GRACE KELLY

Biography

Early Life & Education

Grace Kelly was born into a wealthy Irish Catholic family in Philadelphia. Her uncle was the Pulitzer-winning playwright George Kelly. She attended private schools before enrolling in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1947. Grace made her professional debut in summer stock in July 1949 and her Broadway debut in November 1949. She also appeared frequently on television during these early years.

Hollywood Stardom (1951-1956)

Grace's Hollywood career spanned a brief but dazzling six-year period. She debuted on screen in Fourteen Hours (1951) and gained fame as Gary Cooper’s Quaker wife in High Noon (1952). Other notable films included Mogambo (1953) and The Country Girl (1954), the latter earning her an Academy Award for Best Actress as Bing Crosby’s dowdy wife. She became synonymous with elegance and poise, particularly in Alfred Hitchcock’s classics Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955), where Hitchcock famously praised her “sexual elegance.”

Royal Life & Marriage

After completing The Swan (1956) and High Society (1956), Grace married Prince Rainier III of Monaco, becoming Princess Grace. The couple had three children: Princess Caroline, Prince Albert, and Princess Stephanie. They remained devoted to each other and their family throughout her life.

Despite endless speculation in tabloids and biographies, Grace remained an icon of dignity and grace, rarely participating in the gossip herself. (Full disclosure: these “tacky books” are available for sale on this site – we’re all hypocrites here.)

Tragic Passing

Princess Grace died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident on September 14, 1982. She was driving with her daughter Stephanie on a winding road at Cap-d'Ail in the Côte d'Azur when she suffered a stroke, losing control of the car, which plunged down a 45-foot (13.7-metre) embankment. Remarkably, this fatal spot is the same location where the picnic scene in To Catch a Thief (1954) was filmed.