Melanie Griffith Net Worth, Early Life, Career Highlights, Awards, Philanthropy, Personal Life and Relationship

American actress, Melanie Griffith net worth and prominence accelerated as she became an award-winning actress after her performance in the Body Double (1984).

Synopsis

Melanie Griffith made debut in acting through Night Moves in 1975. However, she gained wide fame after winning National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress for the movie Body Double. Melanie Griffith net worth kept on increasing as she continued to persevere. She had a fabulous performance in Something Wild which garnered her critical acclaim. Similarly, she gathered Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and won Golden Globe Award for her work in Working Girl.

Early Life and Background

Melanie Richard Griffith was born on August 9, 1957 in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The American actress was born to actress Tippi Hedren and former child stage actor, Peter Griffith, who later turned into an advertising executive.

When she was 4 years old, her parents divorced. Consequently, her father married model/actress Nanita Greene who had two children. Therefore, she had two half-sisters: actress Tracy Griffith and set designer Clay A. Griffith. On the other hand, her mother married agent/producer, Noel Marshall.

Melanie Griffith spent her adolescent years with her father in New York and also with her mother in Antelope Valley, California. She started to appear as child actor in advertisement in addition to appearing as a child model. Later, she left the modeling career due to extreme shyness.

Griffith went to Hollywood Professional School where she was advanced in her studies. As a result, she got to skip her grade level graduating at the age of 16.

 Professional Career Highlights

Melanie Griffith acting had started when she was nine months old. She appeared in a commercial then. Later, she appeared as an extra in Smith! (1969) and The Harrad Experiment (1973). However, she did not land her first major role until 1975. She did multiple nude scenes in Night Moves (1975) at the age of 17.

Soon, she fetched attention of filmmakers. Melanie Griffith net worth grew as she landed a role in Smile, The Drowning Pool (1975) and One on One (1977). A few years later, she appeared as Melanie in Roar (1981) which was directed by her stepfather, Noel Marshall. However, the film cost her a heavy injury. A lion attacked her while filming due to which she got 50 stitches to her face.

Later, Melanie Griffith appeared in the made-for-television movie She’s in the Army Now (1981) with Jamie Lee Curtis and Steven Bauer. In between, she underwent drug and alcohol addiction; however, she made a comeback at the age of 26. She got the role of a porn actress in Body Double (1984).

Her performance in the film led her to Something Wild (1986) and Cherry 2000, both of which became a cult favorite. Melanie Griffith net worth hiked as she achieved mainstream success through box office hit Working Girl (1988). She portrayed spunky secretary Tess McGill in the film which rose her prominence and won her awards.

Her next major role was in thriller Pacific Heights (1990) with Matthew Modine, The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) with Tom Hanks and Shining Through. Furthermore, she starred in Crazy in Alabama in 1999 which Antonio Banderas directed. She played a woman who kills her husband and heads to the Hollywood in the movie. Likewise, she also acted in The Vagina Monologues and appeared in made-for-TV film RKO 281.

Broadway Debut and Critical Praise

In 2003, Melanie Griffith made her Broadway debut in the musical Chicago. She portrayed the character of Roxie, which received critical acclaim, especially by the New York Times theatre critic Ben Brantley.

Ben said that Griffith was very convincing in her role despite being a virgin in the field of Broadway. She looked comfortable in her role and was probably the best portrayal of Roxie ever. Ben adds, ” For the vultures who were looking for Ms. Griffith to fail, they will have to search elsewhere for their fix of schadenfreude.”

Box Office Success of Chicago

With critical praise for both Griffith and Chicago, the musical turned out be a massive hit. The play has been running for over 21 years, becoming one of the longest-running Broadways of all time.

As far it’s earnings go, Chicago has grossed a whopping $3.7 billion worldwide, becoming one of the highest earning play ever. It has achieved a profit of $577 million as of 2017.

She returned to stage once again in 2012 for the play No Way Around but Though. Melanie Griffith also landed a recurring role in television show Hawaii Five-0 in 2014-16 and sitcom Twins (2005-06). Her other television appearances are in series Viva Laughlin, This American Housewife and Hot in Cleveland, where she guest starred as Nip/Tuck.

She reunited with Banderas in 2014 science fiction Automata. Melanie Griffith net worth elevated as she got a number of roles in films Day Out of Days (2015), The Masterpiece, The Disaster Artist and 2016 film Where the White Man Runs Away. Furthermore, she has signed to play Mrs. Robinson in the stage version of The Graduate at Laguna Playhouse in California.

Awards, Nominations, and Acknowledgment

Body Double was a commercial failure, but it earned her the National Society of Film and Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress. Similarly, the versatile actress, Melanie Griffith net worth increased as she earned Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for the film Working Girl. Moreover, the film also won her an Academy Award nomination for Best actress.

Her performance in Buffalo Girls (1995) earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Furthermore, critics described her performance as the best of her career for the film Another Day in Paradise (1998). She became the nominee of Emmy for her portrayal of Marion Davies in RKO 281.

Philanthropy and Charity

Melanie Griffith net worth as an actress definitely rose high enough due to her performance. In addition, she also established herself as a charitable person, valuable to the society. She is the supporter of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles’ effort by helping to lead a fundraising program Walk for Kids. The fundraising was done to open of a new state of the art pediatric inpatient facility.

Personal Life and Relationship

When Griffith was 14 years old, she started dating Don Johnson. The 22 years old man was her mother’s co-star in The Harrad Experiment. They married for 6 months in 1976. Later, she got in romantic relationships with actors Warren Beatty, Ryan O’Neal and Jack Nicholson.

Tatum O’Neal wrote a biography A Paper Life in which she claimed that Griffith dragged her into an orgy with Maria Schneider and a male hair dresser. O’Neal was in relationship with Griffith’s father.

Griffith married Steven Bauer on September 8, 1981. They have a son, Alexander Griffith Bauer, born in 1985. However, the couple divorced in 1989 after staying separate for a long time. Griffith says she underwent cocaine and liquor abuse after splitting with Bauer.

She married Johnson in June 1989 after coming out of rehabilitation. She and Johnson has a daughter, Dakota Johnson, born in 1989. The couple finally separated in 1995 after a year of reconciliation and separation.

Dakota Johnson with her mother Melanie Griffith, Image Source: Pop Sugar

Later, Griffith fell in love with actor/director Antonio Banderas. They two worked together in Two Much. After both of the actors finalized their divorce with their previous spouse, they married on May 14, 1996. Banderas and Griffith have a daughter, Del Carmen Banderas, born on September 24, 1996.

Griffith returned to rehab in 2000 to treat her addiction to painkillers. She again went to rehab in 2009. The actress underwent surgery for skin cancer later that year.

In June 2014, the couple announced their divorce without stating no bitter resentment in the relationship. They stated “irreconcilable differences” in the court as the reason for their divorce. Banderas and Griffith divorced in the end of 2015. They were amidst their divorce procedure when they appeared together in 2014 film Automata.

Salary and Net Worth

The versatile actress with boasting talent, Melanie Griffith net worth is $30 million. She accumulated this huge amount through her astounding performance and perseverance.