Hopkinsville native Gant Gaither was a Broadway and Hollywood producer and longtime friend of the princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly.
In 1947, at the age of 30, Gaither became the youngest producer on Broadway with “Craig’s Wife,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by Grace Kelly’s uncle, George Kelly. At least six more Broadway productions by Gaither received critical acclaim, according to Variety magazine.
Then, in 1963, Gaither was executive producer for Paramount Pictures’ “My Six Loves.” It starred Debbie Reynolds.
Gaither’s friendship with Grace Kelly began in 1951, when he cast her in a play at the Albany (New York) Playhouse. When she died in 1982, Prince Rainier III of Monaco asked Gaither to lead efforts to establish the Princess Grace Foundation-USA. It was created to support emerging artists in theater, film and dance.
Gaither grew up on South Main Street in Hopkinsville and was a member of Grace Episcopal Church. His father, Dr. Gant Gaither, was a local surgeon. A 1935 graduate of Hopkinsville High School, the surgeon’s son earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of the South, the Kentucky New Era reported in his obituary.
Recently, several women in Hopkinsville have been sporting some of Gaither’s creative work. He was also a visual artist and produced a line of whimsical animal paintings and sculptures called the Zoophisticates Collection.
Alissa Keller, executive director of the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County, has several Gaither scarves featuring the Zoophisticates designs. She and the museum’s staff members wore the scarves at a donor preview party and the grand reopening ceremony of the Pennyroyal Area Museum last month.
Gaither died on March 1, 2004, at his home in Palm Springs, California.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
