Before she was her Serene Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco, she was Grace Kelly, Oscar winning actress from Philadelphia, Pa., USA.
I've been a fan of hers for many years, particularly her Hitchcock movies, To Catch A Thief, Dial M For Murder, and Rear Window.
It was my good fortune that our trip to Italy last month coincided with the first ever Grace Kelly artifact museum exhibit in nearby Monaco, in observance of the 25th anniversary of her untimely death.
We really enjoyed the breadth of the items on display, from personal letters and telegrams to an extensive wardrobe collection to movie memorabilia.
The thing I was most excited about seeing was Miss Kelly's Academy Award statue she won for 1954's The Country Girl. When a break in the crowd opened up in front of the display case, I whipped out my little camera and framed the shot. Seemingly out of nowhere a security guard appeared and reminded me that no photography was allowed in the exhibit hall. :(
But you can't stop good old fashioned American stick-to-itiveness! Once I had figured out the guard's rotation around the room I reached into my other pocket and pulled out my far less conspicuous iPhone. I then snapped this picture of the Oscar and ran!
Not exactly the memento I was hoping for but if you look really closely and squint and already know what it is you are looking at, you can kind of see it's a bona fide specimen of Hollywood history.
P.S. For further information on the tribute exhibition, a wonderful hardback companion book is available for sale here.
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