Quotes

[on Alfred Hitchcock] To be the object of somebody's obsession is a really awful feeling when you can't return it.

[on 3/1/05, when asked which is her favorite of the Alfred Hitchcock films she starred in] I think Marnie (1964). They were both so different that it's kind of hard to figure out which, but The Birds (1963) was sort of a chase. All of the Hitchcock films have a mystery to them and that sort of thing, but the personality of Marnie was so intriguing. She was really - poor Marnie.

My advice to anyone contemplating acting as a profession is to be independently wealthy or have another vocation as a backup. [Melanie Griffith] and [Antonio Banderas] are well set, but most actors make a pittance.

For years, directors and producers came up to me and said they'd wanted me for a role, but [Alfred Hitchcock] wouldn't allow it. The worst was when I found out that François Truffaut had wanted to cast me. I'd never heard a word about it. That one hurt.

[on being offered the title role in Marnie (1964) by Alfred Hitchcock] I was stunned. I was amazed that he would offer me this incredible role and that he would have that kind of faith in me . . . I thought Marnie was an extremely interesting role to play and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

[on working with Sean Connery, her leading man in Marnie (1964)] He was just fabulous, a consummate actor with a great sense of humor. He was practicing his golf swing all the time - a rather profound golfer. We honored him on June 8, 2006, at the American Film Institute. They asked me to speak about him, which was great fun. It was one of the most wonderful evenings.

It is interesting because some of the critics who really panned [Marnie (1964)] when it came out see it again and it is like they are reviewing an entirely different movie. I think a lot of it was that all those years ago, people were not aware of how a trauma being inflicted upon a child can affect what happens to them as an adult if it isn't properly dealt with. I think there were multiple reasons why they didn't like it. For some reason, the painted backdrops really bothered people forty years ago - that was a big deal for some reason with the critics. I kept thinking "So what, it's a movie!"

[In 2006, when asked whether she can watch The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964) and separate herself from the experience of making them] I can do that now and it is quite a relief, actually. I can look at it and think "She did a good job!" There were years where I would see things and wish I could do them over but now I can just watch them.

They called and asked what I thought about a remake of The Birds (1963) and I thought: 'Why would you do that? Why?' I mean, can't we find new stories, new things to do?

When you do a love scene with someone in a movie, you have cameras and lights surrounding you. It's not very romantic, especially considering what I was going through. A lot of people have asked me whether or not I had a fling with Sean Connery during the filming of Marnie (1964), and the answer is no. Marnie was so frigid and cold that she screamed when a man came near her. If I had strong feelings for him in real life, it would have shown through my eyes in the film. I was too dedicated to acting. So, no, I don't really know what it's like to kiss Sean Connery.

[2014, on what it's like being a matriarch of an acting dynasty] It's funny that nobody in of all my ancestors was interested in any of the dramatic arts. None of them. It started with me, then my gorgeous daughter Melanie Griffith, and now my granddaughter Dakota Johnson. Now, we are wondering what my other granddaughter Stella Banderas is going to be doing. She's very cerebral. I would be very anxious to see what happens to her.

[on working on the set of The Birds (1963)] One of the ravens was so sweet that Ray [Ray Berwick] wouldn't teach him all the bad things to do, like peck people and dive-bomb. That raven became my buddy. He'd come up and sit in my dressing room on the set, play with my makeup, and throw it on the floor. I'd walk around on the set with him on my shoulders.

[In 2016] My marriages were all good - until they weren't. But I got something good out of each of them. My first husband Peter Griffith was younger than me and I've never understood why I married him but he gave me Melanie Griffith. My second husband Noel Marshall gave me my love of animals. My third husband Luis Barrenechea was everything I wanted in a man, except that he was an alcoholic and that was unbearable. I'd love to have a man in my life and to go on dates but I'll never marry again. I like living alone. I'm vain and I'm also selfish. Who would want that in a woman?

I don't ever deal with age or any particular age, I never have. I don't think I ever will. I try to stay current with what, you know, the latest fashions are, because I think if you get caught in an age where you think you really look good and don't progress any further than that, I think that's very aging, but I really -- I feel just as young as I did when I was, you know, doing the films and whatever. I refuse to acknowledge it, frankly.

As soon as I heard that smoking could kill you, and that it WILL kill you and make you sick, I thought "Wow, I'm smarter than this!" I put my cigarette out and I never had another one.

[on the passing of Sean Connery, her leading man from Marnie (1964)] I feel so fortunate to have worked with Sean. I am just so grateful to have had the honor of knowing him as a dear friend. He was a fabulous man and so very talented. He had a great sense of humor and he made our job fun. An elegant man, a brilliant actor and an over all amazing individual. ... Not to mention extremely attractive.