Melanie Griffith biography

Their union quickly erupted in turmoil, however, and the couple struggled with addiction to alcohol and cocaine. As Griffith's acting career began outshining Johnson's, the couple also confronted jealousy issues. Griffith and Johnson divorced in 1976 after only one year of marriage. Griffith recalls the struggles of that time in her life: "When you get a lot of attention in the media and you go to a lot of stupid parties and you're 18, 19, 20, 21, you know, and you're cute and sexy or whatever,

you get a lot of attention, and it's just not that healthy unless you really know who you are. And it's kinda impossible to know who you are at that age."

Personal Struggles

Griffith regained control of her life when she began dating actor Steven Bauer—whom she met on the set of the 1981 TV movie She's in the Army Now—and they moved to New York together. Living with Bauer in New York, Griffith sobered up and began taking acting classes under Stella Adler. Griffith and Bauer married in 1982, and Griffith gave birth to their son, Alexander, in 1985. Shortly thereafter, Griffith's acting career took flight once again. Her breakthrough role came as the female lead in the 1986 romantic thriller Something Wild. Then, in 1988, Griffith gave her most acclaimed performance to date as ambitious secretary Tess McGill in Mike Nichols' film Working Girl. Griffith's performance won her the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

However, just as Griffith reached the apex of her success, personal problems once again derailed her career. Griffith and Bauer divorced in 1987, and she returned to a life of alcoholism and drug addiction. In 1988, shortly after the completion of Working Girl, Griffith checked into the Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center in Minnesota. She says about her decision to enter rehab, "I just needed to. I had to. I couldn't do it by myself. It had me bad—I don't mean in quantity. It just had me where I couldn't stop. And I wanted to. Really badly." After leaving rehab, Griffith reunited with ex-husband Don Johnson. They remarried in 1989, and in October of that year Griffith gave birth to their daughter, Dakota. However, after Johnson indulged in several well-publicized bouts of drunkenness and infidelity, the couple divorced again in 1996. Almost immediately after she split from Johnson, Griffith married Antonio Banderas, her co-star in the 1995 romantic comedy Two Much. The two had a daughter, Stella, born in 1996, and in 2002 the couple received the Adler Angel award for their extensive charity work.

Recent Work

In 2003, Griffith ventured onto the Broadway stage for a career-reviving performance in the musical Chicago. When it was announced that Griffith would play the leading role as the homicidal Roxie Hart, most critics dismissed the move as a publicity stunt and a terrible casting choice (Griffith had never sang, danced or appeared on stage professionally). Nevertheless, Griffith shocked the critics by delivering a stellar and widely acclaimed performance.