Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief

Think for just a minute about Cary Grant’s leading ladies:

• Rita Hayworth
• Katharine Hepburn
• Audrey Hepburn
• Joan Fontaine
• Jean Arthur
• Ginger Rogers
• Ann Sheridan
• Myrna Loy
• Grace Kelly
• Ingrid Bergman
• Rosalind Russell
• Sophia Loren
• Deborah Kerr
• Leslie Caron
• Doris Day
• Eva Marie Saint
• Jayne Mansfield
• Jeanne Crane
• Loretta Young
• Shirley Temple

Reads like half of a “top actresses of Old Hollywood” list, doesn’t it? I name all of these exceptional actresses to simply highlight the weightiness of the following quote by Cary Grant in 1986:

“I’ve worked with (Ingrid Bergman). I’ve worked with Katharine Hepburn. I’ve worked with some of the biggest stars, but Grace Kelly was the best actress I’ve ever worked with in my life. That woman was total relaxation, absolute ease – she was totally THERE. She was an extraordinarily serene girl.”

When you take into account all of the stars he worked with over his career, this is truly an exceptional quote – about an exceptional actress. He didn’t just single Grace out with this quote, either. He often cited her as his favorite leading actress. He, of course, attended her state funeral (1982) and wept throughout the service.

The Hollywood legends co-starred in To Catch a Thief in 1955, one of the last movies Grace Kelly would make.

After she became Princess Grace, Cary Grant would visit her on occasions in Monaco. Click here for a hilarious short article on Vanity Fair about the “dirty jokes” he would tell her family on these visits.

I think you’re going to like his poem about generals and… well… privates.

“We all loved her very, very much.” ~ Cary Grant, about Grace Kelly