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Who Was Grace Kelly?
Grace Kelly achieved remarkable fame as a leading Hollywood actress, particularly known for her iconic role in High Noon. Her illustrious career included an Academy Award-winning performance in The Country Girl and notable collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock in films such as Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, and To Catch a Thief. In 1956, Kelly left her Hollywood career behind to marry Prince Rainier III of Monaco, subsequently adopting the title of Princess Grace. Tragically, she passed away in 1982 due to a car accident in her adopted home of Monaco.
Early Life
Grace Patricia Kelly was born on November 12, 1929, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father, John Brendan “Jack” Kelly, was a celebrated sculler who won three Olympic gold medals as a member of the U.S. rowing team and was a successful businessman, owning one of the East Coast’s most prosperous brick companies. Her mother, Margaret Katherine Majer, was a pioneering figure in women’s sports, serving as the first coach for women’s athletic teams at the University of Pennsylvania. Grace was the third of four children, named in memory of her father’s sister, who had died young.
From an early age, Kelly demonstrated a profound passion for performance. She actively participated in school plays and community productions and occasionally modeled alongside her mother and sister. While attending Stevens School, a small private high school in Philadelphia, she nurtured her dreams of becoming an actress. The arts were deeply rooted in the Kelly family; two of her uncles, Walter C. Kelly, a vaudevillian performer, and George Kelly, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, significantly influenced her artistic aspirations. George, in particular, encouraged Grace to pursue a full-time acting career, providing mentorship as she navigated her ascent in Hollywood.
Early Career in New York City
After graduating from high school, Kelly embarked on her journey to pursue an acting career in New York City, despite her parents’ disapproval. Kelly’s close friend, Judith Balaban Quine, noted that her father, Jack Kelly, held a dismissive view of acting, describing it as “a slim cut above streetwalker.” Undeterred, Kelly enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she also took on part-time modeling work, appearing in advertisements for Old Gold cigarettes and gracing the covers of notable magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Redbook. Her final performance at the Academy was in A Philadelphia Story, a role she would later reprise in the 1956 film adaptation, High Society.
Upon graduating from the Academy at the age of 19, Kelly aspired to establish herself on Broadway but encountered significant challenges. Don Richardson, one of her directors and mentors, later remarked, “She would never have had a career in the theater,” acknowledging her impressive looks and style but noting her lack of “vocal horsepower.”
Nevertheless, Kelly quickly discovered that the film industry was more accommodating to her talents. In the post-World War II era, both the film and television industries were experiencing a boom, prompting her to relocate to Hollywood. Over the years, she would appear in 11 films and star in more than 60 television productions.
Film Breakthroughs
Kelly was discovered by Gary Cooper on the set of her first film, Fourteen Hours (1951), at the age of 22. Impressed by her talent, Cooper arranged for her to portray his young wife in High Noon (1952), an acclaimed Western that catapulted her to stardom.
Mogambo
Following her breakthrough, Kelly starred in Mogambo (1953), set in Kenya and featuring Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. During the filming, Kelly engaged in a brief affair with Gable, famously remarking, “What else is there to do if you’re alone in a tent in Africa with Clark Gable?” This film marked a significant turning point in her career; she received her first Academy Award nomination and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Subsequently, MGM offered her a seven-year contract, which she accepted with the stipulation that she could live in Manhattan every other year to continue pursuing stage work.
Collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock
Kelly turned down the role of Edie Doyle in On the Waterfront (1954) to collaborate with the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock. During the 1950s, she starred in three films directed by Hitchcock: Rear Window (1954), Dial M for Murder (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955). Hitchcock regarded Kelly as the epitome of the femme fatale, celebrating her beauty, style, and “sexual elegance.”
The Country Girl
In 1954, Kelly secured the role of Georgie Elgin in The Country Girl, opposite Bing Crosby and William Holden. This character was a departure from her typical glamorous roles, as she portrayed the dowdy and neglected wife of an alcoholic. Her performance was raw and uncharacteristically stripped-down, earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. This time, she triumphed, winning the Oscar and defeating Judy Garland, who was nominated for her role in A Star Is Born.
Marriage to Prince Rainier
By the mid-1950s, Grace Kelly had established herself as one of Hollywood’s most accomplished and highest-paid actresses. In 1955, she was invited to join the United States Delegation Committee at the Cannes Film Festival in France. It was there, during a photoshoot, that she met Prince Rainier III of Monaco, who was actively seeking a bride. At the time, if Prince Rainier failed to produce an heir, Monaco was at risk of being absorbed by France. The prince had once described his vision of an ideal bride: “I see her with long hair floating in the wind, the color of autumn leaves. Her eyes are blue or violet, with flecks of gold.” Their courtship captivated the global media, who framed it as a modern fairy-tale romance.
Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier on April 19, 1956, in a grand and highly publicized ceremony. After the wedding, she retired from her acting career to assume the role of Princess Consort of Monaco. Additionally, she relinquished her American citizenship, and Prince Rainier imposed a ban on the screening of her films within Monaco.
Children
The royal couple had three children: Princess Caroline, Prince Albert, and Princess Stéphanie. Despite numerous offers from filmmakers hoping to entice Princess Grace back to the screen, she declined, choosing instead to focus on her duties as a ceremonial figurehead and philanthropist in Monaco. She became actively involved in various cultural and charitable organizations. While there were rumors that she missed her acting career, Kelly often spoke critically of the film industry, remarking, “Hollywood amuses me. Holier-than-thou for the public and unholier-than-the-devil in reality.”
Death
Tragedy struck on September 13, 1982, when Princess Grace and her youngest daughter, Princess Stéphanie, were driving along the treacherous cliffs of the Côte d’Azur in southern France. Princess Grace suffered a stroke behind the wheel, causing the car to veer off the road and plunge down a 45-foot embankment. Both were rushed to the hospital, where Princess Grace fell into a coma and, after 24 hours, was taken off life support. She was 52 years old. Princess Stéphanie survived the crash with a hairline fracture of a vertebra.
Princess Grace remained in the spotlight throughout her life, captivating audiences with her on-screen beauty, poise, and mystery. Her grace and dignity as a princess also attracted media attention, to which she wittily commented, “The freedom of the press works in such a way that there is not much freedom from it.”
Shortly after her death, The Grace Kelly Story (1983), a TV movie starring Cheryl Ladd, was released. In 2014, Nicole Kidman portrayed Kelly in the biographical film Grace of Monaco.
Childhood Home
In 2016, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Kelly’s son, purchased her childhood home in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Restored to its original condition using old photographs, the 2.5-story Colonial home now serves as offices for the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. It also occasionally hosts the Prince’s family and serves as a venue for events organized by the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, which provides scholarships to rising talents in theater, dance, and film. The house was originally built in 1928 by Kelly’s father.