Tippi Hedren's Life in Photos

Tippi Hedren, born Nathalie Kay Hedren, is one of Old Hollywood's most iconic leading ladies. Born in Minnesota on Jan. 19, 1930, 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.

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.

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

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."

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

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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

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.

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.

At one point, Hedren's menagerie included more than 60 lions, tigers, leopards and more. In recent years, granddaughter Dakota 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.

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.

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 Melanie Griffith, as well as her granddaughters Dakota Johnson and Stella Banderas.

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

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

Like mother, like daughter, like granddaughters! Tippi had a matching moment with daughter Melanie Griffith and granddaughters Dakota 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.

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.

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 Dakota 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.