Alfred Hitchcock Hitchcock had intended to film "Marnie" first, and in March 1962 it was announced that Grace Kelly, Princess Grace of Monaco since 1956, would come out of retirement to star in it. When Kelly asked Hitchcock to postpone "Marnie" until 1963 or 1964, he recruited Evan Hunter, author of "The Blackboard Jungle" (1954), to develop a screenplay based on a Daphne du Maurier short story, "The Birds" (1952), which Hitchcock had republished in his "My Favorites in Suspense" (1959). He hired Tippi Hedren to play the lead role. It was her first role; she had been a model in New
Rod Taylor man whose town and home come under attack by menacing birds. Taylor then starred with Jane Fonda in the romantic comedy "Sunday in New York" (also 1963). During the mid-1960s, Taylor worked mostly for MGM. His credits including "The V.I.P.s" (1963), his first feature film role as an Australian, with Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Maggie Smith; "Fate Is the Hunter" (for 20th Century Fox, 1964) with Glenn Ford and Suzanne Pleshette; "36 Hours" (1964) with James Garner; "Young Cassidy" (1965) with Julie Christie and Maggie Smith; "The Liquidator" (1965) with Jill St. John; "Do Not Disturb" (1965); and "The