Every actor in the world was asking if they could do this film, to just do a walk-on, without even being paid for it. When I said, 'Why didn't you just tell me that it was a cameo? I would have done this film anyway?' He said, 'I didn't think you would come,' which was very sweet. He was a very clever man." In the end, she remained in the film and later said that it was both amusing and strange to work with Chaplin. She found him to be a very serious man and loved his approach to directing. She later said, "I wish someone would have been allowed to do a documentary. The way he directed was unlike anyone I ever saw. He acted out all the parts himself. He did Sophia's part, then Marlon's part, then mine, and then he'd say, 'Okay, now you can do it.' Which would be impossible, to mimic the master. It was incredible. None of us believed it. Marlon hated it." '' (1973) After the release of
A Countess from Hong Kong, Hedren's career was described as "spectacular" by the press. She told a reporter at the time, "I don't want to wait myself out of this business, but working for Hitch and Charlie has been very special to me, and now I'm going to wait for something special to come along." In 1968, she signed on to do the
American Civil War drama
Five Against Kansas with
Farley Granger and
Jeffrey Hunter, but the project was never realized. In 1968, Hedren returned to film as Rita Armstrong, a socialite who helps her boyfriend Steve Michaelis (
George Armstrong) catch a killer, in
Tiger by the Tail. From 1970 to 1971, she guest-starred twice on ''
The Courtship of Eddie's Father. She agreed to take part in Satan's Harvest (1970) and Mister Kingstreet's War'' (1973)—which were shot back-to-back despite the discrepancy in their release dates—for the sole reason that they were being filmed in Africa. She confessed at the time that she was occasionally depressed because she was not doing any major films, and told a magazine, "My husband just cancelled all the
trade magazines because he felt I should cut off the source of my discontent. He's the type who won't stand for sustained down feelings."
Roar (1974–1981) '', she had her ankle fractured by Tembo, an African elephant, when he used his trunk to pick her up. She contracted gangrene from the incident. Hedren and husband
Noel Marshall watched a pride of lions move into a house after a game warden moved out in 1969, during the filming of ''Satan's Harvest
in Africa. She said, "We were delighted with the way they adapted themselves to living there. And they were so funny we knew we had an idea for a picture." Marshall wrote a script titled Lions, Lions and More Lions
based on their experience; it was retitled Roar'' and centered on a family's misadventures in a research park filled with lions, tigers, and other wild cats. Hedren played the lead role and co-starred with her daughter Melanie, husband Marshall, and his own sons Jerry and John. They attempted to rent Hollywood animals for a nine-month shoot, but upon approaching animal trainers for support, they were discouraged and nobody would rent them 30 or 40 lions, as the script required, because of their natural tendency to fight.
Life photographer Michael Rougier documented their life in 1971 and photographed the lion with the whole family inside and outside the house, from Hedren's daughter Melanie's bed to the living room to the swimming pool. After complaints from their neighbors, Hedren and Marshall bought a ranch outside of
Los Angeles in
Acton that would serve as the set for
Roar. They got permission there to rescue and raise several lions, tigers, African elephants, and other exotic felines. Filming started in 1974 and took five years just to complete the photography. Every scene involving lions was improvised and shot with four or sometimes eight cameras. More than 100 people worked on the film, as well as more than 150 untrained lions, tigers, leopards, and cheetahs. She was also bitten in the neck by a lion and required 38 stitches; this incident can be seen in the film. Melanie Griffith was also attacked, receiving 50 stitches to her face; it was feared that she would lose an eye, but she recovered and was not disfigured. Marshall was attacked so many times that he eventually was diagnosed with gangrene. In one of those incidents, he was clawed by a cheetah when protecting the animals during a bushfire that occurred in 1979. All animals were evacuated, and several years were needed for him to recover from his injuries.
Roar was released worldwide in 1981 with the exception of the United States, because according to Hedren, "The United States distributors wanted the lion's share of the profits, and we thought it ought to go to the beautiful animals that made the movie."
Later career (1982–present) After
Roar, Hedren accepted any low-budget television or cinema role that could help bring funds to her foundation to provide protection, shelter, care, and maintenance for the animals at the
Shambala Preserve. In 1982, she co-starred with
Leslie Nielsen in
Foxfire Light. She appeared in several television series, including
Hart to Hart in 1983 and the late-night horror series
Tales from the Darkside in 1984. In the 1985 pilot episode of
The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents, she made a brief appearance in the segment "
Man from the South" as a waitress in a bar who berates a customer, played by her daughter Melanie Griffith. In 1990, she had a nonspeaking, minor part as Florence Peters, a wealthy widow romanced by James Danforth (
Michael Keaton) in the film
Pacific Heights (1990), which also starred her daughter. That same year, she had a role on
The Bold and the Beautiful, a daytime soap opera she said she was "proud to have in my resume". In 1994, Hedren appeared in the made-for-cable sequel, ''
The Birds II: Land's End'', in a role different from the one she had played in the original. She was, however, disappointed that she did not get a starring role and admitted before the film's release, "I wish that it was more than a cameo. I think they made a mistake by not doing that, but it has helped me to feed my lions and tigers." When asked about what could have been Hitchcock's opinion on the film, she answered: "I'd hate to think what he would say!" However, in a 2007 interview Hedren said of the film: "It's absolutely horrible, it embarrasses me horribly." From 1994 to 1996, Hedren had a guest-starring role in
Dream On. The sitcom gave her "the opportunity to do comedy. I'd never done comedy before and it was just wonderful for me to be able to do that. Everybody just thought of me as a serious actress, so I owe that to
John Landis (the executive producer), giving me that opportunity." In 1996, she played Jessica Weiss, an
abortion rights activist in
Alexander Payne's political satire
Citizen Ruth with
Laura Dern. In 1998, she co-starred alongside
Billy Zane and
Christina Ricci in
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died, a film she felt was "incredible". "I must say I really love that film. It was a unique kind of film to do also, because it had no dialogue in it. It was very, very different." After appearing in a number of little-exposed films between 1999 and 2003, Hedren had a small but showy role in the 2004
David O. Russell comedy
I Heart Huckabees, as Mary Jane Hutchinson, a foul-mouthed attractive older woman who slaps Brad Stand (
Jude Law) in an elevator. She felt that the director, who had a reputation for being difficult, was "totally crazy", but also "very interesting. I was able to work well with him." She also added it was a strange experience as, "... all of a sudden, he'd be like, 'Now I'm going to do it this way,' and you'd think, 'How is he going to edit this? How is this going to work?' But he made it work." In 2006, Hedren was a cast member of the short-lived primetime soap opera
Fashion House with
Bo Derek and
Morgan Fairchild, and continued to guest-star in television series such as
The 4400 (2006) and
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2008). In 2012, Hedren and her daughter guest-starred together on an episode of
Raising Hope. That same year, she appeared in
Free Samples, an indie film where she had a supporting role as Betty, an old movie star. In 2013, she made an appearance as herself in the
fourth season finale of
Cougar Town. Hedren published her autobiography,
Tippi: A Memoir, co-written with Lindsay Harrison, in 2016 through
William Morrow and Company, as she felt it was "about time I stop letting everyone else tell my story and finally tell it myself". In 2018, at age 88, Hedren became the new face of
Gucci's timepieces and jewelry and starred as a mysterious fortune teller in the brand's commercial ad "The Fortune Teller". ==Influence==