Tippi Hedren

From Hitchcock and Chaplin to Ed Wood, Jr., and from drama and terror to droll comedy, the career of actress Tippi Hedren has been meteoric, and eclectic.

After a few weeks of filming The Birds with Rod Taylor, director Alfred Hitchcock told Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas, "Tippi Hedren is really remarkable. She's already reaching the lows and highs of terror". The former New York fashion model was making her debut as an actress in a starring role in The Birds, and such high praise from the enigmatic master of cinema shock and suspense was rare indeed. "Like a dormant volcano we know one day is going to erupt," Hitchcock described her. "Get a look at that girl, she's going to be good. I gave her the leading part in The Birds. It is a big part. I think Svengali Hitch rides again."

As volunteer International Relief Coordinator for "FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY", she traveled worldwide to set up relief programs following earthquakes, hurricanes, famine and war. She aided "boat people" in the South China Sea from a "FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY" rescue ship. Lobbying efforts on behalf of Asian refugees have taken her before Congress and have earned her numerous awards including the "Humanitarian Award" presented to her by the B'hai Faith. She has been honored by the USO for entertaining troops in Vietnam and by the CELEBRITY OUTREACH FOUNDATION for her charitable work.

She began her long love affair with wild animals in 1969 while doing a film, Satan's Harvest, in Africa. She "met" a mellow lion, and much of her life since then has been devoted to the big cats.

Perhaps Tippi Hedren's most unique endeavor is being "den mother" and close friend to sixty-odd big cats - lion, tiger, leopard, cougar, and serval at the Roar Foundation's Shambala Preserve near Acton, California.

The high desert animal preserve is home to the felines and pachyderms and was first established as an African-type set for the motion picture, Roar, which Tippi co-produced and starred in with her daughter, film actress Melanie Griffith. After the five year filming was completed, it became the current, non-profit center for big cat care and research.

In keeping with her outlook on the environment and conservation, many of Shambala's residents are cast-offs from private owners, zoos and circuses. "They're living out their lives in safety and comfort." The Preserve is open to the public on a reservation basis. Tippi is founder and President of The Roar Foundation and resides at Shambala in a cottage surrounded by big cat compounds. "I awaken to their roars." The story of Tippi's life and the animals "dearest to her heart" was told in Simon & Schuster's The Cats of Shambala (1985). An updated edition will soon be available in paperback.

Several documentaries have been produced about the Shambala Preserve including, Lions: Kings of the Serengeti by the Richard Diercks Co, Inc. which won the Telly Award in 1995 for outstanding video documentary; and Life With Big Cats (1998), produced for Animal Planet, which won the Genesis Award for best documentary in 1999.