Tippi: A Memoir by Tippi Hedren

I've only seen one movie that Tippi Hedren ever acted in and that movie was The Birds. I saw The Birds ages ago and honestly, I don't remember much about the movie other than birds start attacking people.

Anyway, I won a FREE hardback edition of Tippi: A Memoir by Tippi Hedren through Goodreads recently. I've never considered myself a Tippi Hedren fan and almost gave this book away to someone else to read. Somehow or another though, Tippi Hedren's memoir became the next book I read! Below is my unbiased review of Tippi: A Memoir by Tippi Hedren.

Prior to reading Ms. Hedren's memoir, I didn't know much about her life other than she was the actress who starred in both Marnie and The Birds... And, also that Tippi Hedren is Melanie Griffith's mother. Otherwise, I learned a bunch of new things about Tippi Hedren's life that I didn't know before reading her memoir.

As far as a memoir goes, I felt Ms. Hedren's life made for interesting reading. One learns about Tippi Hedren's life growing up, how she began modeling and became an actress, her marriages, and how she became an animal activist and started the Shambala Preserve in Acton, California while reading her memoir.

Tippi Hedren has had many ups and downs in her life and has weathered many storms. I love how positive she is about life and isn't about feeling sorry for herself in the least regarding anything bad that has happened in her life. But I think Tippi Hedren has mostly been blessed with a wonderful life. I admire Tippi Hedren's tenacity and how she has accomplished whatever it is she has set out to accomplish in her life.

I felt like Tippi Hedren's memoir was too short regarding some areas of her life and way too long in other areas. Take for instance her love of big cats (tigers, lions, etc.)  and adopting and taking care of them with her second husband, Noel Marshall... This also includes making the movie Roar and all the fiascoes that went along with making Roar and training/taking care of wild animals. 

I can fully understand Tippi Hedren's love and passion for wildlife, but I felt like a very HUGE chunk of her memoir was largely devoted to her love of animals, creating the Shambala Preserve, and making the movie, Roar, etc. I found this part of Tippi Hedren's life interesting to read about, but I also felt like a little too much of her memoir was devoted to her love of wild life, filming Roar, etc. I would like to have seen more balance between this part of her life with other areas of her life.

I also felt like certain sections of Tippi Hedren's memoir didn't flow very well from one paragraph to the next... Sometimes topics seemed to change abruptly in some parts of her memoir.

I was also felt uneasy about certain events that happened like Tippi Hedren and her husband, Noel Marshall, having lions/wild cats in their home in Sherman Oaks, California for a time. I would think that would be an unwise idea for several reasons... I wouldn't want these animals destroying my home and personal property, potentially injuring me or others, getting loose from my home and causing trouble/mayhem in their wake. Besides, isn't having lions (and other wild cats) against the law to have living in one's home??? A couple of the wild animals do escape accidentally from her home in Sherman Oaks, but eventually found. 

Also, Tippi Hedren takes Pharoah, a cheetah, to a couple of stores with her in the Los Angeles area, which also seemed unwise as wild cats can be unpredictable, right? What if the animal attacked and injured someone during the outings??? 

The following is a summary for Tippi: A Memoir by Tippi Hedren from Amazon:

In this absorbing and surprising memoir, one of the biggest names of classic Hollywood—the star of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds and Marnie—tells her story, including never-before-revealed experiences on the set of some of the biggest cult films of all time.

For decades, Tippi Hedren’s luminous beauty radiated from the silver screen, enchanting moviegoers and cementing her position among Hollywood’s elite—beauty and star power that continue to endure. For too long Hedren’s story has been told by others through whispered gossip and tabloid headlines. Now, Hedren sets the record straight, recalling how a young and virtuous Lutheran girl from small-town Minnesota became a worldwide legend—as one of the most famous Hitchcock girls, as an unwavering animal activist, and as the matriarch of a powerful Hollywood dynasty that includes her movie star daughter Melanie Griffith, and rising star Dakota Johnson, her granddaughter.

For the first time, Hedren digs deep into her complicated relationship with the man who discovered her talent, director Alfred Hitchcock, the benefactor who would become a repulsive and controlling director who contractually controlled her every move. She speaks openly about the dark pain she endured working with him on their most famous collaborations, The Birds and Marnie, and finding the courage she needed to break away.

Hedren’s incandescent spirit shines through as she talks about working with the great Charlie Chaplin, sharing the screen with some of the most esteemed actors in Hollywood, her experiences on some of the most intriguing and troubling film sets—including filming Roar, one of the most dangerous movies ever made—and the struggles of being a single mother—balancing her dedication to her work and her devotion to her daughter—and her commitment to helping animals.

Filled with sixteen pages of beautiful photos, Tippi is a rare and fascinating look at a private woman’s remarkable life no celebrity aficionado can miss.

I am giving Tippi: A Memoir by Tippi Hedren a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Favorite quote: "I don't believe in curses. I don't really believe in luck, either, good or bad. I believe life happens, and you shoulder through the worst of it with your head held high and give thanks to God for the rest of it." Page 227 of the hardback edition.

Until my next post, happy reading!!