High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly ~ Paperback ~ Donald Spoto, M.A., Ph.D.

Drawing on his unprecedented access to Grace Kelly, bestselling biographer Donald Spoto at last offers an intimate, honest, and authoritative portrait of one of Hollywood s legendary actresses. In just seven years from 1950 through 1956 Grace Kelly embarked on a whirlwind career that included roles in eleven movies. From the principled Amy Fowler Kane in "High Noon" to the thrill-seeking Frances Stevens of "To Catch a Thief," Grace established herself as one of Hollywood s most talented actresses and iconic beauties. Her astonishing career lasted until her retirement at age twenty-six, when she withdrew from stage and screen to marry a European monarch and became a modern, working princess and mother. Based on never-before-published or quoted interviews with Grace and those conducted over many years with her friends and colleagues from costars James Stewart and Cary Grant to director Alfred Hitchcock as well as many documents disclosed by her children for the first time, acclaimed biographer Donald Spoto explores the transformation of a convent schoolgirl to New York model, successful television actress, Oscar-winning movie star, and beloved royal. As the princess requested, Spoto waited twenty-five years after her death to write this biography. Now, with honesty and insight, "High Society" reveals the truth of Grace Kelly s personal life, the men she loved, the men she didn t, and what lay behind the facade of her fairy-tale life. "From the Hardcover edition.""Author BiographyDONALD SPOTO is the author of twenty-five books, including bestselling biographies of Alfred Hitchcock, Tennessee Williams, Laurence Olivier, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman, and Audrey Hepburn. He earned his Ph.D. degree from Fordham University. Spoto is married to the Danish school administrator Ole Flemming Larsen; they live in a quiet village, an hour s drive from Copenhagen. "From the Hardcover edition.""