I didn't know that Suzanne Pleshette was wanted for 'Marnie.' I don't think I could see her in the lead role. I don't see Suzanne playing the repressed Marnie character somehow.
I bet there were there was a lot of joshing between Hitchcock and Pleshette on the set of 'The Birds.' Thanks for the extra details of their exchanges. But Hitchcock must have been unfair with his female impersonator jibe. I think that Suzanne would have looked stunning in that blonde wig.

Suzanne Pleshette, who called Hitchcock "divine" and said she was "crazy about him," loved to make him blush with her bawdy humor.
She told the Television Academy that when Hitchcock saw her in the blonde wig, he said, "Take that off. You look like a female impersonator."
She also said that Hitchcock put her under contract and asked her to play the sister in law in "Marnie" but she wouldn't do it because she wanted Hitchcock to put her in a leading role, not a supporting role.

I've just watched her in 'Target Harry.' She is so slender in that one too. But guess what? With her witchy black hair she plays the bad girl. The blonde of course plays the good girl.

notice how extra slender she is in the film also

Ah Cher has always flirted with blonde hair. That surprised me because that dark Gothic look is so musch part of her. Even filled her home with Goth curios I believe.
I've got 'A stranger Waits' on dvd. I'll take a close look at her hair when I next play it. I think that has a good atmosphere for a TV movie.

Cher is wearing a blonde wig also,but more as a novelty. I don't believe that going lighter when you get older is always better; it may just wash you out,not the mention the upkeep,and damage it causes to the hair. Cher has always has a thing for blond hair ever since she was a child and felt she didn't fit in. (with her mother/sister being blonde also)Even wen Suzanne went light brown/dark blonde for A STRANGER WAITS ,it still looked had a washed- out look.

I think there has always been pressure on actresses to go blonde. Directors like Hitchcock preferred blondes as leading ladies in his films. Hence Suzanne Pleshette trying on that blonde wig during the filming of 'The Birds.'
In the case of Cher I think she may have turned blonde at the right time. Jet black hair in older women gets to look more and more unnatural the older they get. At a certain age wise ladies like Cher know they can maintain their glamour better by going for the more softer blonde look.

I know,people always want the opposite, especially since blonde is supposed to be the hottest. Cher feels the same way.
It only made Suzanne look less sultry. Even Angie Dickenson never look natural with blonde hairbut it was a look that worked for her. You need to be of a lighter coloring to go blonde

Ah I never knew she went blonde for a time in real life. I think she must have fancied being a blonde. But as you say these lovely ladies need to keep to their true look.

she went blonde(frosted) in real life,as I recall on The Tonight show, but it wasn't her. Brunette was her look,like Liz Taylor

Thank you for pointing that photo out for me. I think Suzanne Pleshette looks gorgeous as a blonde. Mind you I think she was gorgeous anyway.

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