Celebrations are in order for Tippi Hedren, who turned 96 on January 19. The iconic actress has had an equally iconic career and became a household name for starring in the movies The Birds in 1963 and Marnie, the following year.
Tippi welcomed her daughter Melanie Griffith into the world with her former husband Peter Griffith. Melanie has had a successful acting career just like her mother, and has appeared in Joy Ride, Paradise and Mulholland Falls.
Melanie then welcomed daughter Dakota Johnson with her then-husband Don Johnson.
Dakota has continued the legacy by starring in the franchise, Fifty Shades of Grey, Black Mass, Bad Times at the El Royale and more.
The three generations have publicly crossed paths multiple times including in 2003, when Tippi received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; during a film screening in Los Angeles in 2008; for Tippi’s 75th birthday; and during the Elle Women in Hollywood Awards in 2015.
Both Melanie and Dakota expressed that Tippi passed along extremely important advice to both of them, after she opened up about being abused by director Alfred Hitchcock and refusing to work with him.
© Getty ImagesMelanie shared: “She became an example of what to never let happen in my life. Hopefully, I’ve passed that on to Dakota,” per The Hollywood Reporter.
Dakota added: “I was taught self-respect and grace and strength. Never before this moment did anyone in my family [explicitly] say, like, ‘Be careful. Sometimes, powerful men in Hollywood will try to whatever.'”
© Getty ImagesTippi got her start in the modeling industry at the age of 20 when she got signed to the notorious modeling agency, Eileen Ford Agency. Her first film debut was in the musical comedy The Pretty Girl.
Her modeling career took off during the 50s and 60s when she became a regular for Glamour, McCall’s, The Saturday Evening Post and Life.
Alfred discovered her through her commercial for the drink Sego. Soon after, Tippi got a call from her agent about Alfred being interested in her as a potential actress.
© Bettmann ArchiveThe two met up and Tippi was over-the-moon when she signed a seven-year contract to work with the director. They began by doing an intensive two-day-long color screen test during which the performer practiced several scenes from Alfred’s previous films.
During dinner, Alfred gifted a golden pin that featured three flying birds and offered her the starring role in The Birds where she portrayed the character of Melanie Daniels. She recalled the life-changing moment to FT: “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.”
The following year, Tippi starred in Marnie and the rest was history.
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