WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
Born: 12th November 1929
Died: 14th September 1982 (age 52)
We all know the tragic story that befell Grace Kelly (Princess Grace of Monaco as she was at the time) but what about where the story started? Was it a rags to riches tale? Unfortunately (if you’re looking for the fairytale) not. Grace Patricia Kelly was born in Philadelphia to quite a well off family; her father was a three time Olympic Champion for sculling, who also ran for Mayor of Philadelphia and was appointed President Roosevelt’s National Director of Physical Fitness, and her mother was the first woman to coach women’s athletics at Penn, she also modelled and was descended from German nobility. Grace’s dramatic side must have descended from her paternal uncles, Walter (a vaudeville star and screen actor) and George (a Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist, screenwriter, and director); she herself auditioned for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and made her Broadway debut before the age of 19, she made her screen debut three years later but it wasn’t until the following year, when she made High Noon, that she started courting the media attention although not always positive. It was to be another year of theatre and TV before she received her first Golden Globe award, and first Oscar nomination, for Best Supporting Actress in Mogambo.
I saw the name Bing Crosby and I was expecting a light hearted film then I saw the name Clifford Odets in the opening credits and knew this should be something gritty and The Country Girl is exactly that a gritty drama about a has-been actor and his wife, Georgie Elgin played by Grace Kelly. It is hard to believe that under the dowdy cardigan is a beautiful woman such as Ms Kelly a totally different style character to her two previous roles, in Rear Window and Dial M for Murder, she is strong, stoic and loyal you believe her hardship is hers. In Rear Window, Kelly plays a socialite who is in love with professional photographer Jeff Jeffries (played by James Stewart). At first she is only thinking about settling down but as she is drawn into Jeff’s world she gains more of her own personae. It is hard to believe that she was only 24 when she made this film as she is a strong actress who revels in her performance.
Here we have her third film and another socialite (and co-starring Bing Crosby again)! In High Society, she plays Tracy Samantha Lord, soon to be Tracy Kittredge, who’s ex-husband lives next door! This film was her final big screen role and her only musical; it shows that she was a multi-talented actress – she could sing and dance and this film gave her the opportunity to flex her comedic muscles which she seemed quite comfortable with. At number four we have The Bridges of Toko-Ri, a war film in which Ms Kelly plays Nancy Brubaker, wife of Lieutenant Harry Brubaker. Now don’t get me wrong however well she plays this character, and she deals with what she is given very well, I don’t see the point to her – it’s like they have only written her in to give Harry a bit of background but I found the character flat and unnecessary. From the unnecessary character to a strong willed young lady with a bit of a reckless side, that’s Grace Kelly’s character in Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief. She is demure when she has to be but turns on the feisty when needed. The interaction between her and Cary Grant is quite endearing in fact I was unsure when we meet her character whether she was also a cat burglar and was it to be a game of wits between the two.
I have to say for such a short career, six years (four in film), she was cast in some very memorable roles and with so few roles to choose from I have struggled to actually find a favourite she brought something different to each. Obviously I had seen some of her films before, mainly her Hitchcock’s, but I found her portrayal of Georgie in Country Girl very poignant and, this may sound wrong, I was never expecting there to be a dowdy role in her repertoire it opened my eyes to her actual acting and not to her looks – please don’t get me wrong it is obvious that she can act but there are times when it is easier to see someone’s full potential without the glamour. Saying that I also love her in High Society – where she is glamourous – it’s a film, like I said before, where she could flex her full ability. It was a shame that she chose to step away from her career to concentrate on her duties as Princess Grace just when she was showing her true potential but what a film to end her career with.
Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, when she was 26. They had three children together and Princess Grace concentrated her charity work on children and the arts. At the age of 52 Princess Grace was involved in a car accident and she died the next day. After her death, Prince Rainier established the Princess Grace Foundation to support emerging artists and their artistic pursuits; the charity still continues today under the leadership of her three children.
