Book Excerpt From “THE WIMBLEDON FINAL THAT NEVER WAS… AND OTHER TENNIS TALES FROM A BYGONE ERA”
NEW YORK, N.Y., April 4, 2012 – Davis Cup tennis is abuzz in Monaco this week as the USA visits the Monte Carlo Country Club (curiously located just across the border from the principality in France) to take on the French in the event’s quarterfinal round.
Monaco is of course a playground – and tax haven – for the rich and famous but it is perhaps best known as the one-time domicile of one of the most famous actresses of all time – Grace Kelly. After a storied career in Hollywood, Kelly became “Princess Grace” when she married Monaco’s Prince Rainier in 1956. What is not widely known is that the Princess was once involved in a romantic affair with a former U.S. Davis Cup hero and Wimbledon champion.
In his posthumously published book “THE WIMBLEDON FINAL THAT NEVER WAS…AND OTHER TENNIS TALES FROM A BYGONE ERA ($14.95, New Chapter Press, www.NewChapterMedia.com), 1931 Wimbledon champion Sidney Wood, a standout on the 1931 and 1934 U.S. Davis Cup teams, dishes about this love affair with the future princess.
The chapter from the book called “Days of Grace” is excerpted below. To order the book, click here: http://m1e.net/c?136411417-
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DAYS OF GRACE
Way back in the late 1950s, my good friends Malcolm and Carolyn Reybold asked me to join them and their Manhattan neighbor Grace Kelly (whose father did the building’s brickwork) for the annual moose, elk or other large ruminant’s steak dinner at Rothmann’s Steakhouse. Being unattached at the time, I accepted with alacrity.
Grace’s acting career had just gotten underway with some TV roles, but even then she had a tendency to imbibe a bit more than enough. She’d been to a cocktail party before we headed for Long Island, and, apart from looking, to put it politely, quite disheveled, she was somewhat argumentative. End of “romance!”
A year later, another call came from Malcolm, telling me that Grace, whose career had enjoyed a meteoric rise, was totally on the wagon, and asked if I was game for a second Rothmann’s try? He added that she would like to make up for last year.
With a snowstorm predicted, I brought along a shovel, and off we went in Malcolm’s new Buick. This time Grace looked every bit the stunner that she sure was, and all went well. In fact, well enough for me to leave my snow shovel as kind of a fraternity pin in her foyer when I saw her home. We’d already made a date for dinner the next night, then another, and another.
The Reybolds, particularly Carolyn, who was later Grace’s maid of honor in her Monte Carlo royal wedding to Prince Rainier, were elated with their matchmaking luck. Showpeople friends Grace met with me included Ed Sullivan, swashbuckling actor Tyrone Power and Gary Cooper, with whom she later co-starred in High Noon. We’d also get together with Grace’s brother, John, and his nifty Miss America friend, whose name escapes me.
Much as you may delight in someone’s company, it’s tough to fall in love with a girl who just can’t help playing a role. One time, Grace put on a tape of multiple animal sounds (even whales!) and one by one proceeded to act out each as I fell asleep on the carpet. She lived in a kind of a fairy tale princess world, which she would ultimately occupy in reality. Grace was a huge box office success, and in my book, a superb actress.
A no longer non-mentionable item: one day at my hobby-born Sutton Place, Town Tennis Club, Oleg Cassini remarkably asked if I would tell him when (and if) I was no longer seeing Grace. I told him we’d been secretly married for weeks. Shortly thereafter, a near daily delivery of a dozen long-stem roses began arriving at Grace’s apartment, sans any card. Knowing Oleg pretty well, I correctly guessed that he was the mystery sender. I’d bring some of the roses to my delighted office staff, others we’d send to the Reybolds and other friends. Heartfelt thanks, Oleg! Though Oleg’s was not exactly my style of approach, to each his own. In time, it worked well enough for Oleg (his florist as well) to become a serious suitor for quite a spell. Curtain call: alas our “brief encounter” was not destined to survive our disparate lifestyles, and one morning a taxi delivered the snow shovel to my office. The dramatic finale was so typical of Grace. That “inevitable sadness,” I couldn’t help guffawing until my staff thought I’d lost my marbles. I wrote a nice thank-you note.
Founded in 1987, New Chapter Press (www.NewChapterMedia.com) is also the publisher of “Roger Federer: Quest for Perfection” by Rene Stauffer (www.RogerFedererBook.com), “The Bud Collins History of Tennis” by Bud Collins, “The Education of a Tennis Player” by Rod Laver, “Titanic: The Tennis Story” by Lindsay Gibbs, “Acing Depression: A Tennis Champion’s Toughest Match” by Cliff Richey (www.CliffRicheyBook.com), “Tennis Made Easy” by Kelly Gunterman, “On This Day In Tennis History” by Randy Walker (www.TennisHistoryBook.com), “A Player’s Guide To USTA League Tennis” by Tony Serksnis, “Boycott: Stolen Dreams of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games” by Tom Caraccioli and Jerry Caraccioli (www.Boycott1980.com), “The Lennon Prophecy” by Joe Niezgoda (www.TheLennonProphecy.com), “How To Sell Your Screenplay” by Carl Sautter, “The Rules of Neighborhood Poker” by Stewart Wolpin, “Bone Appetit: Gourmet Cooking for Your” Dog by Suzan Anson, “People’s Choice Guide To Cancun” by Eric Rabinowitz, “Lessons from the Wild” by Shayamal Vallabhjee, “Weekend Warriors: The Men of Professional Lacrosse” by Jack McDermott among others. In June, New Chapter Press will release “The Greatest Tennis Matches of All Time” by Steve Flink.
