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Book: High Society: The Life of Grace Kelly
Quotes of Book: High Society: The Life of
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  1. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    She was determined to go places without leaning on anybody or using influence." Added Judith, "She left a prominent Philadelphia family to become a struggling actress in New York. It was an independent move. She had a certain amount of maverick in her, and she was entirely self-sufficient. She knew how to depend on herself." Grace was single-minded in her ambition to succeed as a professional actress. "I rebelled against my family and went to New York to find out who I was-and who I wasn't.
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  2. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    The gravity of Kennedy's condition was not detailed in the daily press, but the news traveled in New York society. When Kennedy's condition improved slightly, Grace sent a note to Jackie, asking if she could visit the hospital. Mrs. Kennedy thought this was a marvelous idea, and she invited Grace to arrive wearing a nurse's uniform, for Jack had complained that all the nurses were homely old crones. Grace arrived to find a platoon of bustling attendants hovering over a bone-thin, frail and ashen patient; he was thirty-seven, but he looked much older-nothing like the picture of glowing energy normally presented by the media.
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  3. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    In the climactic moments of that spiritual testament to Hitch's own soul, Scottie {James Stewart} confronts Judy {Kim Novak} about her exploitative lover, who turned her into the replica of another woman: "He made you over, didn't he? He made you over just like I made you over-only better. Not only the clothes and the hair, but the looks and the manner and the words. Did he train you? Did he rehearse you? Did he tell you exactly what to do and what to say? You were a very apt pupil!
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  4. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    I put it to him bluntly: 'Look here, Oleg-you're a charming escort, but in my opinion you are a very poor risk for a marriage.'" And then Margaret Kelly said something that might have turned Grace's resentment into loud laughter: "Of course I never interfere, even when I do not approve.
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  5. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    But she never distanced herself from others, and she was enormously friendly to everyone-no stuffy attitude, no star complex. As for her talents, Grace acted the way Johnny Weissmuller swam or Fred Astaire danced-she made it look easy. And she probably went through life being completely misunderstood, since she usually said exactly what she meant.
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  6. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    Decades later, we do not watch her as a movie star playing at or around a role, nor are we conscious of her gestures, her slight raising of the eyebrows, the sudden drop of her voice. We do not observe an "artiste" struggling to impress. Grace Kelly, the beautiful actress, disappears when we watch Georgie Elgin in The Country Girl; we see only the real weariness of a woman almost out of strength, almost empty of feeling-except that her feeling, and ours, is indeed too deep for tears.
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  7. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    All I want is my own name and a modest job to buy sugar for my coffee! You can't believe it, can you-you can't believe that a woman has to be crazy-out-of-her-mind to live alone-in one room-by herself! {He grips her arm, but she resists him.} GEORGIE. Why are you holding me? I said-you are holding me! Her eyes are suddenly wild with rage and desire. He kisses her "fully on the mouth," according to the stage directions, before they step apart. GEORGIE. How could you be so cruel to me a moment ago … to be so mad at someone you didn't even know … {She turns away from him.} No one has looked at me as a woman for years. He turns to leave, and just before he reaches the door, she speaks: GEORGIE. You kissed me-don't let it give you any ideas, Mr. Dodd.
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  8. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    Grace was tough and strong-mentally, emotionally and physically-and she cut through a lot of the nonsense. Hollywood was like a game for her. She was also a good businesswoman, and this allowed her to win in her struggles with MGM. She knew how to play the corporate game, and she played it so that it worked for her.
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  9. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    She had an understanding about people, and compassion-she didn't talk about it, but you heard how she spoke and saw how she behaved.
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  10. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    I always tell actors not to use their face for nothing. Don't start scribbling on the paper until you have something to write.
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  11. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    Whenever anyone uttered a word against gay men or women, Grace was outspoken. "You shouldn't criticize people who are homosexual," she told her friend Prudy Wise. "It can be very destructive, and it is so easy to become mean without realizing it.
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  12. Donald Spoto _ High Society: The Life of

    Less is more" was one of Meisner's mantras. "Silence has myriad meanings. In the theater, silence is an absence of words, but never an absence of meaning." Most of all, Meisner urged his students to think of acting a role as "living truthfully under given imaginary circumstances.
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