38 Facts About Melanie Griffith

1.

Melanie Richards Griffith was born on August 9,1957 and is an American actress.

2.

Melanie Griffith began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s.

3.

In 1975,17-year-old Melanie Griffith appeared opposite Gene Hackman in Arthur Penn's neo-noir film Night Moves.

4.

Melanie Griffith later rose to prominence as an actor in films such as Brian De Palma's thriller Body Double, which earned her a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress.

5.

Melanie Richards Griffith was born on August 9,1957 in Manhattan, New York City, to actress Tippi Hedren and Peter Griffith, a former child stage actor and advertising executive.

6.

Melanie Griffith's parents separated when she was two years old, after which she relocated to Los Angeles with her mother; they divorced two years later, when Griffith was four.

7.

Melanie Griffith's mother married agent and producer Noel Marshall when Griffith was seven years old.

8.

Melanie Griffith appeared in advertisements and briefly worked as a child model before abandoning the career, citing extreme shyness as the reason.

9.

Melanie Griffith had her first major role at age 17 in Arthur Penn's film noir Night Moves, in which she portrayed a runaway teenager pursued across the United States by a private detective, portrayed by Gene Hackman.

10.

Melanie Griffith was named Miss Golden Globe for 1975, helping out at the Golden Globe Awards.

11.

Melanie Griffith appeared in the Israeli experimental film The Garden, in which she portrayed a naked mute woman in Jerusalem whom a man mistakes for an angel.

12.

Melanie Griffith appeared opposite her mother, Hedren, in the film Roar, directed by her then-stepfather Noel Marshall.

13.

On one occasion during the shoot, Melanie Griffith was mauled by a lion and had to undergo facial reconstructive surgery.

14.

Also in 1981, Melanie Griffith appeared as a Women's Army Corps recruit in the made-for-television movie She's in the Army Now with Jamie Lee Curtis and Steven Bauer.

15.

Melanie Griffith then appeared in a supporting role in Abel Ferrara's thriller Fear City, playing a prostitute in Times Square being stalked by a serial killer.

16.

Melanie Griffith gave birth to her first child, Alexander Melanie Griffith Bauer, on August 22,1985, with Bauer.

17.

Melanie Griffith achieved mainstream success when Mike Nichols cast her as spunky secretary Tess McGill in the box-office hit Working Girl, co-starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, Alec Baldwin, and Joan Cusack.

18.

Melanie Griffith later admitted to having problems with cocaine and liquor after her split from Bauer.

19.

On October 4,1989, Melanie Griffith gave birth to her second child, daughter Dakota Johnson, with Don Johnson.

20.

Melanie Griffith was then cast in a lead role in Paradise, a remake of the 1987 French film The Grand Highway, opposite then-husband Don Johnson, Elijah Wood, and Thora Birch.

21.

Melanie Griffith followed this with the Sidney Lumet-directed A Stranger Among Us, in which she portrayed a police officer posing as an Orthodox Jew while investigating a murder.

22.

Melanie Griffith faulted the "dumbed down" screenplay, the casting and the lack of chemistry in a film that, in the end, was "morose and mean".

23.

In 1994, Melanie Griffith headlined the romantic comedy Milk Money, playing a prostitute.

24.

Melanie Griffith; she brings a certain irrepressible gusto to her role.

25.

In 1996, Melanie Griffith co-starred with Antonio Banderas in the comedy Two Much.

26.

Melanie Griffith was cast in the role of Charlotte Haze in Adrian Lyne's 1997 adaptation of Lolita, opposite Jeremy Irons.

27.

Melanie Griffith followed this with a starring role as a free-spirited heroin addict in Larry Clark's independent film Another Day in Paradise, opposite James Woods.

28.

On February 5,1999, Melanie Griffith made her stage debut at the Old Vic in London, England, where she acted with Cate Blanchett in The Vagina Monologues.

29.

In 1999, Griffith was cast as Honey Whitlock, an arrogant actress kidnapped by a gang of underground filmmakers, in John Waters's black comedy Cecil B Demented.

30.

Also in 2000, Melanie Griffith acted opposite Patrick Swayze in Forever Lulu, in which she portrayed a schizophrenic woman attempting to contact her son.

31.

In November 2000, Melanie Griffith returned to drug rehabilitation for treatment of a painkiller addiction.

32.

Melanie Griffith is a sensational Roxie, possibly the most convincing I have seen" and "[the] vultures who were expecting to see Ms.

33.

The contours of the character fit Melanie Griffith's screen persona like a lace glove: Inside this Roxie, a knowing woman playing the little girl lost, is a real little girl lost.

34.

Melanie Griffith returned to the stage in 2012 in a play written by Scott Caan, titled No Way Around but Through, in which she played his mother.

35.

Melanie Griffith then had a role in Day Out of Days, directed by Zoe Cassavetes.

36.

In 2017, Melanie Griffith costarred opposite Al Pacino and Evan Peters in The Pirates of Somalia, a biopic about journalist Jay Bahadur; and played Jean Shelton in James Franco's The Disaster Artist, a comedy based on Greg Sestero's book of the same name.

37.

In mid-2018, Melanie Griffith played Mrs Robinson in a stage version of The Graduate at the Laguna Playhouse in California.

38.

Melanie Griffith participated in the hospital's 2012 Noche de Ninos gala as a presenter of a Courage to Care Award.