My Life as a Fan of Grace Kelly

As many of you probably know it, Grace Kelly was one of the first classic movie stars I discovered. This weekend, I’m hosting the 3rd Wonderful Grace Kelly Blogathon via my other blog The Wonderful World of Cinema, but I’ve decided to write my own contribution on Three Enchanting Ladies as I thought it would be the most appropriate place to do so. I created this annual blogathon in honour to celebrate her birthday.

While I already wrote the reasons why she is my favourite actress (along with Bergman and A. Hepburn), I’ve never really shared with you the way Grace has always been part of my life since I “discovered” her. Which influences does it have in my life to admire this iconic woman? This is what I’m going to reveal to you in a series of random thoughts.

One of my favourite photos of little Grace Kelly and her father!

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Grace Kelly is one of those actresses I have the feeling I always “knew” even when I was not at all into classic movies. At one point, I think she was always somewhere in my subconscious. If someone asks me what is my earlier memory of Grace, I think it would be the following one: when I was in my second year of high school, my English teacher had this class with amazing decorations on the wall: movie stuff, television stuff, music stuff, and more. I remember a collage made by a student with photos of Grace Kelly. My curiosity for this actress was immediate.

But enough with the “how I discovered Grace Kelly” talk. If you want to read more about it, just click here.

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To love Grace Kelly brings many good things in my life and personality:

As one of her admirers, every year toward her birthday, I do my traditional Grace Kelly movie marathon. The only nice thing about the fact that she didn’t star in many movies is that I have time to watch all of them. The best is, of course, to watch them in chronological order to see how her acting evolve. I’m currently watching them again and there is only one left: High Society. Because I love/like every Grace Kelly’s films, every viewing is an enjoyable one!

My love for Grace Kelly is something my mother has always understood perfectly as she gave me those amazing gifts:

A book

And, the best one, these amazing stamps! My favourite one definitely is the one with her and little princess Caroline.

Pretty much everytime my mother sees I’m watching some Grace Kelly movie, she enters the living room and says “Oh! C’est la belle Grace Kelly!” (“Oh! It’s the gorgeous Grace Kelly”)

I also bought my own Grace Kelly’s stuff such as this poster that embellishes my bedroom walls and this Photoplay magazine, a 1956 edition (the year my father was born)!

Not a long time ago I also came across this magazine with a special number dedicated to Caroline de Monaco, but unfortunately, I don’t know what I did with it.

Talking about books, the only Grace Kelly’s biography I’ve read is the one by Wendy Leigh. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about it. While I learned interesting facts about the actress and the princess, I don’t feel this book was written with respect for Grace. The author is avid to share with us the most saucy details about Grace but, at one point, it’s not really relevant anymore. I think Grace was a rather difficult woman to understand and it’s the reasons why many things about her and her life would forever remain a mystery to me. If you have ever read a Grace Kelly’s biography that you consider to be respectful, well-written, and the best thing to read for any Grace Kelly lover, please inform me about it in the comments. I might not learn much more than I already know but it might remain an enjoyable reading moment. Luckily, I learned a lot about Grace via different medias. I think a biography would have been the best thing.

I feel as Wendy Leigh’s main objective was to “prove” us that Grace Kelly’s was not the “perfect” lady she seemed to be. Of course, she wasn’t! Who is? But, honestly, that sensationalism only made me love her more.

Yes, if you read a lot about Grace, it’s probably no mystery to you that she had many adventures. So what? I’m not only one of her biggest fans, but also one of her most fervent defenders. Having a few (many) lovers during her life doesn’t make her a bad person. I think we should remember Grace for the goods she brought to our world instead of that. This was part of her private life and if we know all this about her, it’s only because she was a celebrity (which is a synonym of “no private life anymore”). The only persons that can really blame her are the husbands’ wives. But to US, this aspect of her life doesn’t change much to ours, doesn’t it?! It always frustrates me when I post something on Facebook and someone blames Grace Kelly for being who she was. Earlier this week, someone called her a s***t and it honestly spoiled my day.

I also defend her a lot in what concerns her Oscar win in 1955. While I always thought that she deserved her award for The Country Girl, many thought Judy should have won for her performance in A Star is Born. The problem with that is not the disagreement on the win. I mean, to each his own. Some prefer Grace’s acting style, some prefer Judy’s one. I’m all ok with that. The problem is those people who react as if it was Grace’s fault if she had won the Oscar. Remember, Grace’s didn’t decide on this win. It was the Academy. And while you disagree with their decision, you can’t go back in time to change it. Sorry, not sorry.

Just because I also love Marlon Brando!

It’s not without reasons that the McCord Museum is my favourite museum in Montreal. They always have amazing exhibitions, often focused on fashion. I remember, the first time I went to this museum, it actually was to see their most wonderful exhibition on Grace Kelly. This was dream come true. The visitors had the chance to see a ton of clothes and movie costumes that belonged to the princess-actress, her Oscar (that’s actually bigger than it looks on television), movie clips, handwritten letters, photos, and more. I went there with one of my friends who also like Grace Kelly a lot. As she was a style-icon, this exhibition was obviously perfect for the McCord museum. I’ve never been disappointed by any other exhibitions I saw at this museum after the one on Grace Kelly. So, in a way, I can say that my favourite actress made me discover a superb artistic institution! 🙂

Talking about fashion, Grace has always inspired me to be well-dressed. The lady had class whatever she was wearing. I like to take the time to wisely choose my clothes when I go out and this is worthy, believe me. If you see me going out of my house with an old t-shirt and a very ordinary pair of jeans, it’s because I’m 1- not going very far (for example, just going out to buy milk) or, 2- that I’m very lazy and didn’t wish to force myself. Fun fact: when I was in CEGEP, at the end of the  last year, we did a sort of “review of the year” gala television show. At one point, the two hostesses were giving amusing awards. I won two: one for best orator and one for the person who dress in the best style! This was just for fun, of course, but it’s still was great to be recognized this way. Thanks Grace!

When I was looking for my prom dress in 2012, I came across a dress that looked a bit like the first one Grace wears in Rear Window. I think I was too blind by that and, fortunately, my mother was here to make me realize that it didn’t suit me so well. Yes, I remember it sort of made me look fat a little. And, in the end, it probably didn’t look that much like Edith Head’s creation. The dressed I finally opt for (a dress made in Quebec and of high quality) had just the perfect amount of class but was maybe more of Audrey Hepburn’s style.

I also once tried a red dress that looked a lot like the one in Dial M for Murder. I could have bought it, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t made in China (it was expensive, but I prefer spending my money on things made in Quebec).

In the blogging world, Grace Kelly always had a great importance for me. First, she was one of the first actresses I honoured in a tribute post (if I’m not mistaken, the very first was Joan Fontaine). She also made me want to create my own blogathon to honour her (THIS blogathon). Thanks to her love for Grace Kelly (and for other reasons as well), The Flapper Dame is a blog I’ve always loved reading. And, of course, I even created this other blog that is exclusively dedicated to her, Ingrid Bergman and Audrey Hepburn. Imagine an all-star cast with these three. I can dream, can’t I?!

To love Grace Kelly also leads me to be sometimes… theatrical. Well, have you ever play one of your favourite movie scenes just for fun? My fetish one is this scene where Grace proves her excellent comedic timing in High Society.

Once, my mother was playing piano and I ran to her saying “Ah petite soeur, mais tu es un véritable petit Chopin!” etc. etc. She was most amused by the situation. Yes, that scene was first played by Katharine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story, but the two actresses’ acting game is very different. Talking about The Philadelphia Story and High Society, I have to say that one of my most favourite singing-duos ever is the one between Grace and Bing Crosby when they sing the enchanting song True Love. It’ just too bad Grace never had more singing moments in this film because she had a beautiful and humble voice.

As some people have noticed it in this blogathon, Grace was one of the most photographed ladies in the world. If you are on Facebook, I created this album called the BIG BIG Grace Kelly Album where you can find many pictures of her. I made the album public so you can consult it even if you are not my friend. 🙂 There are around 800 photos, but I’m still discovering new ones! Jeepers!

Finally, I would like to add that I had the chance to see six of Grace Kelly’s films on big screen, which is a real privilege for any Grace Kelly fan!

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So, as you can see, since I discovered her, Grace Kelly always had a lot of impact in my life. I probably forgot many things and, if necessary, I’ll edit the post, but this will give you a general preview of my situation as someone who simply LOVE the Hitchcockian blonde!

I think the next step in my life would be to visit Philadelphia where the actress was born.

The Kelly’s house in Philadelphia

Other bloggers wrote amazing pieces on Grace Kelly and her films for my blogathon. I recommend you to check them all:

The Third Wonderful Grace Kelly Blogathon

Happy heavenly birthday dear Grace! ❤