Talking Pictures: Hitchcock was 'obsessed' with Tippi Hedren
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
Dakota Johnson, who celebrates her 33rd birthday on October 4, is the daughter of cinematic legends Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, and the granddaughter of the Golden Age of Hollywood star Tippi Hedren. Hedren spent most of the sixties working with director Alfred Hitchcock but their working relationship was “difficult, embarrassing and insulting,” according to the actress.
The renowned director is often hailed as the most influential figure in modern cinema, with many of his feature films studied by upcoming and aspiring filmmakers today.
Hitchcock died in 1980, and Hedren personally slammed the director in her 2016 book, Tippi Hedren: A Memoir.
She appeared in just two of Hitchcock’s films, The Birds and Marnie, both of which earned her critical acclaim, but was under contract with the director for years.
Hitchcock allegedly told Hedren he would ruin her career if she left her contract, noting in her book: “Dealing with one of the most powerful men in motion pictures (was) difficult, embarrassing and insulting.”
She claimed the Notorious director stalked her to the extent of having her followed and getting her handwriting analysed.
Specifically, Hedren said filming during The Birds was a traumatic experience as she was reportedly trapped in a cage with real ravens, gulls and pigeons for a week.
After filming Marnie in 1964, the manipulation allegedly came to a head, as the actress demanded to be released from her contract. Recalling his response, she wrote: “He said, ‘Well, you can’t, you have your daughter to support and your parents are getting older.’
“And I said, ‘They wouldn’t want me in a situation in which I’m not happy.’ And he said, ‘Well, I’ll ruin your career.’ And he did.”
Hedren’s claims have been disputed by others who worked with Hitchcock, including her Marnie co-star Louise Latham who told Tony Lee Moral that the accounts were “not accurate” and “hard to believe”.
However, Johnson is an avid believer and supporter of her grandmother, sharing on the Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast in 2021: “Hitchcock ruined her career because she didn’t want to sleep with him, and he terrorized her. He was never held accountable.
“It’s hard to talk about because she’s my grandmother. You don’t want to imagine somebody taking advantage of your grandmother.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Johnson claimed when her mother was a young child she had been sent a tiny replica of Hedren in a coffin from Hitchcock, describing the gift as “alarming and dark and really, really sad”.
She labelled her grandmother’s ordeal as “horrific”, adding: “Hitchcock was a tyrant. He was talented and prolific—and important in terms of art—but power can poison people.”
Hitchcock’s obsession with Johnson’s grandmother was also memorialized in the 2012 film, The Girl, but the family claimed they got no warning that her story would be relived on the big screen.
Johnson recalled watching the film: “Maybe this warranted a little conversation beforehand? You look over and you see a woman who’s just been reminded of everything she went through, and it was heartbreaking.
“She was an amazing actress and he stopped her from having a career.”
Despite her own devastating experiences in the industry, Hedren was supportive of both her daughter and granddaughter as they became actresses in their own rights.
Griffith is the actress’s only child, born in 1957 during her first marriage to advertising executive Peter Griffith.
The young starlet started acting in her teenage years and rose to fame in the Eighties, culminating in an Oscar nomination and Golden Globe win for her role in 1998 comedy Working Girl.
Griffith had married her first husband, actor Don Johnson, in 1957 when she was just 19 but the union only lasted six months.
Over a decade later, in 1989 the couple got married for a second time, producing their only child together — Johnson — that same year.
As the child of two actors, Johnson spent much of her childhood on film sets and got her film debut at the age of 10 along with her half-sister Stella Banderas as the girls played the daughters of Griffith’s character in Crazy in Alabama.
Tippi Hedren: A Memoir is available to purchase here.
Source: Read Full Article
