Hedren flies to Huntington for 'The Birds'

Not all of the winged creatures Tippi Hedren encountered on "The Birds" inspired terror. When director Alfred Hitchcock hired her for the 1963 thriller, he presented her with a special gift: a gold and seed-pearl pin of three birds with their wings spread.

Don't be surprised if she has it on for tonight's sold-out screening of "The Birds" at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington. It's the latest stop of Turner Classic Movies' "Road to Hollywood" tour, where she'll be interviewed by TCM host Robert Osborne before the movie.

At 81, Hedren, who is also the mother of actress Melanie Griffith, still acts but devotes most of her time to Shambala Preserve in Acton, Calif., and protecting exotic animals. She recently chatted by phone from the TCM stop in St. Louis.

How did you first find out Hitchcock was interested in signing you to a contract?

It was a complete surprise. His agent told me it was Alfred Hitchcock who wanted to sign me to a contract and he said if you agree we'll go over and meet him. I signed the contract before I even met him. I had a reel of about 13 or 14 commercials I had done in New York. I had a fashion book because I had been with Eileen Ford. He saw the photo book and the commercials. So he had an idea of what I was like.

You had no previous acting experience, did you?

When you do the commercialds you get the technical background, but as far as becoming another character, that was an entirely different thing.

Did Hitchcock help you with your role?

It was fabulous. Having him as my director was one thing, but he was really my drama coach as well. I learned so much from him in developing a character and how to pull apart a script. And the real work you have to do to become an actress.

You were originally told there would be mechanical birds when you were to shoot the climactic scene in the attic. When did you find out they were going to use real birds?

They didn't let me know until the morning we were supposed to film that scene. And it was a horrible surprise. The assistant director came in and he couldn't look at me. I said, "What's the matter, Jim?" and he said, "The mechanical birds don't work. We'll have to use real ones," and out the door he flew. . . . I had a whole week where they flung birds at me. I ended up under a doctor's care after that for exhaustion.

Didn't you get a nice compliment from Cary Grant when he visited the set?

[Laughs.] Cary Grant said, "You're the bravest woman I ever met." And I said, "I don't know if that's the right adjective, but it'll do."

You also worked with Charlie Chaplin on "A Countess From Hong Kong." How was he to work with?M/b>

He would act out all of our different roles, which I thought was enchanting. Somebody should have been doing a film on him directing. He'd become Sophia Loren, he'd become my role, he'd become Marlon Brando's role, which Marlon didn't appreciate.

Hitchcock gave you that jeweled bird pin, but didn't he also give your daughter a souvenir as well?

He had a doll made and it was about 12 inches long, but it looked exactly like me. And they had made a very beautiful box out of wood. And it just scared her.

Your second film with Hitchcock, "Marnie," gave you a far more complex role. [Hedren played a kleptomaniac who was sexually traumatized by a childhood incident.] Did you like having such a challenging role?

I loved having such a complicated person to deal with. It was just an amazing, amazing woman to play. All those years ago when the film came out, people didn't get it. There hadn't been that much interest in kids who had had traumatic experiences. If it wasn't dealt with right then, well it had an effect in their adult life.

You were under exclusive contract to Hitchcock. What happened when you tried to break it after he became so controlling when you made "Marnie" in 1964?

He said, "I'll ruin your career," and he did. He kept me under contract and kept paying me my $600 a week for the next few years even though he didn't give me any work. But what those films did do is give me the celebrity to do the work I'm doing with the animals.

Tell us a little about your work with exotic animals. How did that get started?

It was through two films I did in Africa in the late '60s and early '70s. My then husband [producer Noel Marshall] and I decided to do a movie about a game warden's house in Mozambique that was flooded, so he moved out and a pride of lions moved in. So we showed the script in Hollywood and everyone laughed at us. Animal trainers said no because it's instinctual that cats will fight a strange cat. So we got our own animals, all rescues.

And you've been involved in getting legislation passed to protect exotic animals.

I got one passed in 2003 called the Captive Wildcat Safety act. That bill stops interstate traffic of having these animal sold as pets. I testified for it and named off 18 or so accidents with children and adults involved in killings and maimings. The bill passed unanimously in the House and Senate. I'm now working on a breeding bill which is in limbo.

WHAT TCM's "Road to Hollywood" screening of "The Birds," plus Tippi Hedren interview by Robert Osborne.

WHEN | WHERE 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave., Huntington

INFO The event is sold out. Only the first 285 ticketholders to arrive will be seated; 631-423-7611, cinemaartscentre.org