Melanie Griffith was born on August 9, 1957, in New York City to model 'Tippi Hedren' (qv) and advertising executive 'Peter Griffith (I)' (qv). Her parents' marriage ended in 1961 and Tippi came to Los Angeles to get a new start. Tippi caught the eye of the great director 'Alfred Hitchcock (I)' (qv), who gave her starring roles in _The Birds (1963)_ (qv) and _Marnie (1964)_ (qv). Tippi married her then-agent, 'Noel Marshall' (qv), in 1964 (they divorced in 1982), and Melanie grew up with three stepbrothers. Meanwhile, her father married 'Nanita Greene Samuels' (qv), with whom he had two more children: Melanie's half-siblings 'Tracy Griffith (I)' (qv) and 'Clay A. Griffith' (qv). Melanie also grew up with tigers and lions, as Tippi and Noel were raising them for the movie _Roar (1981)_ (qv), in which the family later starred. Her career began as a model at just nine months old and she later appeared as an extra in _Smith! (1969)_ (qv) and _The Harrad Experiment (1973)_ (qv), where she fell in love with her mother's co-star, 'Don Johnson (I)' (qv). She was only fourteen years old, while he was a twice-divorced 22-year-old. Tippi took a very liberal approach and allowed Melanie to move in with Don at a tender age. She skipped a grade and graduated from Hollywood Professional School when she was just sixteen. Even though Melanie didn't like modeling, she continued to do so to pay the bills. One day, she went to meet with director 'Arthur Penn (I)' (qv) for what she thought was a modeling assignment. It was actually an audition for his film _Night Moves (1975)_ (qv), and Penn cast her as a runaway nymphet. She married Johnson in January 1976 when she was 18, but the union only lasted six months. Melanie became addicted to drugs and alcohol, a fact well known to studio executives, who stopped considering her for film roles. She stopped acting for a considerable length of time before turning to television, and met her second husband, 'Steven Bauer' (qv), on the set of the TV movie _She's in the Army Now (1981) (TV)_ (qv). He helped her to overcome her addictions and got her to take acting classes with 'Stella Adler' (qv) in New York. The classes paid off, as director 'Brian De Palma' (qv) cast her as a porno actress in his murder mystery _Body Double (1984)_ (qv). 'Jonathan Demme' (qv) was so impressed with her performance that he cast her in _Something Wild (1986)_ (qv) without even auditioning her. Both films were box office failures, but nonetheless, Melanie was showered with critical acclaim and received Golden Globe nominations for her sexy, funny performances in them. The birth of her first child, Alexander, in 1985, didn't help to save her struggling marriage, and she and Bauer divorced in 1987. Soon after, Melanie's career skyrocketed when 'Mike Nichols (I)' (qv) cast her in _Working Girl (1988)_ (qv), a box-office hit for which she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress and won the Golden Globe Award as Best Actress in a Comedy. However, making the film had not been easy for her, as she continued to suffer from drug and alcohol addictions. Melanie was almost fired from the production when she arrived on the set while high, and director Nichols pushed her into a rehabilitation clinic after filming wrapped. En route to the clinic, she called Don Johnson for support, and they reconciled after her release from the clinic. She got pregnant in 1989 with their daughter 'Dakota Johnson' (qv), and they remarried that year. Now sober and fresh off her breakthrough role, Melanie concentrated on her film career, working continuously throughout the new decade. Her first major role after "Working Girl" was the moderately successful urban thriller _Pacific Heights (1990)_ (qv), which was followed by the outright bomb _The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)_ (qv). Even though she gave heartfelt performances in all her films, she was often miscast, with her breathy little-girl voice not helping matters in her starring roles as a spy in _Shining Through (1992)_ (qv) and as a homicide detective going undercover in the Hassidic Jewish community in New York City in _A Stranger Among Us (1992)_ (qv). Melanie had other high-profile flops with _Born Yesterday (1993)_ (qv) and _Milk Money (1994)_ (qv), though one bright spot came with her supporting role in _Nobody's Fool (1994)_ (qv), where she acted with 'Paul Newman (I)' (qv). Her personal life made headlines when she left Johnson in 1994 because of his own substance-abuse problems, reconciled with him months later when he became sober, only to leave him again in 1995, this time for 'Antonio Banderas' (qv), her married co-star from _Two Much (1995)_ (qv). Both she and Banderas created a scandal with their torrid romance, and the tabloids followed their every move, including her divorce from Johnson and his divorce from wife 'Ana Leza' (qv), who at one point confronted them at a Seattle hotel and made such a scene that she had to be escorted out by security. Melanie became pregnant with her third child, and she and Banderas married in 1996. Their daughter 'Stella Banderas' (qv) was born later that year, and the notorious couple were forgiven by the public and the media. Melanie won strong reviews for her role as a ditzy heroin user on the run in the crime drama _Another Day in Paradise (1998)_ (qv), and some critics wrote that it was the best performances of her career. She also acted in 'Woody Allen' (qv)'s _Celebrity (1998)_ (qv), and portrayed actress 'Marion Davies' (qv) in the made-for-cable TV movie _RKO 281 (1999) (TV)_ (qv), a part that garnered her Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. Melanie then gave an outstanding performance as an eccentric woman who kills her husband and heads to Hollywood to become a movie star in _Crazy in Alabama (1999)_ (qv), a moving film directed by Banderas and produced by the couple's production company, Greenmoon Productions. Unfortunately, the film was yet another major flop for Melanie. As a result, film offers dried up. In 2000, she had her last major roles to date in the little-seen independent films _Cecil B. DeMented (2000)_ (qv) and _Along for the Ride (2000)_ (qv). That same year, Melanie returned to rehab due to a painkiller addiction. She experienced a great loss in 2001, when her father died at age 67. In 2003, Melanie turned to the Broadway stage, and packed houses with her turn as the murderess "Roxie Hart" in the musical "Chicago," for which she received a rave review from the New York Times theater critic. It renewed her confidence, as she had never sang, danced or been on the Broadway stage before. In 2005, she surprised TV viewers by playing a sexy mom to the title characters on the sitcom _"Twins" (2005)_ (qv), which was canceled after one season. Her career took another blow when her next attempt at a TV series, _"Viva Laughlin" (2007)_ (qv), was canceled after two episodes. Melanie would not act again for the remainder of the decade, because, by self-admission, she couldn't obtain any worthwhile roles. In 2009, Melanie was back in rehab yet again for continued substance-abuse problems, and emerged after a three-month stay. Professionally, she was faced with more disappointment in 2012 when _"This American Housewife" (2012)_ (qv), a Lifetime series that Banderas produced for her to star in, never even aired. Melanie has had many obstacles in her life, but she has overcome them thanks to the support of her husband Antonio Banderas, her three children, and mother Tippi Hedren. Banderas and Griffith are involved in many charities, including raising funds for Tippi's Shambala preserve, a refuge for wild animals. Melanie also runs a non-profit organization for benefiting burned children.
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Melanie Griffith
