Melanie Griffith - filmography, biography and personal life (photo)

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Melanie Griffith, American actress, was born in New York on August 9, 1957. Melanie's mother is the famous Hollywood film actress Tippi Hendren, and her father is actor Peter Griffith, who starred in only one Halloween movie in 1978 during his career. Melanie's father passed away in 2001 at the age of 67, but her mother, who recently turned 84, is still alive and well.

Film debut

Actress Melanie Griffith, whose biography deserves to be inscribed in the Guinness Book of Records, made her film debut at the age of 9 months. It was just a commercial, but as they say - "dashing trouble is the beginning." As for the trouble, Melanie was just the "trouble girl" in childhood and adolescence. And after coming of age, she smoothly turned into the image of a young woman "you won't get bored with."

First roles

In 1975, Melanie Griffith, at the invitation of director Arthur Penn, starred in the detective "Nightmoves". This film can rightfully be considered her debut in the cinema, the role was quite meaningful and required a certain acting skill. And the actress could continue her career climb if she had not become addicted to drugs. At first it was weed, marijuana and hemp, then cocaine and ended up addicted to heroin.

Drugs

In 1982, Melanie was hit by a car and it happened because of drug intoxication. It was written in the police report - Griffith and drugs were to blame. It seems that the career of a movie star could already be put an end to. The directors either turned away or looked at Melanie with apprehension. Nobody wanted to take risks, it was somehow not accepted to approve a drug addict in Hollywood. Addiction lasted for almost ten years, Griffith starred in minor episodes thanks to the support of her star mother. Melanie Griffith's films of that period were of no value.

Return to life

Then Melanie met with director Brian De Palma and miraculously her drug addiction began to decline and the woman gradually returned to normal. The director believed in a successful outcome and approved Griffith for the main role in the film "Body Double". The whole of Hollywood watched with bated breath, everyone was expecting the failure of the picture with a rather large budget of 10 million dollars. But Melanie did not disappoint, largely thanks to the humanity of the director, the trust placed in her, she defeated her addiction andbroke up with drugs. The actress brilliantly played Holly Body, a night dancer, the film was successful, and the road was opened for Griffith to the next picture called "Wild Things", the role of Audrey Hunkel, which became a star for Melanie.

Best movies

In 1986, Melanie Griffith starred in Jonathan Demme's "The Wild Thing". The film can be called an adventure, because the plot is based on the journey of the characters, Lulu and banker Charles Driggs, from New York to Pennsylvania. In addition to the unusualness of what is happening with Charles Driggs, they meet Lulu's ex-husband Ray Sinclair along the way. He just got out of prison and is full of desire to deal with everyone and everyone. And here he comes under the hot hand of the companion of his ex-wife. A fight breaks out and the police arrive. Lulu disappears, and Driggs, who has already fallen in love with her, tries to find the girl. There is no chance, and desperate Charles, having lost all hope, visits the cafe, where he met Lulu. And - oh, a miracle … !

Two years later, Kevin Wade's film "Business Girl" began filming at the studios of 20th Century Fox. Director Michael Nichols approved the main roles of Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith, and, as it turned out later, he was not mistaken in choosing the actors, it was hard to imagine a more well-coordinated team. Thirty-year-old Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), an ambitious, highly capable secretary in a large firm, is preoccupied with her too slow career advancement. She istries to take advantage of the temporary absence of the boss Katherine Parker (Sigourney Weaver) and take her place. The most difficult ups and downs taking place in the office eventually lead her to success.

For the role of Tess, the actress received a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination.

Antonio Banderas

The year 1995 passed for Melanie Griffith under the sign of meeting Antonio Banderas, whom she later married. They met on the set of the film "Two is too much" directed by Fernando Trueba. Banderas played the male lead, debtor-loser Art Dodge who doesn't know how to get out of this situation, and Melanie played the female lead, Betty Kerner. The film was not successful, but the acquaintance of Melanie and Antonio ended more than successfully, they got married.

Sometimes Melanie Griffith is involved in television projects and does it successfully, such as accepting an invitation in 1999 for a role in the TV movie "Project 281", the actress received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress. We can say that Melanie Griffith devotes all her time to work on television, free from film projects. Most of all, she likes that the return on television projects is immediately visible and does not have to wait for years, as happens in the film industry.

Failure

Melanie Griffith herself remembered the role of Charlotte Haze, Lolita's aging mother in the film "Lolita", based on the novel of the same name by VladimirNabokov. The picture was released in 1997 and immediately failed. The distributors did not want to take a dubious film, and those who took it immediately burned out, because the viewer did not go. The box office barely made it to $1 million on a $58 million budget.

The year 1998 was the most fruitful for the actress, Melanie starred in five feature films this year: "Hooker's Feast", "Screeching", "Conspiracy", "Paradise" and "Celebrity". This was followed by a series of films in which the actress showed her neurasthenicity, was capricious, and became aggressive for no reason. During this period, films were made: "Crazy Cecil", "Travellers", "The Light Lives With Me".

Musicals

In 2002, the film "Dim Hands" was released, about card cheats. Melanie played the role of Eve, a kind of "decoy duck", whose duties included the psychological treatment of the client. The girl, with the help of her irresistible beauty, distracts the player intended as a victim, seduces him, and thus he becomes an easy prey for cheaters. The plot revolves around a conspiracy between a card sharper and a gangster to beat a big player with money.

In 2003, Melanie tried herself in a new genre. She played the role of Roxy in the musical Chicago. Shortly before that, the actress took a course in vocals and choreography. Natural artistry helped her master the basics of operetta, and Melanie performed quite successfully on stage. Interestingly, AntonioBanderas also decided to follow this path and took part in the musical "Nine", but in a different theater located nearby. For Griffith, her endeavor resulted in providing a theater critic column for The New York Times, and Banderas got nothing, he just congratulated Melanie on her success.

Private life

Melanie Griffith's personal life is quite diverse, the actress married four times. Melanie Griffith's children, two boys and one girl, are already grown up and living on their own.

The first husband was an American actor and singer Don Johnson, whom Griffith married twice, in 1976 and in 1989. The first attempt to create a family ended in divorce in the same 76th year, and the second time the marriage lasted for seven years, but also ended in divorce in 1996.

Melanie married Cuban-born actor Steven Bauer in 1980, gave birth to his son Alexander in 1985, and divorced in 1987.

The actress met her current husband Antonio Banderas when she was in a second marriage to Don Johnson, whom she immediately left. Banderas and Melanie Griffith still live together.

Griffith has children from all three husbands, Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith (born 1996), Dakota May Johnson (born 1989) and Alexander Griffith Bauer (born 1985). Melanie Griffith's daughter Stella decided to follow in her mother's footsteps and become an actress.