The Birds actress Tippi Hedren compares Harvey Weinstein to Alfred Hitchcock

The 87-year-old star endured a tumultuous working relationship with the Psycho director

Veteran film star Tippi Hedren has spoken out about the allegations of sexual assault and harassment against film producer Harvey Weinstein emphasising it has been a problem in Hollywood for decades.

Hedren has previously spoken about her experience of sexual harassment at the hands of filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock with whom she endured a tumultuous working relationship.

“I'm watching all the coverage on Weinstein,” the 87-year-old said. “This is nothing new, nor is it limited to the entertainment industry.

“I dealt with sexual harassment all the time, during my modeling and film career. Hitchcock wasn't the first.”

She continued: “However, I wasn't going to take it anymore, so I simply walked away and didn't look back. Hitch said he would ruin my career and I told him to do what he had to do.

“It has taken 50 years, but it is about time that women started standing up for themselves as the appear to be doing in the Weinstein case. Good for them!”

Hitchcock died in 1980. Hedren worked with the director on classics The Birds (1963) and Marnie (1964) alongside Sean Connery, and has made no secret of how “demanding” he was on his lead stars. In a New York Time sarticle from 2013, Hedren said: “He ruined my career, but he didn’t ruin my life. That time of my life was over. I still admire the man for who he was”.

British TV film The Girl, released in 2012, details their working relationship with Sienna Miller starring as Hedren and Toby Jones portraying Vertigo and Rear Window director Hitchcock.

Hedren - who starred in troubled 1981 film Roar - oversees the 80-acre Shambala Preserve in California for lions, tigers, and other wild animals.

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Numerous women have now accused Weinstein of sexual assault and harassment in the wake of two damning exposes in the past week include Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Lea Seydoux and Kate Beckinsale. Weinstein denies all accusations of non-consensual sex.

In support of Weinstein's accusers, two male stars - James Van Der Beek and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Terry Crews - have come forward with their own claims of sexual assault at the hands of 'powerful' men.

In a Newsnight interview, Emma Thompson described Weinstein as "the tip of the iceberg" branding him a "predator."