| NAME | MESSAGE |
| Sharon |
posted 04/06/05 12:38 PM Central Time (US)  contact the author directly
The Monocan Palace has announced the death of His Serene Highness Prince Rainier III of Monaco, from heart and lung problems at the age of 81. The Prince was of course married to Grace Kelly, who famously had a long affair with Bing in the mid-1950s. I don't know what Rainier thought about this, but another great person who knew Der Bingle has passed on. |
| Candace Scott |
posted 04/07/05 01:22 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
Actually I don't think Bing's affair with Grace was particularly long. Bing told Kathryn is was a brief fling, when he confessed "all" to her during their walk at Pebble Beach. Bing and Grace had their affair during the making of "The Country Girl" and I have read they would sometimes meet at Ray Milland's house to tryst. This displeased Ray, who was in love with Grace himself during the filming of "Dial 'M' for Murder." Ray finally asked Bing to find someplace else! Bing and Grace were no longer a romantic pair during the filming of "High Society," they were merely friends by this time. My favorite Bing-Grace story is told by Kathryn in her book. Bing and Kathryn visit Monaco in the early 60's and the moment Grace waltzes in, Bing and Grace cozy up together and basically ignore everyone else. To Kathryn's credit, she told the story without any rancor or jealousy. |
| Ben |
posted 04/07/05 02:33 PM Central Time (US)  no email address given
If I recall correctly Grace had a fling with every leading man on the Paramount lot (maybe) William Holden did say when it was known Bing was interested in Grace, others icluding Holden backed off because of the respect Crosby commanded at the studio. I also recall that the Prince banned the film High Society in Monaco, beacuse he did not like Crosby, regarding his relationship with Grace. |
| Ronald Sarbo |
posted 04/07/05 06:47 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
Wasn't Bing a widower when this alleged affair took place? Wasn't Grace Kelly single? And isn't this site devoted to Bing's memory? Let Bing and Grace Kelly rest in peace already. |
| Sharon |
posted 04/07/05 07:35 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
The affair with Grace Kelly was an important turning-point in Bing's life, forcing him to delay his second marriage until late 1957. This site may be devoted to Bing's memory, but that doesn't mean we should try to gloss over anything negative he did. After all, he may have been a devout Catholic, but he was still only human. The fact is, there are only a handful of his friends still living, and we mourn the passing of each one. |
| Judy Schmid |
posted 04/07/05 07:57 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
Just because a famous person is very old and dies and had a brief 'passing' encounter with Bing because his wife was 'close' to him - well, I guess I see it as a pretty tenuous connection...that's all. |
| Candace Scott |
posted 04/08/05 12:07 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
Ronald, I don't follow your logic. No one here is criticizing Bing for having an affair with Grace Kelly. What man in their right mind would pass up an opportunity to be with her, she was a goddess! I don't care that Bing had affairs when he was married to Dixie either. Because Bing was unfaithful to an alcoholic wife and had affairs when he was a widower is nothing new and nothing particularly bad. Rules which apply ro regular people usually don't apply to men of Crosby's wealth, opportunity, stature and fame. I have no understanding of this line, "Isn't this site devoted to Bing's memory?" Yes, but how does this thread about Grace Kelly and Bing intrude upon that concept? Sorry, but I just don't get it. It's common knowledge the two had an affair, big deal. It's not defaming either one to bring it up in response to a direct question. |
| Ronald Sarbo |
posted 04/08/05 01:44 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
"Bing was unfaithful to an alcoholic wife" "They would sometimes meet at Ray Milland's house to tryst" If this is "common knowledge" it only became so after Bing was deceased. "It's not defaming either one" I wonder if they would feel this way if they were still among the living? |
| Ron Field |
posted 04/10/05 12:00 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
It appears that some agree that having an affair while still married is okay. Do they feel that way if their partner did the same, or do they believe in having affairs. And how many times can you go to confession and say 'sorry, I've just committed adultery'? |
| Brian R. Johnson |
posted 04/10/05 01:14 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
Ron - I don't know what's worse, people who cheat on their spouses or those that marry six or seven times. Certainly Hollywood has always been filled with examples of both. Spencer Tracy was more faithful to his mistress than to his spouse. But, like Bing, he was a Catholic and refused to divorce his wife, even for Katherine Hepburn. Then some give a pass to the spouses of alcoholics. "If you say a modern celebrity is an adulterer, a pervert and a drug addict, all it means is that you've read his autobiography." - P.J. O'Rourke |
| Ben Weaver |
posted 04/10/05 03:02 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
I have always admired those fellas that have both a wife and a mistress where each has full knowledge of the existance of the other and this is accepted by all. A high level of tolerance is also reached when, such as in the case of the late French President, Francois Mitterand, both attend his funeral and share a tear stained hankie. I suppose another requisite is that a fella can afford them both. |
| Sharon |
posted 04/10/05 04:45 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
Sorry, I didn't mean to start an argument, just to observe the fact that Prince Rainier, married to Bing's mistress Grace Kelly, has passed on. I don't see what's so bad about this however because the affair is common knowledge, and in any case neither of the participants could still be alive today. |
| Steven Lewis |
posted 04/10/05 11:31 PM Central Time (US) no email address given
Gary Giddins will report in volume 2 of his biography of Bing that he did try to get out of his marriage with Dixie to marry Joan Caulfield. The church refused his request. |
| Sue Horn |
posted 04/10/05 11:50 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
If Bing and Grace were lovers at one time when both were single, that is fine with me. Personally, I wouldn't call it an affair, which to me has negative overtones of someone being unfaithful to another. A relationship, if it lasted, a fling if it was short-lived and meant little to either party. Something that didn't work out? More likely. That Bing wanted to marry Joan Caulfield and tried to get an annulment is testimony to his loyalty to his Catholic faith. Those were the rules, and if he couldn't get the powers that were at the time to make the rules go his way, then he wasn't going to break them outright. The fact that everyone makes mistakes and some faiths allow those errors to be absolved through sincere confession (emphasis on the sincerity factor, with or without the intervention of other humans) does not make the person who is imperfect a hypocrite, just makes him or her a human being. I wonder how many of us are in a position to throw stones? One of Colombia's former presidents was allowed to annul his marriage of 25+ years (and 6 or 7 children) in the '90s. He later went on to marry his mistress and then became the Ambassador to the Vatican for the Colombian government. My how things had changed in a scant 40 years!! Too bad for Bing that he couldn't have gotten that kind of a ruling... Does anyone know when Gary Giddins' second volume is slated to come out? Hope it's going well. Can't wait to read it. I hope we don't start getting into discussions on euthenasia and the difficult decisions that loved ones are forced to make when a family member lingers. That is a private matter, and one that I don't think the US government should legislate. I feel for everyone involved in the recent case that was splashed all over the media. Unless you've walked in their shoes, you can't kow how hard those decisions and disagreements can be. Sorry for the length, Steven. This turned out to be more like two bucks instead of two cents. |
| Ronald Sarbo |
posted 04/11/05 09:00 AM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
Bing may have inquired about an annulment but at that time there was very little hope of getting one. He may have been trying to placate Caulfield or it was a case of wishful thinking. Even if he received an affirmative from the Church would he have gone thru with it? Would he have risked his career in this way? These questions cannot be answered but to me it is almost inconceivable that he would have done so. |
| Ron Field |
posted 04/11/05 06:14 PM Central Time (US) contact the author directly
A bloke that lived over the road from me in Sydney got an annulment and his Mother said that it cost him a lot of money. If one has children I don't believe in an annulment as it is vertually saying ...' hey, I don't have any children..'. How do they feel in an annulment I wonder. I know a couple that got an annulment and they had 7 kids. Only of them talk to the father. |