Tippi Hedren Reveals s**ual Harassment by Alfred Hitchcock

Hollywood actress Tippi Hedren shared her experiences of enduring disturbing s**ual harassment from renowned director Alfred Hitchcock during the production of the film “Marnie.”

Hedren, a 32-year-old model at the time with no prior acting experience, caught Hitchcock's attention in 1962 while appearing in a commercial on the “Today” show.

During a conversation sponsored by Citi Card at the TCM Classic Film Festival, Hedren revealed that she was taken aback when she learned of Hitchcock's interest in working with her.

She recalled, “When they told me he was interested, I picked up my jaw from the floor.”

After an elaborate screen test costing $25,000, personally directed by Hitchcock himself, she was signed to a five-year personal contract, which soon turned into a nightmare.

Despite being hailed as Hitchcock's last unqualified masterpiece, starring in “The Birds” proved to be a terrifying ordeal for Hedren.

Initially, she was assured that mechanical birds would be used in a scene where her character is attacked by crows and seagulls inside a house.

However, on the day of shooting, an assistant director approached Hedren and informed her that the mechanical birds were malfunctioning.

Consequently, real birds, some of them not declawed, were thrown at her for an entire week while the cameras rolled.

“On the last day, one of them got way too close to my eye,” she recounted.

“I managed to remove it, sat down, and started crying.

Then somehow, I drove myself home.”

Hedren's doctor insisted that she needed a week off due to the trauma she had endured.

When she relayed this to Hitchcock, he refused to grant her the time off.

Hedren quoted her doctor as saying, “What are you trying to do, kill her?”

As a result, she spent a week in bed at home, recovering.

During the filming of “Marnie,” Hitchcock's demands escalated from having lunch with Hedren in the studio commissary to private lunches in his office, and eventually to intimate Champagne toasts after each day's shoot.

Hedren grew increasingly uncomfortable with his suggestive behavior.

“I was shocked and alarmed by his actions,” she revealed.

“In the end, he made unreasonable demands that I could not agree to.

He would say things like, ‘I want you to be available to me at any time, whenever I choose.'”

Hedren realized that she did not want to pursue acting if it meant tolerating such treatment.

Hitchcock never cast her in another film and rejected all requests for her to work on other projects while she was under contract, effectively derailing her once-promising career.

Finally, in 1967, Hedren made her return to the big screen with a supporting role in Charlie Chaplin's final movie, “A Countess From Hong Kong,” alongside Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren.

Reflecting on her experiences, Hedren recalled the stark contrast between Hitchcock and Chaplin as directors.

While Hitchcock would simply instruct the actors on what he wanted them to do, Chaplin would act out each scene, playing all the roles himself.

This approach led Brando to storm off set and threaten to quit the film.

Interestingly, “A Countess From Hong Kong” was filmed at the same studio where Hitchcock had his headquarters.

Hedren suggested that her former boss take a photo together with his fellow Englishman, to which Hitchcock responded, “Now why would I want to do THAT?”