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FREE HIGH SOCIETY: THE LIFE OF GRACE KELLY PDF Donald Spoto | 320 pages | 05 Oct 2010 | Random House USA Inc | 9780307395627 | English | New York, United States High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly by Donald Spoto Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — High Society by Donald Spoto. In just seven years—from through —Grace Kelly embarked on a whirlwind career that included roles in eleven movies. 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 High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly years after her death to write this biography. Get A Copy. Hardcoverpages. Published November 3rd by Crown Archetype first published More Details Original Title. Grace Kelly. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about High Societyplease High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Sep 02, Ines rated it liked it. I read this biography without having a particular reason, found among High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly many that belonged to my aunt, who had a kind of total adoration for the princess. I'm not fond of cinema or actors, but the adoration of my aunt was born in when she, together with me and my mother, saw the actress in the Hanbury gardens of Ventimiglia, there for some public engagement the place is very close to the French border on the italian Riviera. I have a vague memory of it, being only 5 years old at that ti I read this biography without having a particular reason, found among the many that belonged to my aunt, who had a kind of total adoration for the princess. I have a vague memory of it, being only 5 years old at that time, my mother and my aunt made us crazy for years on that encounter considered awsome and fantastic. Anyway, to make High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly short, the biography is very accurate in the artistic aspect of the actress, going into every aspect, choice and events related to the movies she interpreted. Many are the quotations and interviews reported of the actress but also by other actors and directors who were part of her artistic life. The narrative is never pedantic but still keeps the reader, even the most foreign to Cinema, glued to the pages. A bit thin instead in the private part of the actress' life, many things are deliberately skipped. It seems that the author wanted to create a kind of protection to the figure of Grace, while citing past loves, moments of melancholy and depression, her difficulty in completing her pregnancies, her persistent feeling of loneliness and anguish in not being able to find true and deep friendships in High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly Carlo High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly a pity! Ho letto questa biografia senza avere un motivo particolare, trovata tra le tante appartenute a mia zia, che aveva un specie di totale adorazione per la principessa. Io ho un vaghissimo ricordo avendo allora solo 5 anni, mia mamma e High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly zia ci fecero un pippone per anni su quell' incontr0 ritenuto fantastico. Moltissime sono le citazioni e interviste riportate dell' attrice ma anche di altri attori e registi che fecero parte della sua vita artistica. Che peccato! View all 11 comments. Grace is far more complex than what this book suggests. Spoto doesn't do her any justice with this terribly boring and repetitive book. I couldn't care less about anything he wrote. View 1 comment. Jul 13, Dean Cummings rated it it was amazing. The history of the acting profession is populated with a constellation of glittering talents, yet none, in my opinion ever shone brighter than Grace Patricia Kelly. My reasons for holding to this are many. Here are a few: First and foremost is her unbelievable career in film acting. From September The history of the acting profession is populated with a constellation of glittering talents, yet none, in my opinion ever shone brighter than Grace Patricia Kelly. From September to March — she appeared in ten films in High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly four years and six months. But there was a one- year hiatus during this period, so it is more accurate to state that she made ten films in forty-two months. I could go into why I loved each of these so much, but I think Grace could do a better job than I could. My second reason for admiring Grace Kelly has to do with the respectful and collaborative way she worked with people, the great talents, and those who supported them in the background. You can learn a lot about a person by listening High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly what people, from all stations of life have to say about them. Those who worked with her realized that she came to work each day with an expectation that great things would happen if everyone worked as a team, and expanding out beyond the small production company was her millions of fans, those who shelled out a chunk of their hard earned wages to see her films. Grace never forgot that she was working for these people. One of the best ways to see how dearly she loved and desired to protect her family can be seen in her last interview with Pierre Salinger on June 22,less than three months before her untimely and tragic death on September 14, You can feel the fierce protective instinct flow from her. She was widely known to be an involved, loving and heartfelt mother and if one spends any time researching, you will quickly learn that the happiness and health of her family were the driving forces of her life. And lastly, I always appreciated her dedication to the acting trade and her humility in doing so. An understanding, kind and decent human being. So, then there comes the sensitive issue of reading the biography of someone you esteem. One can, rather irrationally I suppose, feel a bit protective. It seems that Mr. Spoto agrees with this and as a result, tried to show us the Grace that he came to know during their conversations, and further to that, the person that her friends and family knew and loved. At the same time, he held nothing back, and knew that Grace would not have wanted him to do that. Donald Spoto. The realization came when Spoto spoke of the time he spent with Grace and the fact that she came to trust him. To put it in context, this conversation came at a time when Grace was inundated with requests for endorsements, almost all of which she politely turned down. Hearing of this only increased my esteem for Grace Kelly, and I found myself appreciating her biographer all the more as well. There are other reasons why I went into this book with confidence, but that was the biggest one. I say this not just because of how well written, engaging or organized the book was, although it was all of those thingsbut because of the extra special details that this book was filled with. Grace, as we learned, grew up in a family of jocks. Her father Jack was and Olympic athlete, her mother a champion swimmer. She was ill quite often, and as a High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly, found herself in confined convalescence. But Grace found enjoyment in this solitary time. She could change her voice for each doll, giving it a different character. These have mostly come to my attention by way of interviews she gave. She herself had alluded to her habit of collecting mementos. With no Broadway experience and only her summer roles to her credit, she knew it would be difficult to land a significant part in an important classic, with no less a director and costar than the respected Massey. But Grace read and reread the play, and she went to the audition with a calm intensity and intelligence that won over Massey and the producers, who chose her over twenty-three other candidates. All through the rehearsal period, we were impressed with her earnestness, her professionalism and her good manners. She was organized and dedicated. Between rehearsals, she would ask Mady if she could sit in her dressing room and talk about the theater. She was a delight High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly have in the company — a rare kind of young person who had a hunger to learn and improve herself. I was thrilled to see example after example of the way Spoto unearthed so many of these wonderful Grace Kelly character traits, those of which other biographers skimmed over, or omitted altogether.