Melanie Griffith, an American actress, was born in New York on August 9, 1957. Melanie’s mother, the famous Hollywood film actress Tippy Hendren, father - actor Peter Griffith, who during his career starred in only one 1978 movie, Halloween. Melanie's father died in 2001 at the age of 67, and his mother, who recently turned 84 years old, lives and lives to this day.
Film debut
Actress Melanie Griffith, whose biography deserves to be included 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 began." As for the trouble, Melanie was just a "poor girl" in childhood and adolescence. And after coming of age, she smoothly turned into the image of a young woman "with whom you will not get bored."
First roles
In 1975, Melanie Griffith, at the invitation of director Arthur Penn, starred in the detectives "Night moves." This film can rightfully be considered her film debut, the role was quite informative and required a certain acting skill. And the actress could continue her ascent up the career ladder if she had not been addicted to drugs. First it was weed, marijuana and hemp, then cocaine and ended up all addicted to heroin.
Drugs
In 1982, Melanie got hit by a car and this was due to drug intoxication. It was written in the police report - Griffith and drugs were to blame. It seems that you could already put an end to the career of a movie star. The directors either turned away, or looked at Melanie with caution. Nobody wanted to take risks, it was somehow not accepted to claim the role of an addict in Hollywood. The addiction lasted almost ten years, Griffith starred in minor episodes thanks to the support of her star mother. Films of Melanie Griffith of that period were of no value.
Return to life
Then Melanie met with director Brian De Palma and in some miraculous way, 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". All of Hollywood, with bated breath, was watching what was happening, everyone expected the failure of the picture with a fairly large budget of $ 10 million. But Melanie did not disappoint, largely thanks to the director’s humanity and confidence in her, she defeated her addiction and broke up with drugs. The actress brilliantly played Holly Body, a night dancer, the film took place, and for Griffith, the road opened for the next film, titled "Wild thing", for the role of Audrey Hankel, which became stellar for Melanie.
Top movies
In 1986, Melanie Griffith starred in Jonathan Demmy's "Wild Little thing." The film can be called adventure, because the plot is built just on the journey of the heroes, Lulu and the banker Charles Driggs, from New York to Pennsylvania. To top it off, with Charles Driggs, he meets Lulu Ray Sinclair's ex-husband along the way. He had just left prison and was full of desire to deal with everyone and everyone. And here he comes under the hot hand of the companion of his ex-wife. The fight begins, the police arrive. Lulu disappears, and Driggs, who has already fallen in love with her, is trying 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, in the pavilions of the film company “20th Century Fox”, the shooting of the film “Business Girl” began according to the script of Kevin Wade. Director Michael Nichols approved the main roles of Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver and Melanie Griffith, and, as it turned out, he was not mistaken in the choice of actors, it was difficult to imagine a more harmonious team. Thirty-year-old Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), an ambitious, very capable secretary in a large company, is preoccupied with her too slow promotion. She tries to take advantage of the temporary absence of the boss Catherine Parker (Sigourney Weaver) and take her place. The most difficult ups and downs occurring in the office, in the end, lead her to success.
For the role of Tess, the actress received the 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, where the shooting of the film “Two is too much” was directed by Fernando Trueb. Banderas played the main male role, the loser-debtor Art Dodge, who does not know how to get out of this situation, and Melanie played the female main role, Betty Kerner. The film was not successful, but the acquaintance of Melanie and Antonio ended more than successfully, they got married.
Sometimes Melanie Griffith participates in television and television projects and does it successfully, such as accepting an invitation in 1999 for a role in the television movie Project 281, the actress received an Emmy Award for best supporting actress. It can be said that Melanie Griffith devotes all her time to working on television, free from film projects. Most of all, she likes that the return on television projects is visible immediately and does not have to wait for years, as is the case in the film industry.
Failure
For Melanie herself, Griffith remembered the role of Charlotte Haze, the aging mother of Lolita in the film Lolita, based on the novel of the same name by Vladimir Nabokov. The picture was released in 1997 and immediately failed. The distributors did not want to take a dubious film, and those who took it burned out right away, because the viewer did not go. The box office barely reached one million dollars with a budget of 58 million dollars.
The year 1998 was the most fruitful for the actress, Melanie starred in five feature films this year: Prostitute Feast, Squeal, Conspiracy, Paradise and Celebrity. This was followed by a series of films in which the actress showed her neurasthenicity, was capricious, without any reason became aggressive. During this period, films were made: "Crazy Cecil", "Fellow travelers", "Light lives with me."
Musicals
In 2002, the film "Dexterous Hands" was released, about card cheaters. 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 who was targeted as a victim, seduces him, and he thus becomes easy prey for cheaters. In the center of the plot is a conspiracy of a sharpie with a gangster, aimed at defeating a major player with money.
In 2003, Melanie tried herself in a new genre. She played the role of Roxy in the musical Chicago. Shortly before this, the actress took a vocal and choreography course. Natural artistry helped her learn the basics of operetta, and Melanie performed on stage quite successfully. Interestingly, Antonio Banderas also decided to follow this path and took part in the musical "Nine", but in another theater located nearby. For Griffith, her undertaking resulted in the provision of a theater critic column in The New York Times, and Banderas received nothing, he simply congratulated Melanie on the success.
Personal life
The personal life of Melanie Griffith is quite diverse, the actress married four times. The children of Melanie Griffith, two boys and one girl, have already grown up and live 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 start a family ended in divorce in the same 76th year, and the second time the marriage lasted for seven whole years, but also ended in divorce in 1996.
Melanie married an actor of Cuban origin, Stephen Bauer in 1980, gave birth to his son Alexander in 1985, and his wife divorced in 1987.
The actress met her current husband Antonio Banderas when she was remarried with Don Johnson, whom she immediately left. Banderas and Melanie Griffith to this day live together.
Griffith has children from all three husbands, Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith (born in 1996), Dakota May Johnson (born in 1989) and Alexander Griffith Bauer (born in 1985). Daughter Melanie Griffith Stella decided to follow in her mother's footsteps and become an actress.