📷▶ Shocking Photos of Neil The Pet Lion of Tippi Hedren and Melanie Griffith | Historical Photos

welcome to the Retro Revival Channel be sure to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss more videos like this one these pictures are not staged and show Tippy hedrin star of Alfred Hitchcock's the birds with her husband Noel Marshall her daughter actress Melanie Griffith and their Lion Neil in 1969 hedrin and Marshall were filming in Africa and came across an abandoned house inhabited by lions the scenery made the couple want to make a film that would help promote the preservation of this beautiful endangered species Marshall wrote a script titled lions lions and more Lions based on their experience it was retitled Roar and centered on a family's Misadventures in a research Park filled with lions tigers and other wild cats animal trainer Ron Oxley advised them that to get to know anything about lions you've just got to live with them for a while that's when the family started to live with Neil the 400 lb 180 K mature lion the strange living situation was documented in Life magazine in 1971 the photographs taken by Michael rier reveal how Neil enjoyed coexisting with hedin's family sometimes sharing a bed or hanging out poolside with them head hedin later wrote A Memoir in 1988 and admitted that allowing big cats to roam free around the house was stupid beyond belief after complaints from their neighbors hedrin and Marshall bought a ranch outside of Los Angeles in Acton that would serve as the set for Roar they got permission there to rescue and raise several lions tigers African elephants and other exotic felines filming started in 1974 and and took 5 years just to complete the photography every scene involving Lions was improvised and shot with four or sometimes eight cameras more than 100 people worked on the film as well as more than 150 untrained lions tigers leopards and cheetahs during production no animals were hurt but more than 70 members of the cast and crew were mauled hedrin fractured a leg and also had scalp wounds when an elephant bucked her off its back while she was riding it she was also bitten in the neck by a lion and required 38 stitches this incident can be seen in the film Melanie Griffith was also attacked receiving 50 stitches to her face it was feared that she would lose an eye but she recovered and was not disfigured Marshall was attacked so many times that he eventually was diagnosed with Gang Green in one one of those incidents he was clawed by a cheetah when protecting the animals during a bushire that occurred in 1979 all animals were evacuated and several years were needed for him to recover from his injuries in 1978 a flood destroyed the movie sets and killed three of the Lions the project was set back several years hedrin said that they were all determined to finish the film we were so sure the film was going to be a success ESS that we thought everything financing the ranch and the Lions Etc would take care of itself Roar was released worldwide in 1981 with the exception of the United States because according to hedin the United States Distributors wanted the Lion's Share of the profits and we thought it ought to go to the beautiful animals that made the movie the film cost $17 million and grossed only $2 million but it was a turning point point in hedin's life the film directly led to the 1983 establishment of the nonprofit thear foundation and hedrin Shambala Preserve located at the edge of the Mojave Desert in Acton California between the Antelope Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley 40 m 64 feor CER Northeast of Los Angeles Shambala houses some 70 animals [Music] [Applause] h [Music]