"The Birds" star Tippi Hedren, in her new memoir, has claimed that director Alfred Hitchcock stalked and sexually assaulted her when she worked with him in the 1960s
Alfred Hitchcock
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New York: "The Birds" star Tippi Hedren, in her new memoir, has claimed that director Alfred Hitchcock stalked and sexually assaulted her when she worked with him in the 1960s.
The actress, who has spoken about Hitchcock's behavior in the past as well, has detailed her relationship with Hitchcock in the '60s after she moved from New York to Los Angeles following her divorce from Peter Griffith, according to excerpts obtained by New York Post.
Hitchcock, who died in 1980, tracked her down after seeing her in a commercial for meal replacement shakes, and signed her to a five-year movie contract.
While working on 1963's "The Birds," the role that shot Hedren to stardom, Hedren writes in her memoir "Tippi" that he was extremely possessive of her, warning her castmates, including co-star Rod Taylor, not to "touch her." She says that if Hitchcock even saw her talking to another man, he would give her an "expressionless, unwavering stare... even if he was talking to a group of people on the other side of the soundstage."
Hedren claims that Hitchcock would stalk her, telling his driver to pass by her home, and detailed an incident in which he allegedly tried to kiss her in the back of his limo. "It was an awful, awful moment," she writes in the book. The alleged abuse, she claims, continued on the set of their next movie together, "Marnie".
Hedren, whose book hits the stands on November 1, says Hitchcock had a door installed that connected his office to her dressing room. On that set, Hedren says Hitchcock entered her dressing room and tried to "put his hands on me." "It was sexual, it was perverse. The harder I fought him, the more aggressive he became."
Hedren says she did not tell anyone about the alleged abuse as sexual harassment and stalking were terms that didn't exist at the time. Herden had describe the alleged abuse during HBO's 2012 film "The Girl".
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