An icy blonde actress and former model, Hedren is known primarily for her leading roles in two Hitchcock films, "The Birds" (1963) and "Marnie" (1964). While doing a commercial on the "Today" show, Hedren was discovered by Hitchcock who put her under personal contract, but her career never quite took off after her smashing debut and followup in "Marnie". Charles Chaplin cast her with Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando in the ill-fated "The Countess from Hong Kong" (1967) and she appeared in several more features with roles tapering off in the 1970s and 80s.
In "Tiger By the Tail" (1970), she played a socialite whose Vietnam vet boyfriend recruits her to help find a killer, and in the tepid "The Harrad Experiment" (1973) she is mistress of an experimental sex school. She then starred opposite daughter Melanie Griffith under the direction of then-husband Noel Marshall in "Roar" (1981), a docudrama slanted around the preservation of African wild life. (Mother and daughter reunited for the tenant thriller "Pacific Heights", 1990).
In the 80s and 90s, Hedren appeared in the occasional TV project, but devoted the majority of her time to the Shambala Foundation in Antelope Valley, CA, a retirement facility for animal performers.
Family
MOTHER: Dorothea Hedren. Died on October 31, 1994.
DAUGHTER: Melanie Griffith. Actor.
Companion
HUSBAND: Peter Griffith. Actor, realtor. Father of Melanie Griffith; died May 14, 2001 at age 67.
HUSBAND: Noel Marshall. Director. Worked together on "Roar" (1981), an accident ridden production which took 11 years to make and cost $17 million.
HUSBAND: Luis Barrenchea. Rancher. Third husband; together since c. 1985; Hedren filed for divorce in October 1991.
Milestone
1950: First film appearance (bit), "The Petty Girl"
1963: Film acting debut, "The Birds"
1964: TV acting debut in anthology series, "Kraft Suspense Theater"
1972: Founded the Shambala Preserve in the Antelope Valley (north of Los Angeles), primarily for retired animal actors
1969 - 1972: Debut in recurring role on TV sitcom, "The Courtship of Eddie's Father"
1981: Acted opposite daughter Melanie Griffith in "Roar"
1990: TV-movie debut, "Return to Green Acres"
Had short-term role on the CBS daytime drama "The Bold and the Beautiful"
1999: Played recurring role on the short-lived UPN series "The Strip"
2003: Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
2004: Featured in the off beat comedy "I Heart Huckabees" starring Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin and Mark Wahlberg
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