The actor Cary Grant said “made it look so easy”
Cary Grant is one of the greatest screen icons of all time. Few can compare with his onscreen presence and charisma as an actor. But Grant lived in a time of the greats, sharing the screen with iconic co-stars such as Katherine Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Marilyn Monroe, and Ginger Rogers, to name but a few.
But when asked later in life in an interview about his famous friends with whom he had shared the spotlight over the years, one name, in particular, sat at the top of Grant’s list when it came to acting, and he labelled her “the most extraordinary actress ever”.
Her Royal Highness, Princess Grace of Monaco. Formerly known and forever immortalised in cinema as Grace Kelly. Grant, having starred opposite Kelly somewhat astonishingly only once in the 1955 romantic thriller by Alfred Hitchcock, To Catch A Thief, heaped praise on his costar, describing her in 1987 as: “I recognised her even then as a brilliant actress,” he said. “She made it look so easy. Some people said Grace was just being herself. Well, that’s the toughest thing to do if you’re an actor because if you’re yourself, the audience feels as though that person is living and breathing, just being natural, not ‘acting’ – and that’s the hardest thing in the world to do.”
Grant was not alone in singing Kelly’s praises. Hitchcock was a staunch admirer of the Hollywood icon and, unlike Grant, worked with Kelly on three occasions, including in the classic thriller Rear Window. However, perhaps the acclaimed director missed a trick by not putting the pair together on more occasions earlier in their careers. Not that you would hear any criticism of the director coming from Cary Grant, that is.
It’s quite remarkable that with the incredibly long and successful career he enjoyed, Grant was still so full of praise for his costar 32 years later, despite only working together that one time. The two, indeed, maintained a long friendship, with Grant a frequent guest at the official residence of the Grimaldi family after Kelly’s marriage into the royal family of Monaco.
However, Kelly and Grant did not share this feeling, as she rather controversially claimed that one of their mutual co-stars, Ingrid Bergman, was her pick for the best actor of all time.
Tragically, the princess was killed in a driving accident in 1981, shocking the world of cinema. Her status as a screen icon had never wavered despite her retirement from acting to assume a royal life. Grant remained close with her family after her death, up to the point that the organisation he helped establish to honour her legacy, the Princess Grace Foundation, named an award after him.
Established in 1993, the Cary Grant Film Honour is still a proud and highly sought recognition for aspiring filmmakers. It grants sponsorship to one up-and-coming filmmaker each year. It is a fitting testimony to a timeless friendship between titans of the Golden Age of Cinema and a poignant recognition of the mutual respect and admiration between two actors.
