Tippi Hedren's Life in Photos

The star of The Birds and Hollywood icon turns 93 on Jan. 19. Take a look back at her glamorous life in photos

Tippi Hedren
Tippi Hedren. Photo: Genevieve Naylor/Corbis via Getty Images; Jeff Vespa/Getty Images

Tippi Hedren, born Nathalie Kay Hedren, is one of Old Hollywood's most iconic leading ladies who has starred in everything from Alfred Hitchcock thrillers to indie gems, as well as popped up on soap operas, procedurals and beloved sitcoms.

Born in Minnesota in 1930, she got her start modeling for Dayton's (the department store that eventually begat both American shopping malls and Target). At age 20, she moved to New York City and continued to model, ending up on covers for magazines like Glamour and Life before being scouted by the Master of Suspense to make her big-screen debut.

Hedren has been one of Hollywood's most enduring stars for more than half a century, with her acting, animal activism and famous offspring (she's the mother of Melanie Griffith and grandmother of Dakota Johnson).

Look back at her life and career through the photos below.

01 of 21

Tippi Hedren's Start

Tippi Hedren
Universal Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

The glamorous blonde began her career as a model before being discovered by director Alfred Hitchcock, who cast her in his 1963 classic horror film, The Birds.

02 of 21

Tippi Hedren's Marriages

Tippi Hedren Feeding Her Husband Cake
Getty Images

The actress has been married three times. She first wed actor and advertising executive Peter Griffith in 1952, before splitting from him nine years later. Together, they welcomed her only child, daughter and future Hollywood star Melanie Griffith, in 1957.

She then married her agent, Noel Marshall (pictured on their wedding day, along with a young Melanie), in 1964. The pair were together for 18 years before going their separate ways in 1982.

Three years later, Hedren tied the knot with Luis Barrenechea, whom she stayed with for a decade until their 1995 divorce. In 2002, she got engaged to veterinarian Martin Dinnes, but the pair ended things after six years together.

03 of 21

Tippi Hedren's Modeling Days

Tippi Hedren Modeling a Dress
Genevieve Naylor/Corbis via Getty Images

Here, a young Hedren strikes a pose during a photo shoot.

04 of 21

Tippi Hedren at the Cannes Film Festival

Tippi Hedren, Alfred Hitchcock Cannes Film Festival, France - May 1963
Willi Schneider/Shutterstock

Hedren stole the spotlight at the1963 Cannes Film Festival, looking every bit the quintessential Hollywood starlet alongside Hitchcock. But under the surface, things weren't as glamorous as they seemed. She's since spoken out about her tumultuous relationship with the famed director, revealing that he threatened to "ruin" her career if she refused his sexual advances.

"It became such a problem for me that I demanded to get out of the contract. And 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,' " the actress recalled to NPR in 2016. "And he said, 'Well, I'll ruin your career.' And he did."

"He just kept me under contract, paying me my salary," she explained. "A lot of directors and producers wanted me for their film, but to get to me, they had to go through him."

05 of 21

Tippi Hedren Wins a Golden Globe

Tippi Hedren
Earl Leaf/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

For her turn in The Birds, Hedren earned the 1964 Golden Globe for most promising newcomer.

06 of 21

Tippi Hedren's Starring Role in 'Marnie'

Sean Connery, Tippi Hedren
FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images

Hedren's last film with Hitchcock was her titular role in 1964's Marnie, his self-described "sex mystery," in which she starred as a compulsive thief with a fear of the color red, opposite Sean Connery.

07 of 21

The Making of 'Roar'

Tippi Hedren with her husband Noel Marshall
Frank Edwards/Archive Photos/Getty Images

The movie star and her second husband, Noel Marshall (pictured together at the Directors Guild of America Awards in 1981) worked together on 1981's Roar, a film Marshall wrote, co-produced and starred in alongside Tippi, Melanie and a menagerie of animals the pair collected. The movie filmed on what eventually became Tippi's home, the 80-acre Shambala Preserve.

The film, originally slated to take nine months to make, ended up taking more than five years. More than 70 members of the cast and crew, including Tippi, Melanie and cinematographer Jan de Bont, were badly injured by the large cats during production.

08 of 21

Tippi Hedren's Home for Big Cats

Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith
Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Tippi's love affair with animals was first sparked in 1969, while working on the film Satan's Harvest in Africa. She and Marshall went on to found The Roar Foundation and the Shambala Preserve near Acton, California. The preserve initially served as the backdrop for their film, and now is a non-profit center for care and research on big cats, according to Shambala's website. Here, she poses with daughter Melanie on the preserve in 1982.

09 of 21

Tippi Hedren at Home in the Desert

Tippi Hedren
Paul Harris/Getty Images

Here, Hedren is seen standing atop an elephant in 1983. According to Shambala's website, "many of Shambala's residents are cast-offs from private owners, zoos and circuses. "

Hedren has been the recipient of several awards for her animal activism, including The Helen Woodward Animal Center's Annual Humane Award" (1995), the Founder's Award from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (1996) and the Lion and Lamb Award from Wildhaven (1997).

10 of 21

Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith at the Golden Globes

Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

The mother-daughter duo hit the 1987 Golden Globes in full '80s regalia, decked out in colorful sequin dresses. Melanie was nominated for best actress for her role in Something Wild; while she didn't win, she went on to take home the award two years later for her turn in Working Girl.

11 of 21

Tippi Hedren at the Oscars

Tippi Hedren during 61st Annual Academy Awards
Barry King/WireImage

The screen queen made a memorable entrance on the 1989 Academy Awards red carpet in this fiery red-and-orange number.

12 of 21

Tippi Hedren's Style

Tippi Hedren
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

The animal lover has long had a penchant for jungle-themed prints: here, she wears a leopard-print gown and a belt featuring a gold lion head at the 1990 American Cinema Awards in Beverly Hills.

13 of 21

Tippi Hedren's Third Husband

Tippi Hedren and Husband Luis Barrenecha
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images

Here, Hedren looks radiant in her trademark animal print in 1992 alongside her third husband, Luis Barrenechea, at a Benefit for the Scott Newman Center honoring George Schlatter in Beverly Hills.

14 of 21

What Happened to Tippi Hedren's Big Cats?

Actress and Activist Tippi Hedren At Home In Acton
Eddie sanderson/Getty Images

At one point, Hedren's menagerie included more than 60 lions, tigers, leopards and more. In recent years, granddaughter Johnson has said the collection is down to about a dozen: "There used to be like 60 cats, and now there's just a couple."

Here, Hedren is seen at her home on the preserve in one of her most iconic photographs alongside a tiger named Zoe in 1994.

15 of 21

Tippi Hedren Walks in Fashion Week

Tippi Hedren
Eric Robert/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images

Hedren harkened back to her modeling days — and her role in The Birds — when she walked the runway for Mugler's star-studded Autumn/Winter '95 20th anniversary show in a feathered gown and velvet cape.

16 of 21

Tippi Hedren Gets a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Dakota, Tippi Hedren, Stella and Melanie Griffith
Maury Phillips/WireImage

Hedren was honored for her work in film with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003. There to support her on the special day was daughter Griffith, as well as her granddaughters Johnson and Stella Banderas.

17 of 21

Tippi Hedren Toasts to 75

Tippi Hedren birthday party invitation
Bill Dow/WireImage

Have you ever seen a more glam birthday party invite? Hedren celebrated turning 75 surrounded by family and friends in 2005.

18 of 21

Tippi Hedren Keeps It Classic

Tippi Hedren poses at Shambala Preserve in Los Angeles
Beck Starr/FilmMagic

Hedren looked glamorous as ever in this 2011 shot taken on the Shambala Preserve.

19 of 21

Tippi Hedren's Three Generations of Actresses

Dakota Johnson, Tippi Hedren, Melanie Griffith and Stella Banderas
Jeff Vespa/Getty Images

Like mother, like daughter, like granddaughters! Tippi had a matching moment with daughter Griffith and granddaughters Johnson and Stella Banderas at the ELLE Women in Hollywood Awards in 2015.

"She's such a glamorous movie star, still," Johnson previously said of her grandmother.

20 of 21

Tippi Hedren's 2016 Memoir

Tippi Hedren
Tara Ziemba/Getty Images

The screen siren published an eponymous memoir, Tippi, in 2016, which recounts her rise to stardom and animal activism as well as some of the darker truths about director Alfred Hitchcock, whom she claims sexually assaulted her.

21 of 21

Tippi Hedren's Most Recent Red Carpet

Tippi Hedren, Dakota Johnson
Steve Granitz/WireImage

Hedren has largely stayed out of the spotlight in the last few years. Her most recent public appearance came on Oct. 24, 2018, when she accompanied Johnson to the premiere of her movie Suspiria in Hollywood. The 50 Shades of Grey star gave fans a brief glimpse at the actress in an Instagram birthday tribute to her in 2021, which included throwback photos as well as a few more recent shots of her "Mor Mor" holding a bouquet of flowers and trying out Instagram filters.

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