Hitchcock Blondes

7:08 AM

The films directed by Alfred Hitchcock are known for many things – the suspenseful plots, the gallows humor, even the cameos made by the famous director in each movie. There is something else for which Hitchcock films are just as renowned, and that is the breathtaking but icy blonde female stars in the lead roles. Do men prefer blondes? Alfred Hitchcock certainly did. The director's flaxen heroines were aloof beauties; frosty, but with fiery streaks beneath. They made the best victims. As Hitch once quipped: "They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints."

The stable of Hitchcock blondes includes a bevy of beauties: Ingrid Bergman, Tippi Hedren, Madeleine Carroll, Kim Novak, and Eva Marie Saint. Without a doubt though, the most iconic of all the Hitchcock blondes is Grace Kelly, who personified the cool, patrician blonde type that Hitchcock preferred.

Hitchcock Blondes Were Beautiful, But Not Bombshells

Perhaps one of the most interesting things about the Hitchcock blonde is that they went against many of the popular female stereotypes of the 1940s – 1960s. It is important to notice that some of the most famous blonde actresses of the era were not ever cast in a Hitchcock film. Compare the classic Hitchcock blonde attire as was worn by Tippi Hedren in The Birds (1963): a prim tweedy sheath dress with a high neckline and a matching jacket with Marilyn Monroe's alluring white halter dress in The Seven Year Itch ; it is no wonder that Hitchcock avoided the Hollywood bombshells like the plague.

Madeleine Carroll Was the First

Madeleine Carroll was the first of Alfred Hitchcock's beautiful blonde stars. She played the role of Pamela in The 39 Steps, which was directed in 1935 by Hitchcock while he was still living in London. The lovely Pamela is a bystander who is unwittingly sucked into a suspenseful spy story. She eventually rises to the occasion, helping the leading man (played by Robert Donat) to expose a spy ring.

Tippi Hedren: The Last Hitchcock Blonde and the Worst Off

The final iconic Hitchcock blonde is Tippi Hedren, who starred in The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964). The director certainly worked with other well known fair haired actresses, including Doris Day and Janet Leigh, but they did not fit into his archetypal mode. Hedren is the actress with whom Hitchcock is believed to have had the most complicated and ultimately difficult relationship, perhaps owing to his unrequited infatuation with her.