Grace Kelly: The Lady & The Tramp

While there may be better actresses, Grace Kelly has long been a favorite because of an attraction that I have found hard to resist: A girl-next-door beauty that barely masks a deep sexuality.

Surprised?

You shouldn't be. This sexuality is what kept drawing director Alfred Hitchcock back to a woman who made her greatest films with him and eventually chucked stardom to become a real-life princess and then die in a mysterious car creash.

Now comes "True Grace: The Life and Times of an American Princess" (St. Martin's Press), a new tell-all book by Wendy Leigh.

Leigh's extensive interviews a quarter century after Kelly's death reveal what has been only hinted at:

Kelly was a sexual predator who had simultaneous affairs with numerous co-stars, turned a blind eye to husband Prince Rainier's many daliances and had an unrequited crush on David Niven.

Click here for an interview with Leigh by a former colleague, April Lisanti.