A wee look-back at one of the classics ...

The wee *Pixie cannot honestly say that she's been a die-hard fan of Grace Kelly since any kind of wee age. But this *Pixie, undeniably, is a huge fan of the classics. The events preceding the BBoP's' 2014 Grand Gala .... has brought into the fray a new avenue of discovery ... And this Pixie is thoroughly enjoying the prospect. 


It all starts with a wee look-back at (recap of) the life & loves of the late Grace Kelly. 

Grace Patricia Kelly was born on November 12, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to wealthy parents. Her girlhood was uneventful for the most part, but one of the things she desired was to become an actress which she had decided on at an early age. 

After her high school graduation in 1947, Grace struck out on her own, heading to New York's bright lights to try her luck there. Grace worked for a while as a model and made her debut on Broadway in 1949. She also made a brief foray into the infant medium of television. 

Not content with the work in New York, Grace moved to Southern California for the more prestigious part of acting -- motion pictures. In 1951, she appeared in her first film entitled Fourteen Hours (1951) when she was 22. It was a small part, but a start nonetheless. The following year, she landed the role of Amy Kane in High Noon (1952), a western starring Gary Cooper and Lloyd Bridges which turned out to be very popular. In 1953, Grace appeared in only one film, but it was another popular one. The film was Mogambo (1953) where Grace played Linda Nordley. The film was a jungle drama in which fellow cast members, Clark Gable and Ava Gardner turned in masterful performances. It was also one of the best films ever released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 

Although she got noticed with High Noon, her work with director Alfred Hitchcock, which began with Dial M for Murder (1954) made her a star. Her standout performance in Rear Window (1954) brought her to prominence. As Lisa Fremont, she was cast opposite James Stewart, who played a crippled photographer who witnesses a murder in the next apartment from his wheelchair. Grace stayed busy in 1954 appearing in five films. 

Grace would forever be immortalized by winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Georgie Elgin opposite Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954).

In the summer of 1954 Grace Kelly and Cary Grant were on the French Riviera working on an Alfred Hitchcock movie, To Catch a Thief (1955). It was probably the scene after she speeds along the Moyen Corniche to quickly get to the "picnic grounds", and away from a tailing police car, that she had time to look at the Mediterranean and the countryside along the coast. 

"Whose gardens are those?" she asked screenwriter John Michael Hayes. "Prince Grimaldi's". She would not meet the prince until the following year. In New York in March 1955, she received a call from Rupert Allan, Look Magazine's west coast editor who had become a friend since writing three cover stories on her. The French government wanted her to attend the Cannes Film Festival that May. She had some good reasons to go. One: The Country Girl (1954) would be shown at the festival. Two: she had really loved working on the Riveria the summer before. She met Prince Rainier of Monaco during the Cannes festival. He needed a wife, because with no heir to the throne, Monaco would again be part of France, after his death, and its citizens would have to pay French taxes.

Grace met and married Prince Rainier of Monaco. By becoming a princess, she gave up her career. For the rest of her life, she was to remain in the news with her marriage and her three children. On September 14, 1982, Grace was killed in an automobile accident in her adoptive home country at age 52.


ps ... 
if anyone knows of any tit-bits (about Grace Kelly), not easily discoverable on our world-wide-web, then this, here, *Pixie is quite keen to learn about them. 




xxx
.Tri 


ps:  * serves as a replacement term for 'me, myself & I ... ,etc ... '