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Tippi Hedren

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Nathalie "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930 in New Ulm, Minnesota) is an American actress. She was discovered by Alfred Hitchcock who saw her while she was doing a diet drink commercial. He was looking for an actress who looked like Grace Kelly. Hedren appeared in The Birds and Marnie for Hitchcock.

File:Tippihedren2.jpg

Tippi Hedren is the mother of actress Melanie Griffith. Active in animal causes, she was sometimes billed as 'Tippi' Hedren in her early acting career.

Early life

Hedren was born in 1930 (although she would later shave off 5 years and give 1935 as her year of birth) of a Swedish father and a German-Norwegian mother. Her father gave her the moniker "Tippi" even though her birth name is Nathalie Hedren. "My father thought Nathalie was a little bit much for a brand new baby," Hedren remembered at a 2004 screening of The Birds. Tippi comes from the Swedish nickname "Tupsa", which means "sweetheart".

As a teenager, Hedren took part in department store fashion shows. Her parents relocated to California while she was still a student in high school. As soon as she had her 18th birthday, she bought a ticket to New York and started her professional modeling career. Within a year she made her movie debut as one of the Petty Girls in the musical comedy The Petty Girl (1950), although in interviews she refers to The Birds as her first film. While in New York, she met and married her first husband, Peter Griffith, in 1952. 1

The Birds in retrospect

At a packed house in Lancaster, California's Antelope Valley Independent Film Festival Cinema Series screening of The Birds on September 28, 2004, Hedren recounted her film career and her big acting break to a spellbound audience for almost an hour. "I said, 'Well, who is this person? Who is interested?'... Nobody would tell me who it was." Of course, it was Alfred Hitchcock, who soon announced that Hedren was his new lead actress.

She remembered the work (on location at Bodega Bay) as being dangerous and taxing. During the filming of the last attack scene, Hedren became exhausted to the point of sitting down on the middle of the set and crying. A week's rest was ordered by a doctor at that time of completing the film. "For a first film, it was a lot of work," Hedren mused. Her performance brought her a Golden Globe as Most Promising Newcomer. 2

Hedren and Hitchcock

Hitchcock's plan to mold her image went so far as insisting that her name should be printed only in single quotes -- 'Tippi' -- yet for the most part, journalists ignored the press releases with this curious dictum by the director. Strained by Hitchcock's controlling manner, Hedren declined further work with him after Marnie in 1964. "It grew to be impossible. He was a very controlling type of person, and I guess I'm not about to be controlled." Ending their professional relationship on a sour note, she remarked "He said, 'Well, I'll ruin your career.' And he did." Producers who wished to hire Hedren for acting roles had to go through Hitchcock, who would inform them that "she isn't available." 3

Her career after Hitchcock and Shambala Preserve

After the two for Hitchcock, she went on to make 40 films between 1967 and 2005. After Marnie, she next appeared in Charlie Chaplin's last film, A Countess from Hong Kong (1967). In 1981, she produced her own film, Roar, a grueling, five-year project 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, both Hedren and her husband at the time, Noel Marshall, were attacked by lions, and Jan de Bont, the director of photography, was scalped.

Roar directly led to the establishment of Hedren's Shambala Preserve, located in Acton, California between the Antelope Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley just north of Los Angeles. Shambala, an animal rescue preserve, houses (and has housed) the animals that appeared in Roar. Hedren lives on the site and conducts monthly tours of Shambala for the public. The preserve also houses many birds, according to Hedren. When asked about this point by an audience member, she replied, "I love birds. No, I like 'em. I do. I hate to tell you that. It spoils the whole story." 4

Marriages

Tippi Hedren has been married four times:

Filmography

References

  • 1 Vroman, Lavender. Tippi Hedren airs out her early acting days, wildlife preservation, Antelope Valley Press, September 30, 2004, page A6.
  • 2 op cit, page A1 and A6.
  • 3 op cit, page A6.
  • 4 Ibid.
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