High Society: Grace Kelly and Hollywood

(Paperback)

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This biography draws on a series of unpublished interviews and offers a startling and intitmate portrait of one of the most glamourous icons of the 20th century. This biography draws on a series of unpublished interviews and offers a startling and intitmate portrait of one of the most glamourous icons of the 20th century. In just seven years (from 1950 through 1956), Grace Kelly made eleven feature films. They established her as one of the screen's iconic beauties, and as a performer of rare intelligence and wit. Donald Spoto, a personal friend of Kelly's in whom she confided, is in a unique position to tell the story of her transformation from convent girl from Philadelphia to last star of Hollywood's Golden Age to European princess. In this revelatory biography, Spoto draws on interviews with those who knew her - from James Stewart and Cary Grant to Fred Zimmerman - as well as a series of taped interviews with Kelly which have never before been published. A film of Grace Kelly's life, Grace of Monaco, starring Nicole Kidman and Tim Roth will be released in 2014.

Reviews

...an intimate portrait of one of the world's most famous women. A fine tribute to a true star * Waterstone's Books Quarterly *
Spoto tells her story movingly and well * Sunday Express *
Spoto was a close friend of Kelly's, so this is as definitive a biography as we will ever get * S, Sunday Express magazine *
Drawing on previously unpublished conversations, Spoto explores how Kelly changed Hollywood * Harpers Bazaar *
Kelly's life as told here reveals a gentler Donald Spoto than we're used to: his friendship with the star has ensured a generosity of judgement throughout...Some may yearn for a less sympathetic portrait, but it's hard to imagine that any subsequent biography could do such consummate justice to her life and career * The Times *

Author Bio

Donald Spoto was born near New York City in 1941 and received his PhD degree from Fordham University in 1970. He is the author of 27 books, including internationally bestselling biographies of Alfred Hitchcock, Tennessee Williams, Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe and Ingrid Bergman. He is married to the Danish school administrator and artist Ole Flemming Larsen. They live in a quiet village an hour's drive from Copenhagen.