Biography
Actress Melanie Griffith became known for strong-but-sexy characters in such films as "Working Girl" (1988) and "Something Wild" (1986), although, at times her multiple marriages and well-documented battles with addiction threatened to overshadow her considerable talent. The daughter of Hitchcock favorite and "The Birds" (1963) star Tippi Hedren, Griffith began her film career while still a teenager in Arthur Penn's "Night Moves" (1975), as an …
Melanie Griffith SlideShow
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Career Milestones
| Moved with family to Los Angeles at age four | ||
1973 | Made film debut as extra in "The Harrad Experiment"; film starred her mother and future first husband, Don Johnson | |
1975 | Made feature acting debut in "Night Moves" at 17 years old | |
1975 | Played one of the beauty contestants in the superb satire "Smile" | |
1976 | Made TV miniseries debut, "Once an Eagle" (NBC) | |
1977 | Joined cast of the ABC series "Carter Country" as a series regular | |
1981 | Starred with mother, Tippi Hedren, in "Roar" (produced by stepfather, Noel Marshall); filmed several years before release | |
1981 | Studied acting with Stella Adler in New York | |
1984 | Cast as the female lead in Brian De Palma's "Body Double" | |
1986 | Breakthrough leading role in Jonathan Demme's cult favorite, "Something Wild" | |
1987 | Guest-starred on an episode of "Miami Vice" (NBC); episode directed by Don Johnson, her once-and-future husband | |
1988 | Played a Staten Island secretary with aspirations to succeed in Mike Nichols' "Working Girl"; earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress | |
1990 | Co-starred with James Woods, as lovers facing an unwanted pregnancy, in the "Hills Like White Elephants" segment of HBO's "Women & Men: Stories of Seduction" | |
1990 | Re-teamed with director Brian de Palma for the film adaptation of "The Bonfire of the Vanities"; co-starred with Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis | |
1991 | Made first film with then-husband Don Johnson, "Paradise" | |
1992 | Was unfortunately miscast as an NYC cop who goes undercover in the Hassidic community in "A Stranger Among Us" | |
1993 | Undertook the role of Billie Dawn in an ill-fated remake of "Born Yesterday" | |
1994 | Received good reviews for her role as a desperate housewife in the Oscar-nominated film "Nobody's Fool"; co-starred with Bruce Willis and Paul Newman | |
1995 | Co-starred with Anjelica Huston in the CBS miniseries, "Buffalo Girls"; nominated for a Golden Globe Award | |
1995 | Co-starred with Demi Moore, Rita Wilson, and Rosie O'Donnell in the coming-of-age drama, "Now and Then" | |
1996 | Starred opposite future husband Antonio Banderas in the uneven comedy, "Two Much" | |
1997 | Played the blowsy Charlotte Haze in Adrian Lyne's remake of "Lolita"; shown on Showtime in the US | |
1997 | Selected by Revlon as spokesperson for line of cosmetics aimed at women over 35 years of age | |
1998 | Appeared in Woody Allen's ensemble film, "Celebrity" | |
1998 | Offered a rich performance as a drug addicted criminal, opposite James Woods, in "Another Day in Paradise" | |
1999 | Made London stage debut in the "Vagina Monologues" at the Old Vic theater | |
1999 | Played an aspiring actress who murders her husband in Antonio Banderas' feature directorial debut, "Crazy in Alabama" | |
1999 | Portrayed actress Marion Davies in the HBO movie, "RKO 281," about the making of "Citizen Kane" | |
2000 | Played the title role of a mentally unstable woman who seeks an old sweetheart in "Forever Lulu" | |
2000 | Portrayed a veteran movie star kidnapped by a struggling independent filmmaker in "Cecil B. Demented"; written and directed by John Waters | |
2002 | Appeared as herself in Rosanna Arquette's documentary, "Searching for Debra Winger" | |
2002 | Voiced the character of Margalo in "Stuart Little 2" | |
2003 | Joined Sylvester Stallone and Gabriel Byrne for the film, "Shade" | |
2003 | Made her Broadway debut playing Roxie Hart in the musical "Chicago" | |
2005 | Played the mother of the show's main characters in the short-lived sitcom, "Twins" (WB) | |
2010 | Guest-starred on the seventh and final season of FX's "Nip/Tuck," playing porn-star Kimber Henry's mother | |
Awards
1984 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in Body Double |
1984 | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress in Body Double |
1986 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical in Something Wild |
1988 | Academy Award for Actress In a Leading Role in Working Girl |
1988 | Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in Working Girl |
1988 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy Or Musical in Working Girl |
1989 | BAFTA Award for Actress In a Leading Role in Working Girl |
1995 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in Buffalo Girls |
1999 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in RKO 281 |
2000 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress In a Miniseries or Movie in RKO 281 |