GRACE KELLY , AMERICAN ACTRESS MARRIED
PRINCE OF MONOCCA BORN 1929 NOVEMBER 12
Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956, became Princess of Monaco.
| Grace Kelly | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Studio promotional photo, c. 1954
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| Princess consort of Monaco | |||||
| Tenure | April 18, 1956 – September 14, 1982 | ||||
| Born | November 12, 1929 Hahnemann University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||
| Died | September 14, 1982 (aged 52) Monaco Hospital, Monaco | ||||
| Burial | St. Nicholas Cathedral | ||||
| Spouse | Rainier III, Prince of Monaco(m. 1956–82) | ||||
| Issue | Caroline, Princess of Hanover Albert II, Prince of Monaco Princess Stéphanie, Countess of Polignac | ||||
| |||||
| House | Grimaldi (by marriage) | ||||
| Father | John B. Kelly | ||||
| Mother | Margaret Katherine Majer | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism[1] | ||||
| Occupation | Actress/Princess consort | ||||
| Signature |  | ||||
It won her a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination in 1954. She had leading roles in five films, including The Country Girl, for which her deglamorized performance earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.[2] Other films include High Noon (1952) with Gary Cooper, Dial M for Murder (1954) with Ray Milland, Rear Window (1954) with James Stewart, To Catch a Thief (1955) with Cary Grant, and High Society (1956) with Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby.
Kelly retired from acting at the age of 26 to marry Rainier and began her duties as Princess of Monaco. They had three children: Caroline, Albert, and Stéphanie. She retained her American roots, maintaining dual U.S. and Monégasque citizenship.[3] She died on September 14, 1982, a day after suffering a stroke while driving, causing her car to crash
Background and early life[edit]
The Kelly family home built by John B. Kelly in 1929, in the East Falls section of Philadelphia.
A registered Democrat, he was nominated to be mayor of Philadelphia for the 1935 election, but lost by the closest margin in the city's history. In later years, he served on the Fairmount Park Commission and, during the Second World War was appointed by President Roosevelt as National Director of Physical Fitness. Two of his brothers were also notable: Walter C. Kelly (1873–1939) was a vaudeville star who also made films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Paramount Pictures, and George Kelly (1887–1974) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist, screenwriter and director.[6
] Kelly's mother was Philadelphia native Margaret Katherine Majer (1898–1990); the daughter of German immigrants.[7][8] Margaret had taught physical education at the University of Pennsylvania, where she had been the first female to coach women's athletics at the institution.[8][9] She was noted for her beauty and modeled for a time in her youth.[8] After marrying John B. Kelly in 1924, Margaret focused on being a housewife until all her children were of school age, following which she began actively participating in various civic organizations.[8]
Kelly had two older siblings, Margaret (1925–1991) and John Jr. (1927–1985), and a younger sister named Elizabeth (1933–2009). The children were raised in the Roman Catholic faith.[10][11]
While attending Ravenhill Academy, a prestigious Catholic girls' school, Kelly modeled fashions at local social events with her mother and sisters. In 1942, at the age of twelve, she played the lead in Don't Feed the Animals, a play produced by the East Falls Old Academy Players.[6]
Before graduating in May 1947 from Stevens School, a socially prominent private institution on Walnut Lane in the Northwest Philadelphia neighborhood of Germantown, she acted and danced. Her graduation yearbook listed her favorite actress as Ingrid Bergman and her favorite actor as Joseph Cotten.[12] Written in the "Stevens' Prophecy" section was: "Miss Grace P. Kelly – a famous star of stage and screen." Owing to her low mathematics scores, Kelly was rejected by Bennington College in July 1947.[13]
Career[edit]
Main article: Film career of Grace Kelly
Early years[edit]
Despite her parents' disapproval, Kelly decided to pursue her dreams of being an actress. John was particularly displeased with her decision; he viewed acting as "a slim cut above streetwalker."[11] To start her career, she auditioned for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, using a scene from her uncle George Kelly's The Torch-Bearers (1923). 
Although the school had already met its semester quota, she obtained an interview with the admission officer, Emile Diestel, and was admitted through the influence of George.[11]. She began her first term the following October. While at school, she lived in Manhattan's Barbizon Hotel for Women, a prestigious establishment which barred men from entering after 10 pm, and she worked as a model to support her studies.
Kelly in High Noon (1951), her first major film role
Kelly worked diligently and practiced her speech by using a tape recorder. Her early acting pursuits led her to the stage, most notably a Broadway debut in Strindberg's The Father alongside Raymond Massey. At 19, her graduation performance was as Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story.[11]
Television producer Delbert Mann cast Kelly as Bethel Merriday, in an adaptation of the Sinclair Lewis novel of the same name; this was her first of nearly sixty live television programs.[11] Success on television eventually brought her a role in a major motion picture. She made her film debut in a small role in the 1951 film Fourteen Hours.
She was noticed during a visit to the set by Gary Cooper, who subsequently starred with her in High Noon (1951). He was charmed by her and said that she was "different from all these actresses we've been seeing so much of." However, Kelly's performance in Fourteen Hours was not noticed by critics and did not lead to her receiving other film acting roles.
She continued her work in the theater and on television,[6] although she lacked "vocal horsepower" and would likely not have had a lengthy stage career.[11] She had various roles on television shows produced by NBC and CBS. She was performing in Denver's Elitch Gardens when she received a telegram from Hollywood producer Stanley Kramer offering her a co-starring role opposite Gary Cooper in High Noon (1951).
Acting career for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[edit]
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Kelly in 1956
The cast of Mogambo (1953)
Director John Ford had first noticed Kelly in a 1950 screen test. The studio flew her to Los Angeles to audition in September 1952, and he said that she showed "breeding, quality and class."[11] She was hired for the role and was offered a seven-year contract with a salary of $850 a week. She signed the deal under two conditions: That every two years she could get time off to do theater performances, and that she could live in New York City at the now-landmarked Manhattan House (200 E. 66th Street).[14][11]
Two months after signing her contract, Kelly and the cast arrived in Nairobi to begin production of the film Mogambo. Gene Tierney was initially cast in the role, but she had to drop out at the last minute because of personal issues.[15][16] Upon getting the role, she told Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, "Mogambo had three things that interested me.
John Ford, Clark Gable, and a trip to Africa with expenses paid. If Mogambo had been made in Arizona, I wouldn't have done it."[17] A break in the filming schedule afforded her and Mogambo costar Ava Gardner a visit to Rome.[18] Her role as Linda Nordley in MGM's production of Mogambo garnered her a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
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Kelly in a promotional photograph for Rear Window (1954)
Kelly's new costar, James Stewart, was highly enthusiastic about working with her.[20] The role of Lisa Fremont, a wealthy Manhattan socialite and model, was unlike any of the previous women she had played. For the very first time, she portrayed an independent, career-driven woman. He played a speculative photographer with a broken leg, bound to a wheelchair, and so reduced to curiously observing the happenings outside his window.
Kelly won the role of Bing Crosby's long-suffering wife, Georgie Elgin, in The Country Girl, after a pregnant Jennifer Jones bowed out. Already familiar with the play, she was highly interested in the part. To do so, MGM would have to lend her out to Paramount. She was adamant, and threatened the studio that if they did not allow her to do it she would pack her bags and leave for New York for good. They relented, and the part was hers. The film also paired her again with William Holden. The wife of a washed-up alcoholic singer, played by Crosby, her character is emotionally torn between two lovers.
For her performance in The Country Girl, Kelly won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Her main competitor for the prize was Judy Garland, in her much heralded comeback performance in A Star Is Born, playing not only the part of an up-and-coming actress-singer, but also, ironically, the wife of an alcoholic movie star. Although she won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best actress for her performances in her three big movie roles of 1954, Rear Window, Dial M For Murder, and The Country Girl, she and Garland both received Golden Globe Awards for their respective performances.
Kelly in To Catch a Thief (1955)
By the following March, the race between Kelly and Garland for the Oscar was very close. On March 30, 1955, the night of the Academy Awards telecast, Garland was unable to attend because she was in the hospital having just given birth to her son, Joey Luft. However, she was rumored to be the odds-on favorite, and NBC Television cameras were set up in her hospital room so that if she was announced as the winner, she could make her acceptance speech live from her hospital bed. However, when William Holden announced Kelly as the winner, the technicians immediately dismantled the cameras without saying one word to Garland.
In April 1954, Kelly flew to Colombia for a ten-day shoot on her next project, Green Fire, with Stewart Granger. She played Catherine Knowland, a coffee plantation owner. In Granger's autobiography he writes of his distaste for the film's script, while she later confided to Hedda Hopper, "It wasn't pleasant. We worked at a pathetic village – miserable huts and dirty. Part of the crew got shipwrecked … It was awful."[17] Green Fire was a critical and box-office failure but made a small profit of $840,000.
After the consecutive filming of Rear Window, Toko-Ri, Country Girl, and Green Fire, Kelly flew to France, along with department store heir Bernard "Barney" Strauss, to begin work on her third and last film for Alfred Hitchcock, To Catch a Thief. She and her costar, Cary Grant, developed a mutual admiration. They cherished their time together for the rest of their lives. Years later, when asked to name his all-time favorite actress, he replied without hesitation, "Well, with all due respect to dear Ingrid Bergman, I much preferred Grace. She had serenity."[22]
Personal life[edit]
Relationship with Prince Rainier[edit]
Kelly headed the U.S. delegation at the Cannes Film Festival in April 1955. While there, she was invited to participate in a photo session at the Palace of Monaco with Prince Rainier III, the sovereign of the principality. After a series of delays and complications, she met him in Monaco. At the time of her initial meeting with him, she was dating the French actor Jean-Pierre Aumont.[23][24]
Upon returning to America, Kelly began work on The Swan, in which she coincidentally portrayed a princess, and she meanwhile began a private correspondence with Rainier.
In December 1955, Rainier went to America on a trip officially designated as a tour, although it was speculated that he was seeking a wife. A treaty with France in 1918 had stated that if he did not produce an heir Monaco would revert to France. The treaty was as a result of the Monaco Succession Crisis of 1918. At a press conference in the U.S. he was asked if he was pursuing a wife, to which he answered, "No." Then a second question was posed: "If you were pursuing a wife, what kind would you like?" Rainier smiled and answered, "I don't know – the best."
That same year MGM released Kelly's last film, the musical comedy High Society, which was based on the studio's 1940 comedy The Philadelphia Story. She wore her own engagement ring in the film and sang a duet with Bing Crosby, "True Love," a song with words and music by Cole Porter.
Wedding and marriage[edit]
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Rainier met Kelly and her family, and after three days, he proposed. She accepted and the families began preparations for what the press at that time dubbed "The Wedding of the Century." She and her family had to provide a dowry of $2 million in order for the marriage to go forward.[25]
The religious wedding was set for April 19, 1956. News of the engagement was a sensation, even though it meant a probable end to Kelly's film career. Alfred Hitchcock quipped that he was "very happy that Grace has found herself such a good part." Preparations were elaborate. The Palace of Monaco was painted and redecorated throughout. On April 4, 1956, Grace, with her family, bridesmaids, poodle, and over eighty pieces of luggage boarded the ocean liner SS Constitution for the French Riviera. Some 400 reporters applied to sail, although most were turned away. Thousands of fans sent the party off for the eight-day voyage. More than 20,000 people lined the streets of Monaco to greet the future princess consort.
The Prince and Princess of Monaco arrive at the White House for a luncheon, 1961
The Napoleonic Code of Monaco and the laws of the Roman Catholic Church necessitated two ceremonies – both a civil ceremony and a religious wedding.[26] The 16-minute civil ceremony took place in the Palace Throne Room of Monaco on April 18, 1956,[26] and a reception later in the day was attended by 3,000 Monaco citizens.[27][28] To cap the ceremony, the 142 official titles that she acquired in the union (counterparts of his) were formally recited. The following day the church ceremony took place at Monaco's Saint Nicholas Cathedral, before Monaco's Bishop Gilles Barthe.[26]
The wedding was estimated to have been watched by over 30 million viewers on live television, and was described by biographer Robert Lacey as "the first modern event to generate media overkill."[28] Her wedding dress, designed by MGM's Academy Award–winning Helen Rose,[28] was worked on for six weeks by three dozen seamstresses. The bridesmaids' gowns were designed by Joe Allen Hong at Neiman Marcus.[29] The 700 guests included several famous people, including Aristotle Onassis, Cary Grant, David Niven and his wife Hjördis, Gloria Swanson, Ava Gardner, the crowned head Aga Khan III, Gloria Guinness,[30] Enid, Lady Kenmare, Daisy Fellowes, Etti Plesch, Lady Diana Cooper, Louise de Vilmorin, Loelia Lindsay, and Conrad Hilton.[citation needed] Frank Sinatra initially was invited, but did not attend.[31][32] She and Rainier left that night for their seven-week Mediterranean honeymoon cruise on his yacht, Deo Juvante II.[28][33]
They had three children:
Caroline Louise Marguerite, born January 23, 1957
Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre, born March 14, 1958, current Prince of Monaco
Stéphanie Marie Elisabeth, born February 1, 1965
During her marriage, Kelly was unable to continue her acting career. Instead, she performed her daily duties as princess and became involved in philanthropic work.[34]
Later years[edit]
Grace of Monaco (1972)
Hitchcock offered Kelly the lead in his film Marnie in 1962. She was eager, but public outcry in Monaco against her involvement in a film that portrayed her as a kleptomaniac made her reconsider and ultimately reject the project. Director Herbert Ross attempted to lure her into accepting a part in his 1977 film The Turning Point, but Rainier quashed the idea.[citation needed]
Later that year, she returned to the arts in a series of poetry readings on stage and narration of the documentary The Children of Theater Street. She also narrated ABC's made-for-television film The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966). She and Rainier worked together in a 33-minute independent film called Rearranged in 1979, which received interest from ABC TV executives in 1982 after premiering in Monaco, on the condition that it be extended to an hour. Before more scenes could be shot, Kelly died and the film was never released or shown publicly again.[35][36][37]
Death[edit]
On September 13, 1982, Kelly was driving back to Monaco from her country home in Roc Agel when she had a stroke. As a result, she lost control of her 1971 Rover P6 3500[38] and drove off the steep, winding road and down the 120 ft mountainside.
Her daughter, Stéphanie, who was in the passenger seat, tried to regain control of the car, but failed.[39] When paramedics arrived at the accident site (43°43′35″N 7°24′10″E),[40] Kelly was alive but unconscious and in critical condition. She and Stephanie were transported to the Monaco Hospital (later named the Princess Grace Hospital Centre). At the hospital doctors attempted to resuscitate Grace but because of the extent of not only her brain injury but injuries to her thorax and a femur fracture they were unable to save her life. Doctors believed that she had suffered a minor stroke which may have caused the car to veer off the road causing the accident.[41] The following night, at 10:55 p.m., she died at the age of 52 after Rainier decided to take her off life support.[42]
Stephanie's original diagnosis was mild, with only minor bruising and a light concussion. However, after receiving X-ray results, she was found to have suffered a hairline fracture[43] on the seventh cervical vertebra. She was unable to attend her mother's funeral because of her injuries.
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| The tomb of Grace Kelly |
You know, I just love Grace Kelly. Not because she was a princess, not because she was an actress, not because she was my friend, but because she was just about the nicest lady I ever met. Grace brought into my life as she brought into yours, a soft, warm light every time I saw her, and every time I saw her was a holiday of its own. No question, I'll miss her, we'll all miss her, God bless you, Princess Grace.
Rainier, who never remarried, was buried alongside her following his death in 2005.[45]
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