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
Don Taylor (American actor and director) in Billy Wilder's "Stalag 17". His last major film role came in "I'll Cry Tomorrow" (1955). From the late 1950s through the 1980s, Taylor turned to directing movies and TV shows, such as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", the short-lived "Steve Canyon", starring Dean Fredericks, and Rod Serling's "Night Gallery". One of his memorable efforts, in 1973, was the musical film "Tom Sawyer," which boasted a Sherman Brothers song score. Other films that Taylor directed are "Escape from the Planet of the Apes" (1971), "Echoes of a Summer" (1976), "The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday" (also 1976), "The Island of Dr. Moreau"