Grace Kelly was an American actress and fashion icon renowned for her flawless beauty and stylish elegance. She is still recognized today as one of the most beautiful women in the world.
Born on November 12, 1929 in Philadelphia, Kelly expressed a deep love of performing at a young age. In addition to participating in school plays and community productions, she occasionally modeled with her mother and sister. As soon as she graduated high school in 1947, she moved to New York City to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. However, while perfecting her acting craft, she continued to work as a fashion model and appeared on the cover of Cosmopolitan and other magazines.
Before her Hollywood career began, television producer Delbert Mann noticed Grace and cast her in a live TV production adapted from a Sinclair Lewis novel. She was a great success and went on to appear in almost 60 live TV programs.
Grace’s television success brought her to the attention of Hollywood producers. Her first movie role was in 1951 in Fourteen Hours, but her first major movie role came the following year in High Noon with Gary Cooper. Following the success of High Noon, MGM gave Grace a seven-year contract.
Grace’s cool blonde looks appealed to director Alfred Hitchcock and in 1954 she appeared in two of his movies, Dial M for Murder with Ray Milland and Rear Window with Jimmy Stewart. The same year, she also appeared in The Bridges at Toko-Ri with William Holden. In 1955, she appeared in her third film for Hitchcock, To Catch a Thief with Cary Grant, followed by The Country Girl with Bing Crosby. It was for The Country Girl that Grace won an Oscar as Best Actress.
Grace only acted in eleven movies in five years, the last one being High Society, a musical remake of The Philadelphia Story, with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. She earned a gold record for her duet with Crosby singing True Love and that same year was voted the Golden Globe’s Favorite World Film Actress. By this time, she was one of the highest-paid and most respected actresses in the world.
But Grace’s love life was another story entirely. Grace was romantically linked to all her leading men except the happily married Jimmy Stewart. She reportedly was involved with, among others, Gary Cooper, John Kennedy, Bing Crosby, Marlon Brando, Clark Gable, The Shah of Iran, and fashion designer Oleg Cassini whom she had come close to marrying. Her taste horrified her father, Jack, an Irish-American bricklayer turned millionaire builder. By the time Grace met her future husband, it may have required nothing less than a prince to equal Kelly’s celebrity.
While in Monaco in 1955 for the Cannes Film Festival, Grace met Prince Rainier III of Monaco during a photo shoot. Catholic, unmarried and fertile, Grace appeared to be the perfect bride for Rainier to ensure he would not have to cede to France if they married and produced children. Fortunately, Rainier was smitten with Grace. Upon her return to America, they began corresponding and Rainier traveled to America in December to propose to her. The unreal world of a Hollywood actress was about to join with the equally unreal world of European Royalty.
The press depicted their courtship and wedding as a fairytale romance. Grace abandoned her acting career after their marriage on April 19, 1956 and became Princess Consort of Monaco. She was also required to give up her American citizenship and Prince Rainier banned her films in Monaco feeling that the Monegasque people would not want to see their Princess portrayed that way. The marriage produced three children: Princess Caroline, Prince Albert, and Princess Stéphanie.
Sadly, tragedy struck on September 13, 1982, when Princess Grace and her younger daughter, Stéphanie, were driving along the steep cliffs of the Côte d’Azur region of southern France when the car went out of control and plunged down a 45-foot embankment. The issue of who was driving the car that fatal day is still controversial. The common belief is that Grace was driving and suffered a stroke, but, perhaps because Princess Stéphanie survived with minor injuries, there was a great deal of conjecture and accusations that Stéphanie was driving and was under the influence of alcohol. The mystery remains unsolved. Princess Grace passed away the next day at the age of 52 without ever regaining consciousness.
Almost 100 million people around the world watched Princess Grace’s funeral on television. Prince Rainier did not remarry after her death, and following his own death in 2005 was buried beside her in the royal family vault. Continue reading
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