Tippi Hedren as “Grandmother Eveline”

From working for Alfred Hitchcock, to a movie written by Ed Wood,Tippi Hedren has had an amazing career. The mother of actress Melanie Griffith was originally discovered by Alfred Hitchcock while he was viewing a commercial on NBC's "Today." He cast her in The Birds shortly thereafter. Hitchcock praised his leading lady, noting, "Tippi Hedren is really remarkable. She's already reaching the lows and highs of terror".

The winner of a Golden Globe, Tippi has also starred in Marnie, another Hitchcock film and Roar, a movie in which she starred and co-produced. As a lifelong animal lover, she became actively involved in animal rights issues and works at Federal and State levels to get legislation passed to stop the breeding and selling of these exotic animals for private ownership. She has been successful in helping pass several very important laws, including the Captive Wildlife Safety Act which was passed unanimously by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Bush in December 2003. In the past, Tippi served as International Relief Coordinator for “Food for the Hungry” and traveled around the world to provide relief and comfort to victims of natural disasters and political exile.

Tippi is founder and president of The Roar Foundation, a non-profit organization which maintains The Shambala Preserve, a wildlife habitat on the edge of the Mohave Desert. It is currently home to 69 rescued abandoned and/or abused big cats and one African Bull Elephant.

Tippi continues to work in motion pictures, theatre, and TV. She appeared in “I Woke Up Early the Day I Died” based on the last screenplay written by Ed Wood. Her recent films are “I Heart Huckabees” and soon to be released, “Ice Maker”. Tippi’s contributions to cinema have been honored with Life Achievement awards in France at The Beauvais Film Festival Cinemalia 1994, and in Spain by The Fundacion Municipal De Cine in 1995. In 1999, Tippi was honored as “Woman of Vision” by Women in Film and Video in Washington, D.C., and received the Presidential Medal for her work in film from Hofstra University. Her autobiography, “The Cats of Shambala” will be in its 3rd printing in August 2005. In May 2005, Tippi was the recipient of the 2005 Living Legacy Award.

See Tippi's bio at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).