vinyl LP album cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
On November 12, 1929, Princess Grace of Monaco, aka Grace Kelly of Hollywood, was born. I was 15 at the time but I still recall the day she married Prince Rainier III, on April 19, 1956, in the second, religious ceremony. This album is my tribute to her.
vinyl LP album cover
album cover photographer unknown
photo of album cover by Styrous®
The event was like a fairy tale dream right out of a movie! The Hollywood
actress wooed and won by her prince charming! It was a magical time for
me, and all the world. I don't think there has ever been a bride more
beautiful and resplendent.
Nor a couple more handsome and elegant . . .
Grace Kelly - April 19, 1956
wedding in Monaco
photographer unknown
Nor a couple more handsome and elegant . . .
April 19, 1956
wedding in Monaco
photographer unknown
The
album contains the actual ceremony on side one. Side two features the
ballet entitled, Homage To the Princess, written by Stan Kenton and arranged by Johnny Richards,
specifically for the wedding of the couple. It was recorded on April 18 and 19, 1956.
Wedding in Monaco
vinyl LP album cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP album cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
The
ballet has the typical Kenton sound with a lush full orchestra and
brass, dissonant and jagged at times. It sounds kind of "jungley" in a
couple of spots because of the drums and bongos (big in the late fifties and early sixties). It
was performed by the Monte Carlo Opera House Orchestra with Geoffrey
Corbett, director. The Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo was the dance company. I saw them perform sometime in the sixties at the Fox Theater when they were in San Francisco on tour.
photographer unknown
Both the wedding ceremony and Homage To the Princess can be heard on the All Things Kenton website (link below).
Wedding in Monaco
vinyl LP album back cover
album cover photographer unknown
photo of album cover by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover
album cover photographer unknown
photo of album cover by Styrous®
She was born Grace Patricia Kelly on November 12, 1929, at the Hahneman University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father, Irish-American John B. Kelly Sr. (1889–1960), had won three Olympic gold medals for sculling
and owned a successful brickwork contracting company that was
well-known on the East Coast. Two of his brothers were also notable: Walter C. Kelly (1873–1939) was a vaudeville star who also made films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures, and George Kelly (1887–1974) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist, screenwriter, and director.
Kelly's mother was Philadelphia native Margaret Katherine Majer (1898–1990); the daughter of German immigrants. Margaret had taught physical education at the University of Pennsylvania
and had been the first woman to coach women's athletics at the
institution. She was noted for her beauty and modeled for a time in her
youth.
Wedding in Monaco
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
Grace Kelly modeled fashions at local social events with her mother and sisters. In 1942, at the age of 12, she played the lead in Don't Feed the Animals,
a play produced by the East Falls Old Academy Players. Before
graduating in May 1947 from Stevens School, she acted and danced. Her
graduation yearbook listed her favorite actress as Ingrid Bergman and her favorite actor as Joseph Cotten. Due to her low mathematics scores, Kelly was rejected by Bennington College
in July 1947, however, written in the "Stevens' Prophecy" section was:
"Miss Grace P. Kelly – a famous star of stage and screen".
Wedding in Monaco
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
Kelly
pursued her
dreams of being an actress against her father's wishes. He viewed acting
as "a slim cut above streetwalker." To start her career, she auditioned
for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan. While at school, she lived in Manhattan's Barbizon Hotel for Women,
an establishment which barred men from entering after 10 pm, and she
worked as a model to support her studies. She practiced her speech by
using a tape recorder.
Her Broadway debut was in The Father by Strindberg with Raymond Massey. At 19, her graduation performance, was as Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story; Katherine Hepburn had made the play a major hit in the late 30's (link below).
Wedding in Monaco
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
Kelly made nearly sixty live television programs produced by NBC and CBS. Her success on television eventually brought her a role in a major motion
picture. She made her film debut in a small role in the 1951 film Fourteen Hours. which starred Richard Basehart, who portrayed a mentally disturbed man on a building ledge, Paul Douglas, the officer who tries to talk him down, and a large supporting cast that included Barbara Bel Geddes, Agnes Moorehead, Robert Keith, Debra Paget, and Howard Da Silva.
Kelly was noticed during a visit to the set by Gary Cooper, who subsequently starred with her in High Noon (1951). He was charmed by her and said that she was "different from all these actresses we've been seeing so much of."
Director John Ford first noticed Kelly in a 1950 screen test. The studio flew her to
Los Angeles to audition in September 1952, and he said that she showed
"breeding, quality and class." She was hired for the role and was
offered a seven-year contract with a salary of $850 a week.
Wedding in Monaco
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
Two months after signing her contract, Kelly and the cast went to Nairobi to begin production of the film Mogambo. Gene Tierney
was initially cast in the role, but she had to drop out at the last
minute. Upon getting the role, Kelly told Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, "Mogambo had three things that interested me. John Ford, Clark Gable, and a trip to Africa with expenses paid. If Mogambo had been made in Arizona, I wouldn't have done it."
The film is a remake of Red Dust (1932), which starred Gable, Mary Astor and Jean Harlow, and was set in French Indochina. The new version of the film also starred Ava Gardner.
Mogambo movie poster
During her marriage, Kelly was unable to continue her acting career.
Instead, she performed her daily duties as princess and became involved
in philanthropic work. She founded AMADE Mondiale, a Monaco-based non-profit organization that was eventually recognized by the UN as a Non-Governmental organization. According to UNESCO's
website, AMADE promotes and protects the "moral and physical integrity"
and "spiritual well-being of children throughout the world, without
distinction of race, nationality or religion and in a spirit of complete
political independence." Her daughter, Princess Caroline, continues as President for AMADE.
Wedding in Monaco
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
vinyl LP album back cover detail
album photographer unknown
detail photo by Styrous®
On September 13, 1982, Kelly was driving back to Monaco from her country home in Roc Agel when she had a stroke, lost control of her 1971 Rover P6 3500 and drove off the steep, winding road and down the 120 foot (37 m) mountainside. Her daughter, Stéphanie, who was in the passenger seat, tried, but failed, to regain control of the car. When paramedics arrived at the accident site (43°43′35″N 7°24′10″E),
Kelly was alive but unconscious and in critical condition. She and
Stéphanie were transported to the Monaco Hospital (later named the Princess Grace Hospital Centre).
At the hospital, doctors attempted to resuscitate Grace but because of
the extent of her brain injury and injuries to her thorax and a
fractured femur, they were unable to save her life. She died the following night at 10:55 p.m., age 52, after Rainier chose to take his wife off life support.
Kelly's funeral was held at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco on September 18, 1982. After a Requiem Mass, she was buried in the Grimaldi family vault. Over 400 people attended, including Cary Grant, Nancy Reagan, and Diana, Princess of Wales. At a later memorial service in Beverly Hills, James Stewart delivered the following eulogy:
"You know, I just love Grace Kelly. Not because she was a princess, not because she was an actress, not because she was my friend, but because she was just about the nicest lady I ever met. Grace brought into my life as she brought into yours, a soft, warm light every time I saw her, and every time I saw her was a holiday of its own. No question, I'll miss her, we'll all miss her, God bless you, Princess Grace."
Prince Rainier III, who did not remarry, was buried alongside her following his death on April 6, 2005. He had ruled the Principality of Monaco for 55 years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs in European history. He was responsible for reforms to Monaco's constitution and for expanding the principality's economy beyond its traditional casino gambling base. Gambling
accounts for only approximately three percent of the nation's annual
revenue today; when Rainier ascended the throne in 1949, it accounted
for more than 95 percent.
Kelly was active in improving the arts institutions of Monaco,
forming the Princess Grace Foundation in 1964 to support local artisans.
In 1983, following her death, Princess Caroline assumed the duties of
President of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation; her brother, Albert II, Prince of Monaco, is
Vice-President.
The Princess Grace Foundation-USA (PGF-USA) was established,
following Kelly's death, to continue the work she had done, anonymously,
during her lifetime, assisting emerging theater, dance and film artists
in America. Incorporated in 1982, the foundation is headquartered in New York. The The Princess Grace Award, a program of the foundation, has awarded nearly 500 artists at more than 100
institutions in the U.S. with more than $7 million to date. The
foundation also says it "holds the exclusive rights and facilitates the
licensing of her name and likeness throughout the world."
Kelly was one of the first celebrities to support and speak on behalf of La Leche League,
an organization that advocates breastfeeding. She also planned a yearly
Christmas party for local orphans and dedicated a Garden Club.
Side 1:
Actual Recording Made At The Wedding Of S.A.S. Prince Ranier III And Grace Kelly
A1 - Civil Ceremony - Throne Room In The Palace
A2 - Religious Ceremony Performed In St. Nichols Cathedral. Monaco April 18, 19, 1956 Monaco, France
Side 2:
Actual Recording Made At The Monte Carlo Opera House
B1 - The Ballet "Homage To The Princess”, written by Stan Kenton
Label: Mercury – MG 20149
Format: Vinyl, LP
Country: US
Released: 1956
Genre: Classical
Style: Religious, Spoken Word
Viewfinder links:
Ingrid Bergman articles/mentions
Katharine Hepburn articles/mentions
Net links:
Grace Kelly filmography
Kenton discography
All Things Kenton ~
Wedding Ceremony (audio only 21 min.)
Ballet: "Homage to the Princess" by Stan Kenton (19 min.) Kenton special recordings
YouTube links:
Royal Wedding (23 Apr 1956)
The American Princess (Documentary 58 min.)
The Wedding In Monaco Pt. 1 (Documentary 15 mins.)
The Wedding In Monaco Pt. 2 (Documentary 13 mins.)
Grace Kelly wedding interview
ABC 20/20 (last interview - 6 parts)
Smithsoniam ~ Plot to Make Grace Kelly a Princess (4 min.)
Pathé Newsreel ~
Civil Rite Wedding Ceremony, Pre-Wedding Celebrations & Rehearsal (no audio 6½ min.)
"The idea of my life as a fairy tale is itself a fairy tale."
~ Grace Kelly
Styrous® ~ Sunday, November 12, 2017
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