No matter how rocky the road had to be: Melanie Griffith never gave up and fought for her reputation in Hollywood. From an object of male desire, she managed an image change and blossomed into a character actress over the course of her career. With four divorces, some rehab and film flops, her life was more than turbulent. Today she is an icon in Hollywood.
Melanie Richards Griffth was born on August 9, 1957 in New York City. Acting was born to her. Her mother is the film actress Tippi Hedren (92).
She is best known for starring in Hitchcock’s The Birds and Marnie. In the latter, Melanie Griffith also appeared as a young version of her mother. Her parents separated when Griffith was four years old. From another marriage her father produced the half-siblings Tracy and Clay A. Griffith. Her mother was involved in animal welfare and therefore kept a lion named Neil in the house at times. The fierce animal was an integral part of the family, even sleeping in a bed with Griffith when she was a teenager.
Griffth was already in front of the camera at the age of 12. Her first major role came at the age of 17 in “The Hot Track” (1975). There she played a teenager who flees from the parental home. She also attracted attention at the time because she appeared undressed in some scenes. Also in 1977 she dropped the covers in “Garden of Refuge”.
Before her big break, Griffith played minor roles in various productions. In the early 1980s, however, her life was increasingly shaped by her drug and alcohol addiction. At just 26 years old, the young actress celebrated her comeback in the erotic thriller “Death Comes Twice”, in which she played a porn actress. Although the film was a financial flop, it brought her back attention in Hollywood.
In 1986 she starred alongside Jeff Daniels (67) and Ray Liotta (1954-2022) in the comedy “Dangerous Girlfriend”. “She’s able to convince us (and Daniels) that she’s capable of almost anything, especially if she thinks it might frighten him,” critic Roger Ebert (1942-2013) said about it at the time Talent of the actress. Her hard work paid off: Her role earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical.
Griffith finally gained worldwide fame with the hit film “The Guns of Women” (1988), in which she embodied the courageous secretary Tess McGill. She starred alongside the likes of Harrison Ford (80), Sigourney Weaver (72), Alec Baldwin (64) and Joan Cusack (59). The role earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy. Above all, the film changed her image. She was always considered a beauty and was admired above all for her body. Now she also proved her talent for character acting. This was followed by roles in films with well-known directors such as John Schlesinger (1926-2003). She also stood in front of the camera with her mother in the 1981 film “Roar”. Filming with wild cats later turned out to be a big challenge. Hedren’s husband had been bitten, and Griffith was scratched.
After garnering three Golden Raspberry Awards and five Worst Actress nominations in a decade, Griffith hasn’t paused. From then on, however, the actress was only seen in smaller productions and in independent films, but stood in front of the camera with Patrick Swayze (1952-2009), among others.
In the 2000s, Griffith continued to struggle with her drug addiction. The actress has been open about it, even writing her own blog posts: In her first post, she wrote, “I started this recovery journal because I wanted to share my experiences with you guys. I’m still a bit shaky but I think it’s important to share this to share with you, because addiction to prescribed painkillers can happen to anyone and you have to be careful.”
After that, she was more frequently active as a voice actress for animated films and produced independent films with her then husband Antonio Banderas (61).
Melanie Griffith has repeatedly made Hollywood headlines, especially because of her four marriages with three men. When she was just 14, she met Don Johnson (72). They worked together on the film set of The Harrad Experiment (1973). She began dating him at the age of 17 and married in 1976 – but it was all over after just six months.
After further relationships, she met her second husband Steven Bauer (65) with Jamie Lee Curtis (63) on the set of “Now She Will Be a Soldier” (1981). They married a short time later. Their first child together, son Alexander Griffith Bauer (36), was born in 1985. He should remain the only child of the two. The couple finally divorced four years later. After the divorce, Griffith struggled with alcohol abuse. “I drank to relax,” she once told People magazine.
In 1989, the actress reunited with her first husband, Don Johnson. Apparently it worked again. The couple married again that same year. From this second marriage came Dakota Johnson (32), who now works as a successful actress herself. After seven years, however, Griffith and Johnson separated again. In “Two Much” (1996) she met her third husband, Antonio Banderas. Not long after her divorce from Johnson was finalized, she married Banderas. In the same year their daughter Stella del Carmen Banderas (25) was born. However, after 18 years of marriage, the couple divorced. They parted on good terms, and Banderas always insisted he always loved Griffith and put the kids first. To this day, the ex-partners get along well.
In addition to various small series appearances, Melanie Griffith has become quieter in recent years. The actress has obviously put her turbulent years behind her. Only recently did she have a good time with fellow actress Rebel Wilson (42) in Altaussee, Austria, as shown by Instagram posts. “I feel fresher, younger, more radiant,” she writes.
