Tippi Hedren and her questionable parenting choices

She's blonde.

Alfred Hitchcock got fresh with me!

She's very unusual...

I'd rather talk about how that slimeball Hitchcock wrecked my career than family members I put in danger by anthropomorphizing wild animals.

Dakota Johnson seems like a miracle considering her lineage.

[quote] When Drafthouse re-released the film in 2015, they used that number to frame up their catchy tagline: “No animals were harmed in the making of this movie. 70 members of the cast and crew were.”

[quote]But Hedren says the number is actually much lower, though it’s difficult to argue with hard and fast evidence that the injuries that were sustained were grievous. (From our own deep dive on the film: “cinematographer Jan de Bont was scalped, requiring 220 stitches; Griffith was mauled by a lion, which required facial reconstructive surgery; an A.D. narrowly escaped death when a lion missed his jugular by an inch; Hedren, who was also attacked by birds on the set of “The Birds,” endured a fractured leg and multiple scalp wounds; and Marshall himself was wounded so many times that he was hospitalized with gangrene.”)

All snark aside, I question her judgement, too.

That lion looks so embarrassed, R7.

For what it's worth, Melanie, despite her issues, has always seemed very down-to-earth to me. She seems like a normal person who likes to smoke cigarettes and hang out on her patio. I think it's probably because, despite coming from wealth, she was raised in a way that was boundary-less and sort of white trash-adjacent.

I don't know; 14 seems a bit early for sex. But, then again, I was ready for sex at 12, and the again an hour later. I was an insatiable whore at any hour of the day! Now, I have to spend more of those hours resting my hip.

[quote]R10 I think it's probably because, despite coming from wealth...

I don’t know how much hard, cold wealth was actually there. Surely they lived in a financially stable way, but Hedren got very little money under her Hitcock contract and few roles after. She married an agent but I don’t know how top tier he was.

And those lions must have cost a fortune to house. Melanie got the SCRAPS!

The title of this thread made me LOL and is the reason I love DL. So specific and niche.

Wasn't Melanie also dating Ryan O Neal?

Melanie seems like she's worked through whatever issues she had. Her daughter seems very well adjusted and she's been married to Antonio Banderas for almost thirty years.

I consider her shirt with a lion’s head appliqué on the front to be questionable FASHION, anyway.

[italic]LOCK ‘ER UP ! !

r14 What rock are you living under?

Holding the victim still to be clawed and penetrated —

R14 Melanie and Banderas divorced 5 or 6 years ago, but, according to her, they remain friendly with each other. She is the same way with Don Johnson—it appears they still get along. I think it's generally a healthy sign when people are able to do that with exes. They do seem like a down-to-earth bunch of people, which is unusual.

Melanie and Antonio have been married 18 years.

She's blonde AND named "Tippi".

That is NATHALIE Kay Hedren to you, R20!

Dakota was in rehab years before she blew up in Hollywood but that’s been buried.

Good lord, lions are such magnificent creatures.

R23 indeed, although I wouldn't want one lying in bed with me.

^^ let alone with your defenseless child!

Despite all her issues -- drugs and bad plastic surgery -- Melanie does seem like she's got it together. And she seems friendly with people on social media, even Tatum O'Neal, who Melanie hurt when she was younger when she ended up dating her father.

But it's true that Melanie is friends with all her exes. I believe she's also friends or at least friendly with Steven Bauer. And all of her kids from different fathers seem close.

But, yeah, Tippi Hedren didn't think for a second, um, this is not a healthy environment????

Wild animals are a creative option I never considered!

It’s fundamentally important to remember Tippi was a model before she was an actress. They are not renowned for their native intelligence.

Imagine being Tippi's houskeeper.

Such tiny waists back then in R28's photo..

She's a doll.

Women didn’t eat very much back then. And it’s not like they belonged to gyms where they could burn it off.

It was coffee, grapefruit, steak and cigarettes. Or simply starving.

This was back in the day before people knew better about certain things plus Tippi appeared to be just plain different in the first place with the money to indulge herself. Apparently Tippi was an animal activist but having lions in your house with family members is a bit much.

I remember Melanie on an episode of that Actors Studio show on Bravo. She came across as a very sensitive sweetheart. I never looked at her the same way again. She is an okay chick.

R30 R32 Small waists? This is fairly easy when you are very young and can get away with just about anything. Kate Moss said that at the height of her being rail thin she was living on cocaine and champagne. The older you get the kinder you have to be to your body.

My friend has this signed by Tippi and I have "The Birds" DVD signed.

Sorry.... I left out amphetamine diet pills!

[quote]. I believe she's also friends or at least friendly with Steven Bauer. And all of her kids from different fathers seem close.

Years ago she was Bauer's "date" for one of his premieres and one Father's Day she made a glowing IG post about all of her baby daddies. And she does seem to have a close knit family. Someone tried to correct her on one of her posts about her "two sons". They told her she only had one son, but she counts Don and Patti D'Arbanville as her own.

R35...When you're young, it's easier to have a waist, but looking at lots of young people today...you don't see waists like that anymore. Very few, if any.

Here is the Inside the Actors Studio segment with Melanie that R34 is referring to. She seems intelligent, thoughtful, and, yes, sensitive. What she has to say about drug addition around the midway point is insightful.

I saw Melanie about 8 years ago in Weho. Tiny tiny little thing and she spoke in that signature quiet baby voice of hers. She looked like a vunerable little girl. I actually kinda felt sorry for her. Weird, I know...

R41 you mean tiny as in thin, right? I think she's like 5'9". She dwarfs her mother.

[quote]R39 When you're young, it's easier to have a waist, but looking at lots of young people today...you don't see waists like that anymore. Very few, if any.

In Tippi’s day, they also wore tight, elaborate foundation garments made of rubber which sometimes also had boning in it. This nipped in the waist and smoothed the rear. Even young worn wore these. It was reportedly VERY uncomfortable.

I believe this went out of style in the second half of the 1960s (?) or at least they then came up with more lightweight materials.

Melanie doing Roxie in Chicago. She couldn't sing or dance but she is a revelation in the monologue.

"Tippi" (or 'Tippi', as Hitchcock had it) was 5'4".

Everyone wore girdles in the 1950s. You weren’t supposed to bounce unless you were Marilyn Monroe. My mom told us that while working in an office in fetid heat, she was trying to pull up her girdle and tore a chunk out of it. She spent the rest of the day trying to cover up the big bulge of flesh poking thru the hole.

[quote]What was wrong with her?

I think she's EVIL!

[quote]r46 Everyone wore girdles in the 1950s. You weren’t supposed to bounce unless you were Marilyn Monroe.

Yes, Monroe dispensed with wearing that restrictive foundation garment stuff early on. People today falsely claim she was a large size; she was curvy, but her natural waistline was quite small.

In the 1950s Joan Crawford told someone, “I have just returned from the Actors Studio were I saw Marilyn Monroe with her ass hanging out.”

The old bitch was appalled.

The look that raised Joan’s hackles and froze her blood:

I have a friend who was a PA in Hollywood for a few years. She said Melanie Griffith had the WORST skin on anyone she'd ever seen, like a burn victim. She thought it was a total hoot that she was a cosmetics spokesperson. Also, Nicolette Sheridan was the biggest bitch on the planet (I know-SHOCKER!!!!). She had a lot of good stories from that job.

Very true. Girdles and foundations were commonly worn back then...in the 50s and early 60s.

Even your dolls had to wear girdles!

I love ‘Tippi’ and Melanie.

R18-Why would Melanie Griffith marry a GAY man?

One of my favorite experiences was visiting Shambala preserve, a sanctuary for big cats in Acton, CA that is headed up by Tippi (and others). It was wonderful walking the grounds and seeing some of the lions, panthers and other types, then at the end Tippi comes out and speaks. I recommend visiting whenever they open up. I believe it was a $50 donation entrance fee. Also give if you can!

Speaking of girdles...

[quote]She said Melanie Griffith had the WORST skin on anyone she'd ever seen, like a burn victim.

I wonder if that has anything to do with the lion attack and subsequent surgery? Melanie's skin isn't great in "Smile" and she's only 17 or so in that movie.

[quote] by anthropomorphizing wild animals.

Really? She got them to talk and walk around on their hind legs?

She required them to do a time step and make a classic daiquiri, r58.

Well that’s fine and I train all my African safari animals to do that too r59.

At least girdles are more sensitive and humane than liposuction and other procedures. I don't see how we've "advanced" in that regard. People will always torture themselves to achieve an ideal of beauty.

[quote]R61 At least girdles are more sensitive and humane than liposuction and other procedures.

After you’ve spent half your life in a 1950’s rubber girdle, you will know what you’re talking about.

If they were preferable, they’d still be in use.

R40- THANK YOU!!! I HAVE NOT SEEN IT YEARS ..MUCH APPRECIATED..

I know I'll get flamed for this R49 but Marilyn Monroe looked like a slob half the time.

1. Is Dakota Johnson pretty? Because I really don't think she is.

2. The reason some women like Joan C. might have been bitchy about chubby girls is this: People look at skinny girls and think it's easy. It's fun, but it's not easy. Meaning, yes, everyone would rather have that admiration and the option to look that skinny. That part is fun. But you really can't eat much at all (diet coke and a roll with butter. That's it.) And I did wear some foundation panties when I was young and skinny. My roommate made fun of them but boy did I look perfect (looking back). No bulges. It's really a trade off, and I don't think a lot of people see the work that goes into looking that thin.

[quoteR64 Marilyn Monroe looked like a slob half the time.

Well, frankly, she was. She was pretty much the first “take me as I am” celeb, offscreen. (Well, Frances Farmer, too.)

Of course, you have to be insanely gorgeous to pull that off. People say Monroe was naturally luminous, dressed up or not, bathed or not, whatever. So it never worked against her.

Tippi single-handedly--pun intended--brought Vietnamese nail techs to the US. She could've made a fortune off opening her own line of nail salons, but she was more concerned about giving the girls (and ladies) she met in Vietnam a better life.

Didn't Melanie befriend Tatum just to get into Ryan's bed?

"I don't think a lot of people see the work that goes into looking that thin."

R65, FYI some are fully aware of the effort it takes to look thin and fashionable, and are wondering why the hell anyone is taking that much trouble and putting so much value on something so unimportant in the big scheme of things.

Was it normal in the 70s for teenage girls (or boys) to fuck older people and appear semi nude in films?

R70, yes.

It wasn't just about weight, r65. Joan also ragged on Joanne Woodward for making her own Oscar dress. Joanne spent $100.00 for material and spent two weeks working on it.

When Woodward was next at the Oscars she wore a fancy designer gown and told reporters, “I hope this makes Joan Crawford happy.”

[bold]: o

R72, At her Legendary Ladies/Town Hall appearance, Joan told host John Springer that Joanne Woodward's mother named Joanne after her, which never made sense to me.

The younger Joan Crawford pronounced her name as [italic]Joanne[/italic] for a time.

Don, Steve, Antonio- Melanie has great taste.

R75, Crawford denied that when Springer asked her.

I've always had a soft spot for Melanie. I adored her in the '80s. She made some interesting films and gave some great performances - Body Double, Something Wild, Cherry 2000, Stormy Monday, Working Girl.

[quote]R77 Crawford denied that when Springer asked her.

Well, she was an all around lying sack of shit most days, so...

i remember hearing a story somewhere about an underage Melanie Griffith and one of her friends visiting Roman Polanski and he screened a Japanese porno for them. They got bored and left.

I thought R67 was a joke but there is actually truth to it

R80 I remember that but I thought it was Tatum o Neal. Maybe he screened the porno for both of them?

R30/r39 yeah but look at the legs - the (normal) bit of soft flab you see pouring a little bit over at the top - there ain’t no thigh gap there. Today stars either diet/workout their way into not having that or it gets photoshopped out.

R28

People were lighter and women wore girdles. Girdles keep your waist from expanding.

I meant R30.

R69

Are you a man? In the big scheme of Hollywood and the entertainment field, thinness is extremely important for women, who are judged much more harshly than men. It's also important for them in many other contexts like business and romance.

R43

One reason girdles went out of style, apart from their discomfort, is that pantyhose and tights became popular, making mini and micro skirts possible. Those skirts revealed garter belts and stockings.