To Be Like Grace Kelly
October 31st 2007 19:17
Remembered most of all for her patrician poise, her sensuality and dignified elegance, the chemistry she seemed to generate so effortlessly both onscreen and off, and of course, her film star fame and royal union – Grace Kelly was a woman whose spirit lives on in golden immortality.
Born to wealthy parents, with a father who was one-time Olympic gold medallist and self-made millionaire, Kelly had an uneventful childhood until the age of twelve, when she set along the path that would lead to her future acting career. By the time she was twenty-two, after success in television and theatre, Kelly landed her first big leading film role with High Noon.
Many triumphs were to follow over the next three years with Mogambo, for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, The Country Girl which earned her a Best Actress Academy Award and Golden Globe, and To Catch a Thief.
During this time, there was much public interest in her love-life. She was reported to have had affairs with the Shah of Iran, her married Dial M for Murder co-star Ray Milland, and Bing Crosby, and was engaged to Russian fashion designer Oleg Cassini. Kelly was still engaged, and apparently pregnant to, Cassini when she met Prince Rainier III of Monaco, but she terminated the pregnancy and broke off the engagement in order to marry her new royal love.
And marry him she did, in 1956, within a year of their first meeting. Rainier had purportedly been under pressure to marry and produce and heir, or Monaco would revert to France, and he thought a movie-star wife would be ideal in order to boost tourism and the poor economy of his country. He allegedly made very high dowry demands of the Kelly family, which gave them some misgivings, but all was settled in the end with a bridal gift to the Prince of $2 million.
After they were wed, Kelly became Her Serene Highness, the Princess of Monaco. Their nuptials were watched on television by thirty million people: a taste of things to come with Diana Spencer and Mary Donaldson, as people the world over tuned in to witness a fairy tale come true.
Nine months after the wedding, the royal couple’s first child was born – a girl, and a little over a year after that, the heir came along. Princess Grace had done her duty, and so the third child was not born for another seven years. During this time, Kelly had retired from acting altogether, and, Prince Rainier had banned all screening of her films in Monaco. Six years after she was married, Kelly was given the lead in Marnie by Hitchcock, but ended up having to turn it down because of public outcry. Fifteen years later, in 1977, Herbert Ross offered her a part in The Turning Point, but Rainier this time flatly forbid her to accept it.
In 1982, at the age of fifty-two, Kelly had a stroke while driving, and her car plunged down the side of a mountain. She died the next day, without gaining consciousness. One hundred million people watched her funeral on television: a taste of things to come with Diana, as people the world over this time tuned in to witness a fairy tale’s demise.
She was a beautiful and talented woman who left many legacies to this world, for which she is still remembered lovingly twenty-five years after her death. But for all the fame and fortune, glitz and glamour of her life, I don’t think I’d try to be like Grace Kelly – it’s really no wonder all her looks were so sad.
Michaelie Clark
The sublime beauty of Grace Kelly - Image courtesy of moderngirlstyle.com
Many triumphs were to follow over the next three years with Mogambo, for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, The Country Girl which earned her a Best Actress Academy Award and Golden Globe, and To Catch a Thief.
During this time, there was much public interest in her love-life. She was reported to have had affairs with the Shah of Iran, her married Dial M for Murder co-star Ray Milland, and Bing Crosby, and was engaged to Russian fashion designer Oleg Cassini. Kelly was still engaged, and apparently pregnant to, Cassini when she met Prince Rainier III of Monaco, but she terminated the pregnancy and broke off the engagement in order to marry her new royal love.
Princess Grace of Monaco - Image courtesy of fashion-era.com
And marry him she did, in 1956, within a year of their first meeting. Rainier had purportedly been under pressure to marry and produce and heir, or Monaco would revert to France, and he thought a movie-star wife would be ideal in order to boost tourism and the poor economy of his country. He allegedly made very high dowry demands of the Kelly family, which gave them some misgivings, but all was settled in the end with a bridal gift to the Prince of $2 million.
After they were wed, Kelly became Her Serene Highness, the Princess of Monaco. Their nuptials were watched on television by thirty million people: a taste of things to come with Diana Spencer and Mary Donaldson, as people the world over tuned in to witness a fairy tale come true.
Nine months after the wedding, the royal couple’s first child was born – a girl, and a little over a year after that, the heir came along. Princess Grace had done her duty, and so the third child was not born for another seven years. During this time, Kelly had retired from acting altogether, and, Prince Rainier had banned all screening of her films in Monaco. Six years after she was married, Kelly was given the lead in Marnie by Hitchcock, but ended up having to turn it down because of public outcry. Fifteen years later, in 1977, Herbert Ross offered her a part in The Turning Point, but Rainier this time flatly forbid her to accept it.
Their Serene Highnesses - Image courtesy of philanthropymagazine.com
In 1982, at the age of fifty-two, Kelly had a stroke while driving, and her car plunged down the side of a mountain. She died the next day, without gaining consciousness. One hundred million people watched her funeral on television: a taste of things to come with Diana, as people the world over this time tuned in to witness a fairy tale’s demise.
She was a beautiful and talented woman who left many legacies to this world, for which she is still remembered lovingly twenty-five years after her death. But for all the fame and fortune, glitz and glamour of her life, I don’t think I’d try to be like Grace Kelly – it’s really no wonder all her looks were so sad.
Michaelie Clark
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