Melanie Griffith reflects on growing up with mother Tippi Hedren and sharing her childhood home with lions and tigers in series of throwback photos
Melanie Griffith is taking a walk down memory lane and reminiscing about growing up in her family home in California alongside big cats like lions and tigers.
The Academy Award-nominated actress, 62, took to Instagram on Thursday and shared a series of photos showing herself and her movie star mother Tippi Hedren frolicking around their property in the 1970s with a number of wild animals.
‘I grew up with lions, tigers and 2 elephants,’ Griffith confessed in the caption of the post.
Wild childhood: Melanie Griffith, 62, shared a series of photos showing herself and her movie star mother Tippi Hedren sharing their home in the 1970s with wild animals, including lions and tigers; Griffith (right) was a young teen when this photo was taken with her mother
In one photo Griffith could be seen hugging a full grown tiger as her mother looked on with adoration and love.
There’s another image of mother and daughter standing underneath a tree as their fully-grown lion Neil looked down on them from atop of the tree trunk
Hedren, best known for starring in the classic Alfred Hitchcock move The Birds in 1963, has been photographed over the years at home with big cats who had full reign of their house.
Unique: ‘I grew up with lions, tigers and 2 elephants,’ Griffith confessed in the Instagram post
Queens of the king: Mother and daughter also had a pet lion Neil in the 1970s; they are pictured underneath a tree as Neil looked down on them from atop of the tree trunk
Acclaimed: Griffith reached the heights of A-list leading lady following her performance in the 1988 comedy drama film Working Girl, which garnered her an Oscar nomination
In hindsight Hedren has come to reveal that she regrets letting a fully grown lion live with the family, calling it ‘stupid beyond belief’, and that she ‘should never have taken those risks.’
But oftentimes where there is risk there also comes reward.
‘It was a crazy, beautiful, and dangerous time. I am however, very grateful for the strength it gave me,’ Griffith added in the Instagram post.
Griffith, who reached the heights of A-list leading lady following her performance in the 1988 comedy drama film Working Girl, admits she learned a lot about interacting with wild animals, which included nurturing lion and tiger cubs as seen in one of Griffith’s photographs.
‘One cannot show fear around big cats. Even when they are babies,’ she explained.
Mama bears: Griffith admits she learned a lot about interacting with wild animals, which included nurturing lion and tiger cubs as a young teenager
Alternative lifestyle: Griffith also revealed she and her family had two elephants
Despite her regrets, Hedren still lives with big cats, but now they’re taken care of at her animal sanctuary, Shambala Preserve, in Acton, California.
‘My 90 year old Mama still has some cats! We don’t socialize with them like we used too. The cats now live in the beautiful sanctuary my Mom has for them,’ Griffith wrote.
‘People can not go in their compounds. You cannot physically touch them. But they are magnificent to behold. Look at Shambala.org and of course take a look at @tippihedrenofficial.’
Griffith’s movie star daughter Dakota Johnson, from her marriage to actor Don Johnson, talked about her grandmother’s living situation during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in May.
‘She has 13 or 14 lions and tigers. There used to be like 60 cats and now there’s just a couple,’ she revealed.
Animal lover: Despite her regrets about having big cats in her home, Hedren now has her big cats taken care of at her animal sanctuary, Shambala Preserve, in Acton, California