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Melanie Griffith

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Melanie Griffith
Spouse(s)Don Johnson (1976; 1989 - 1996)
Steven Bauer (1981-1987)
Antonio Banderas (1996-)
ChildrenAlexander Bauer (b.1985)
Dakota Johnson (b.1989)
Stella Banderas (b.1996)
Parent(s)Peter Griffith (1933-2001)
Tippi Hedren (b.1930)

Melanie Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is a Golden Globe award-winning and Oscar-nominated American film actress.

Early life

Griffith was born in New York City, the daughter of actress Tippi Hedren and producer and former actor/advertising executive Peter Griffith.[1][2][3] Her parents divorced when she was four years old, after which her father remarried and had two more children, actress Tracy Griffith and set designer Clay A. Griffith.

Career

Film

Griffith began work at just nine months old in a commercial and later became an extra on Smith! (1969) and The Harrad Experiment (1973). Her first major role was in Arthur Penn's Night Moves (1975), which drew her attention and typecasted her as a sexy nymphet in films such as Smile, The Drowning Pool (both also 1975), and One on One (1977). Griffith also lived up to her image in the press as she appeared nude in the October 1976 issue of Playboy with her then husband Don Johnson. Substance problems derailed her career for nearly a decade, until she starred in the Brian De Palma thriller Body Double (1984). The film won her the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, and also led to her starring role in Jonathan Demme's Something Wild (1986), which became a cult favorite. She achieved mainstream success when she played the character of Tess McGill in Mike Nichols' 1988 film Working Girl, which won Griffith the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and an Academy Award nomination for "Best Actress". Other films include Brian De Palma's The Bonfire of the Vanities and John Schlesinger's Pacific Heights (both 1990); Milk Money (1994); Fernando Trueba's Two Much (1995) - in which she met her husband Antonio Banderas - and John Waters' Cecil B. DeMented (2000).

Television

Griffith's television work includes playing actress Marion Davies in the HBO television movie RKO 281 (1999), for which she received an Emmy nomination as "Best Supporting Actress". She was also seen on The WB sitcom Twins (2005-2006), in which she played Lee, the mother of the show's main characters, played by Sara Gilbert and Molly Stanton.

Later career

Later in her career, Griffith made her stage debut at the Old Vic in London, England, where she acted with Cate Blanchett in the Vagina Monologues in February 1999.[4] Four years later, she made her Broadway debut playing Roxie in the musical "Chicago". An untrained performer in song and dance, Griffith still managed to get a rave review from "The New York Times" theatre critic Ben Brantley, who wrote: "Ms. Griffith is a sensational Roxie, possibly the most convincing I have seen" and "[the] vultures who were expecting to see Ms. Griffith stumble...will have to look elsewhere".[5] Griffith's celebratory reviews made it a box office success.[6][7] At the same time Griffith was performing in "Chicago", her husband Antonio Banderas was appearing across the street in another musical, "Nine".

Personal life

Griffith has been married four times, albeit twice to the actor Don Johnson (briefly in 1976 and then again from 1989 until 1996). She wed actor Steven Bauer in September 1981, but divorced in 1987. Griffith married her current husband, Antonio Banderas, in May 1996, not long after her second divorce from Johnson.

Griffith has three children, one with each marriage: Alexander Griffith Bauer (born in 1985), Dakota Mayi Johnson (born in 1989), and Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith (born in 1996). Dakota followed in her mother's footsteps and served as Miss Golden Globe at the 2006 Golden Globes awards ceremony. Griffith herself was Miss Golden Globe in 1975.

Awards & nominations

Filmography

Year Title Role Other notes
2005 Heartless Miranda Wells
2003 Tempo Sarah
Shade Eve
The Night We Called It a Day Barbara Marx AFI nomination - Best Supporting Actress
2002 Stuart Little 2 Margalo the Bird voice
Searching for Debra Winger Herself
2001 Tart Diane Milford
2000 Forever Lulu Lulu McAfee
Cecil B. Demented Honey Whitlock
1999 RKO 281 Marion Davies Emmy nomination - Best Supporting Actress, Golden Globe nomination - Best Supporting Actress - Miniseries
Crazy in Alabama Lucille Vinson
1998 Celebrity Nicole Oliver
Shadow of Doubt Kitt Devereux
1997 Lolita Charlotte Haze
Another Day in Paradise Sid
1996 Mulholland Falls Katherine Hoover
1995 Two Much Betty Kerner
Now and Then Tina 'Teeny' Tercell
Buffalo Girls Dora DuFran Golden Globe nomination - Best Supporting Actress - Miniseries
1994 Nobody's Fool Toby Roebuck
Milk Money V
1993 Born Yesterday Billie Dawn
1992 A Stranger Among Us Emily Eden
Shining Through Linda Voss
1991 Paradise Lily Reed
1990 The Bonfire of the Vanities Maria Ruskin
Pacific Heights Patty Palmer
In the Spirit Lureen
Women and Men: Stories of Seduction Hadley
1988 Working Girl Tess McGill Academy Award nomination - Best Actress, BAFTA nomination - Best Actress, Golden Globe win - Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy
Stormy Monday Kate
The Milagro Beanfield War Flossie Devine
1987 Cherry 2000 Edith 'E' Johnson
1986 Something Wild Audrey Hankel aka Lulu Golden Globe nomination - Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy
1985 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Girl
1984 Body Double Holly Body Golden Globe nomination - Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Fear City Loretta
1981 Golden Gate Karen
She's in the Army Now Pvt. Sylvie Knoll
The Star Maker Dawn Barnett Youngblood
Underground Acres Lucy
Roar Melanie
1978 Steel Cowboy Johnnie
Daddy, I Don't Like it Like This Girl in Hotel
1977 Joyride Susie
One on One The Hitchhiker
The Garden Young Girl
1975 Smile Karen Love
The Drowning Pool Schuyler Devereaux
Night Moves Delly Grastner
1973 The Harrad Experiment Extra uncredited
1969 Smith! Extra uncredited

References

  1. ^ Melanie Griffith Biography (1957-)
  2. ^ Tracy Griffith Biography (1965-)
  3. ^ Ancestry of Melanie Griffith
  4. ^ TRANSCRIPT (Melanie's Romance Chat, February 10, 2000, 9PM EST)
  5. ^ http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?id=1077011419481&html_title=&tols_title=CHICAGO+(PLAY)&byline=%20By+BEN+BRANTLEY+&pdate=20030804
  6. ^ B.O. rises; 'Chi' SRO Broadway Grosses
  7. ^ Bubbly B.O. perf. (Analysis).(Melanie Griffith stars in "Chicago")(Brief Article)
  8. ^ Antonio And Melanie Receive Hollywood Charity Award
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