Neil the Lion (Lion)

Melanie Griffith once had a 400-pound lion named Neil the Lion.

Melanie Griffith

Birthday

August 9, 1957 (66)

Melanie Griffith is an American actress and film producer. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s.

Born in New York City to actress Tippi Hedren and advertising executive Peter Griffith, she was raised mainly in Los Angeles, where she graduated from the Hollywood Professional School at age 16. In 1975, a then 17-year-old Griffith appeared opposite Gene Hackman in Arthur Penn’s film noir Night Moves. She later gained widespread popularity for her role in Brian De Palma’s thriller Body Double (1984), which earned her a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. Griffith’s subsequent performance in the comedy Something Wild (1986) garnered critical acclaim before she was cast in 1988’s Working Girl, which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won her a Golden Globe.

In 1996, Griffith co-starred with Antonio Banderas in the comedy Two Much (1996). Banderas and she began a relationship during the film’s production, and were married that year. In June 2014, Griffith and Banderas released a statement announcing their intention to divorce “in a loving and friendly manner”. They have a daughter together, Stella Banderas.

Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson are the parents of Dakota Johnson.