Actress Grace Kelly lost her Hollywood millions after she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

 

Actress Grace Kelly lost her Hollywood millions after she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

Actress Grace Kelly lost her Hollywood millions after she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco.

A new documentary says that the Oscar winner paid a $2 million dowry to the House of Grimaldi.

When she died, Kelly had $10,000 to her name and a rundown family cottage in Ireland. 

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In 1956, Grace Kelly was on track to earn her place among Hollywood royalty. After winning an Academy Award for best actress for her role in "The Country Girl" (1954), she traded her life's work and money for a real royal title by marrying Prince Rainier III of Monaco. 

According to a new Channel 5 documentary, "Grace Kelly: The Missing Millions," which aired in the UK on March 27, the actress had to pay a $2 million dowry (roughly $20 million today) to the House of Grimaldi in order to marry Prince Rainier, and combined her acting fortune with her family inheritance to pull these funds together. 

By the time she died after a stroke in 1982, the 52-year-old icon had $10,000 ($27,000 today) and her grandfather's rundown cottage in County Mayo, Ireland, left to her name.

"What is so poignant about Grace Kelly's story is that she had to pay to become a princess," Gemma Godfrey, a wealth advisor who takes a deep dive into Kelly's finances in the documentary, told Insider.

"Most people think of it as a fairytale, going from Hollywood and suddenly being whisked off to a lot of wealth," she added.

Prince Rainier of Monaco and American actress Grace Kelly during their wedding ceremony at the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, Monte Carlo in 1956.

Prince Rainier of Monaco and Grace Kelly during their wedding ceremony at the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, Monte Carlo, in 1956. The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images

Grace Kelly went from Hollywood royal to princess

Born to affluent Philadelphian parents in 1929, Kelly and her three siblings had a financially stable upbringing in their family mansion. At 18, Kelly departed for New York City, staying in the Barbizon Hotel for Women and studying a $1,000-per-year acting course she funded by modeling.

She caught her onscreen break by landing a role in the Western film, "High Noon" (1952), which won four Oscars, made $18 million at the box office, and put her name on the map.

Kelly was then offered a contract with MGM Studios Inc. and went on to star in Hollywood films such as "Mogambo" (1953), "Dial M for Murder" and "Rear Window" (both released in 1954), and "High Society" (1956).

"Now if we take all of the earnings and the bonuses across those five years in Hollywood, Grace Kelly's total earnings could have reached $1.5 million, or the equivalent of $15 million today, earnings that appear to be entirely missing from her will," Godfrey says in the documentary. 

Kelly met Prince Rainier at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955, and they became engaged soon after. They married in 1956.

Kelly planned to keep acting but agreed to retire

According to The List, J. Randy Taraborrelli wrote in his book, "Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier," that Kelly had planned on continuing to act after she married the prince, but days later the royal was cited by the Los Angeles Times saying that and he and his wife had decided she would end her career. 

The List notes that "it was widely believed that it was Prince Rainier who made his wife stop acting, as Kelly had no plans of retiring at the time of their engagement." However, when asked by one interviewer if she would continue to act after marriage, according to The Times, Kelly responded: "Well that decision will be made by the prince."

Grace Kelly and William Holden attend the 27th Academy Awards ceremony in 1955.

Grace Kelly and William Holden attend the 27th Academy Awards ceremony in 1955. Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images

Five years into her marriage, Kelly planned to make a return to Hollywood with the lead role in Alfred Hitchcock's "Marnie," but, according to Bustle, Tony Lee Moral wrote in his book, "Hitchcock and the Making of Marnie," that Kelly dropped out due to issues between Monaco and France. Moral's book said that Kelly may have "felt compelled to stay in Monaco while her husband tried to settle problems with France who had ended a treaty with Monaco over their limited tax laws."

A new documentary about Kelly claims she had 3 wills

While Kelly's American and Irish wills do not account for the wealth she amassed from brand deals, jewelry, and fashion collections of items that were gifted to the actress for exposure, and any income she had as a working royal, the documentary claims there is a secret third will that has been locked away in the Grimaldi archives.

When asked why she and the director of the documentary, Adam Warner, suspect there is a third will, Godfrey told Insider: "The realisation that Grace Kelly had only $10,000 in her own name in the US stoked our curiosity. And once the second, Irish will was discovered, it strongly suggested there would be other formal documentation that dealt with the assets she was known for."

"With her Irish assets left in trust with a bank, there had to be a will governing the assets left to her children," she added. "This all led us to Monaco and the discovery of a third will."

In the documentary, Godfrey said they were unable to access the document.

"We've asked to see a copy but the palace said that it's not publicly available," she said. "They've told us that Prince Albert and his family don't wish to disclose its content." She told Insider that if she was able to access the third will, she would hope to see Kelly's assets were bequeathed to her children and her charity, The Princess Grace Foundation. 

"If you look at the wealth now of that royal family, her successor Charlene Wittstock is rumored to be worth $150 million," Godfrey said of the wife of Kelly's son Prince Albert II, whose estimated net worth was $1 billion in 2019.

According to the documentary, everyone around Kelly — except the actress herself — financially benefited from the Grace Kelly effect. MGM made millions of dollars from Kelly's films, and even Monaco relied on the princess' allure to attract millionaires to the tax-free haven.

Representatives for the House of Grimaldi did not respond to Insider's request for comment. 

Our Royal Insider Facebook group is the best place for up-to-date news and announcements about the British royal family, direct from Insider's royal reporters. 

GRACE KELLY , 5 TH AMONG 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (1995). Empire magazine

GRACE KELLY , 5 TH AMONG 100 Sexiest Stars in film history  (1995). Empire magazine

Grace Patricia Kelly was born on November 12, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to wealthy parents. She was the daughter of Margaret Katherine (Majer), a physical education instructor, and John Brendan Kelly, Sr., a three-time Olympic Gold winner for rowing. Her uncle was playwright George Kelly. She was of half Irish and half German descent. Her girlhood was uneventful for the most part, but one of the things she desired was to become an actress which she had decided on at an early age. After her high school graduation in 1947, Grace struck out on her own, heading to New York's bright lights to try her luck there. Grace worked as a model and made her debut on Broadway in 1949. She also made a brief foray into the infant medium of television.

Not content with the work in New York, Grace moved to Southern California for the more prestigious part of acting -- motion pictures. In 1951, she appeared in her first film entitled Fourteen Hours (1951) when she was age 22. This was a small role, but a start nonetheless. The following year, she landed the role of Amy Kane in High Noon (1952), a Western starring Gary Cooper and Lloyd Bridges which turned out to be very popular. In 1953, Grace appeared in only one film, but this was another popular one. 

The film was Mogambo (1953) where Grace played Linda Nordley. The film was a jungle drama in which fellow cast members, Clark Gable and Ava Gardner turned in masterful performances. This was also one of the best films ever released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Although she got noticed with High Noon, her work with director Alfred Hitchcock, which began with Dial M for Murder (1954) made her a star. Her standout performance in Rear Window (1954) brought her to prominence. As Lisa Fremont, she was cast opposite James Stewart, who played a photographer who witnesses a murder in an apartment across the courtyard while convalescing in a wheelchair. Grace stayed busy in 1954 appearing in five films. Grace would forever be immortalized by winning the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Georgie Elgin opposite Bing Crosby in The Country Girl (1954). In 1955, Grace once again teamed with Hitchcock in To Catch a Thief (1955) co-starring Cary Grant. In 1956, she played Tracy Lord in the musical comedy High Society (1956) which also starred Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. The whimsical tale ended with her re-marrying her former husband, played by Crosby. The film was well received and also turned out to be her final acting performance.

In the summer of 1954, Kelly and Cary Grant were on the French Riviera, working on To Catch a Thief. It was probably the scene after Grace speeds along the Moyen Corniche to quickly get to the "picnic grounds", and away from a tailing police car, that she had time to look at the Mediterranean and the countryside along the coast. "Whose gardens are those?" she asked screenwriter John Michael Hayes. "Prince Grimaldi's". She would not meet the prince until the following year. In New York in March 1955, she received a call from Rupert Allan, Look magazine's west coast editor, who had become a friend since writing three cover stories on her. The French government wanted her to attend the Cannes Film Festival that May. She had some good reasons to go. One: The Country Girl (1954) would be shown at the festival. Two: she had really loved working on the Riviera the summer before. She met Prince Rainier of Monaco during the Cannes festival. He needed a wife, because with no heir to the throne, Monaco would again be part of France, after his death, all its citizens would have to pay French taxes. And Kelly thought it was time for her to select a husband, one who would finally meet with her parents' approval.

Her biographers show that the life of a princess was not exactly living happily ever after. Old friends from Philadelphia as well as people she had known in Hollywood reported how glad she was to talk about her life in America and to be speaking English. And then on a cliff road she had known so well since her first visit to the Riviera, there was the fatal crash. The spot is often said to be the same spot where the picnic scene from To Catch a Thief was filmed in 1954. However, Kelly's own son, Prince Albert of Monaco, has categorically denied this on Larry King Live and elsewhere; according to him, the accident did not even happen on the same road, let alone at the same spot.

For the rest of her life, she was to remain in the news with her marriage and her three children. On September 14, 1982, Grace Kelly died at age 52 in an automobile accident in her adoptive home country Monaco.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Denny Jackson

Spouse (1)
Prince Rainier of Monaco (18 April 1956 - 14 September 1982) (her death) (3 children)

Trade Mark (2)

Her poised, calm, cool and collected demeanor and blond hair often coiffed in a bun
Often cast as the love interest of the leading man who is over 20 years older.

Trivia (65)

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#5) (1995).
Ranked #51 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Hoped to return to acting in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964), but the people of Monaco did not want their princess playing a thief and romancing Sean Connery.
Had three children with Prince Rainier of Monaco: Princess Caroline of Monaco (1957), Prince Albert of Monaco (1958) and Princess Stéphanie of Monaco (1965).

Her movies were banned in Monaco by order of Prince Rainier of Monaco.
The inscription at her burial site in Monaco's cathedral does not refer to her as a princess. It uses the title "uxor principis" (prince's wife), which is traditional in the House of Grimaldi.
Following her untimely death, she was interred at the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Monaco.
Assisted in the pre-production status of Grace Kelly (1983) starring Cheryl Ladd as Grace Kelly.
Actress Rita Gam was among her bridesmaids.
In 1993, the United States and Monaco simultaneously released a commemorative postage stamp honoring her. However, United States federal law forbids postage stamps depicting foreign heads of state, so the United States stamp listed her as "Grace Kelly", while the Monaco stamp listed her as "Princess Grace".
Part of Prince Rainier of Monaco's attraction to marrying a movie star was to increase tourism in his tiny, cash-poor principality, and the Kelly family was turned off by his demands that a substantial dowry accompany Grace to Monaco. A figure of $2,000,000 was finally agreed upon, which was diverted from Grace's inheritance so that her brother and two sisters would not be shortchanged.

Kelly's wedding gown was the most expensive garment that MGM designer Helen Rose had ever made. It used twenty-five yards of silk taffeta and one hundred yards of silk net. Its 125-year-old rose point lace was purchased from a museum and thousands of tiny pearls were sewn on the veil.
She was considered for the role of Maggie the Cat in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), which eventually went to Elizabeth Taylor.
The so-called "wealthy" family Grace was born into was actually an immigrant family of bricklayers who had barely a generation of newfound business success. Grace's father and brother were both Olympic gold-medal scullers. Grace's cousin, former US Secy of Navy John Lehman, Jr. now chairs the Princess Grace Foundation, which supports young performing talent.
Attended and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan, New York City.

The Country Girl (1954), the film that won Kelly an Oscar, was first offered to Jennifer Jones, who had to turn down because of pregnancy.

When she left Hollywood, several roles she was slated to play were eventually filled by Lauren Bacall (Designing Woman (1957) and The Cobweb (1955)). Director George Stevens also wanted her for Giant (1956).

Niece of playwright George Kelly.
Kelly was the daughter of John Brendan Kelly, Sr. (1889-1960), the son of Irish immigrants, and his wife Margaret Katherine (Majer), whose parents were German. She had three siblings: Peggy, John Jr. and Lizzane.
On January 1959, the Austrian government awarded her a medal of merit for aid to Hungarian refugees escaping Russian invasion, given through Monaco's Red Cross.

She was one of many famous tenants of the Barbizon Hotel for Women when she lived in New York. Other tenants included Candice Bergen, Liza Minnelli, Cloris Leachman, Ali MacGraw, and Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale.

She was voted the 27th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Referenced in the songs "Grace Kelly" by Die Ärzte; "Grace Kelly Blues" by Eels (Mark Oliver Everett),"Grace Kelly with Wings" by Piebald; and "Grace Kelly" by Mika.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6329 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Hedda Hopper reported that Judy Garland's loss of the Academy Award to Grace for The Country Girl (1954) was the result of the closest Oscar vote up till that time that did not end in a tie, with just six votes separating the two. In any event, it was such a heartbreak from which Judy Garland never recovered from, mentally. Judy Garland was nominated for her role in A Star Is Born (1954) and which has remained a matter of some controversy.
Summoned Sydney Guilaroff, the chief hairstylist at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, to style her hair for her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956.
She was voted the 12th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere magazine.
Was named #13 Actress on The American Film Institute's 50 Greatest Screen Legends

The road accident which led to her death was apparently caused by a stroke she suffered while driving.
Was romantically involved with fashion designer Oleg Cassini.
Is portrayed by Christina Applegate and Cheryl Ladd in Grace Kelly (1983).
Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue".
Broke off her engagement to Oleg Cassini to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Bought a silver frame as a wedding gift to Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981.
While pregnant with Princess Caroline of Monaco, Grace often used her Hermès bag to shield her belly from prying paparazzi. The company nicknamed that purse "the Kelly bag".

Her favorite flowers were roses. After her death, Prince Rainier of Monaco opened a public rose garden in Monaco.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 447-450. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.
In Italy, a vast number of her films were dubbed by Fiorella Betti. She was also dubbed by Miranda Bonansea, Dhia Cristiani and Rina Morelli, respectively in High Noon (1952), Dial M for Murder (1954) and To Catch a Thief (1955).
Was offered to do a role in 11-time Oscar-nominated The Turning Point (1977).
In her youth, her favorite actors were Joseph Cotten and Ingrid Bergman.
(April 19, 1956) Her wedding's church ceremony at Monaco's Saint Nicholas Cathedral was exclusively filmed by MGM and made into the documentary The Wedding in Monaco (1956). The 600 guests included David Niven, Gloria Swanson, Ava Gardner and Conrad Hilton.

On the day she perished in an automobile accident, she was allegedly driving a British Rover 3500.
Cary Grant named her as his favorite co-star. His friends and family said Kelly's death hit him much harder than the deaths of Louis Mountbatten, Alfred Hitchcock and even Ingrid Bergman.
She and her husband Prince Rainier of Monaco, were at the opening of Expo '58 in Brussels.

Grandmother of: Andrea, Charlotte, and Pierre Casiraghi, Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Louis and Pauline Ducruet, Camille Gottlieb, Jazmin Grace Grimaldi and Alexandre Coste.
She was considered for the role of Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls (1955), however Jean Simmons was cast instead.
Was allegedly romantically involved with all of her leading men apart from James Stewart. She was also linked to Marlon Brando, David Niven and Jean-Pierre Aumont.
Her father built a beach house at the corner of 26th and Wesley in Ocean City, New Jersey in 1929. It became a popular family vacation destination, and hosted celebrity guests such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Grace's sister, Lizanne, lived in the house until it was sold in 2001.
All of her leading men were old enough to be her father (with the exception of William Holden, who was 11 years older than her and Louis Jourdan, who was only 8 years older)

.
Former mother-in-law of Stefano Casiraghi (1983-1990) and mother-in-law of Daniel Ducruet (1995-1996). She was also the future mother-in-law of Princess Charlene of Monaco.
Was good friends with actress Maureen O'Hara.
She and her husband Prince Rainier of Monaco became pregnant twice in 1962; on both occasions she suffered miscarriages.
Ranked #86 in Men's Health magazine's 100 Hottest Women of all Time (2011).
She was the very first actress to appear on a postage stamp (1993).
She graduated from Stevens School in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 5, 1947; her classmates predicted, in her senior yearbook, that she was certain "to become a stage and screen star".
Her first date, Harper Davis, died in 1953 after contracting multiple sclerosis when he returned from World War II and whose funeral was attended by Grace Kelly.
She was a registered Democrat and her family was close friends with Franklin D. Roosevelt during his administration.
Was a Girl Scout.

Was the 42nd actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for The Country Girl (1954) at The 27th Annual Academy Awards (1955) on March 30, 1955.
She turned down the female lead in On the Waterfront (1954) in order to make Rear Window (1954) instead. The role went to Eva Marie Saint.
Had appeared in three films directed by Alfred Hitchcock: Rear Window (1954), Dial M for Murder (1954) and To Catch a Thief (1955).
Grace Kelly passed away on September 14, 1982, two months away from what would have been her 53rd birthday on November 12.
Portrayed by Nicole Kidman in the fictionalized and critically ravished Grace of Monaco (2014). However, Kidman was nominated for a SAG Award for her performance.
It has been alleged that as member of the Twentieth Century Fox board of directors, Kelly was responsible for closing down Russ Meyer's uncompleted "Who Killed Bambi?".
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios offered $70,000 dollars for the wedding of Grace Kelly, in gowns and bonus.

Personal Quotes (26)

Hollywood amuses me. Holier-than-thou for the public and unholier-than-the-devil in reality.
I'll tell you one of the reasons I'm ready to leave. When I first came to Hollywood five years ago, my makeup call was at eight in the morning. On this movie, it's been put back to seven-thirty. Every day, I see Joan Crawford, who's been in makeup since five, and Loretta Young, who's been there since four in the morning. I'll be goddamned if I'm going to stay in a business where I have to get up earlier and earlier and it takes longer and longer for me to get in front of a camera.

I hated Hollywood. It's a town without pity. I know of no other place in the world where so many people suffer from nervous breakdowns, where there are so many alcoholics, neurotics, and so much unhappiness.
Mogambo (1953) 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.
At times, I think I actually hate Hollywood. I have many acquaintances there, but few friends.
I came to success very quickly. Perhaps too quickly to value its importance.
I would like to be remembered as someone who accomplished useful deeds, and who was a kind and loving person. I would like to leave the memory of a human being with a correct attitude and who did her best to help others.
My father had a very simple view of life: you don't get anything for nothing. Everything has to be earned, through work, persistence and honesty. My father also had a deep charm, the gift of winning our trust. He was the kind of man with whom many people dream of spending an evening.
My real difficulty was to become a normal person again, after having been a movie actress for so long. For me, at the time I was living in New York and Hollywood, a normal person was someone who made movies.
Mr. Hitchcock taught me everything about cinema. It was thanks to him that I understood that murder scenes should be shot like love scenes and love scenes like murder scenes.

Of course, I think about marriage, but my career is still the most important thing for me. If I interrupt it now to get married, because I don't believe in a part-time family life, I would risk passing the rest of my existence wondering whether or not I would have been able to become a great actress.
My parents, despite their serious attitude toward life in general, and that of their children in particular, were very broadminded people. There was no such thing as a bad profession for them. As I was their daughter, they knew that, whatever profession I chose, I would do it well. That was enough for them. There was always trust among the Kellys.
I've always treated my children as beings in their own right. I respect their feelings and aspirations entirely.
When I married Prince Rainier, I married the man and not what he represented or what he was. I fell in love with him without giving a thought to anything else.
I would like to say to my future fellow citizens that the Prince, my fiance, has taught me to love them. I already know a lot about them from the way he has described them to me, and my dearest desire today is to find a little place in their hearts.
My love of flowers opened a lot of doors for me. I've made many friends because of their passion of flowers and their vast knowledge in this field.
Although, I've played a wide variety of roles, I've never had the chance to act in a story written specially for me. It's a pity as they are the only stories that really let you reveal your personality.

When Ava Gardner gets in a taxi, the driver knows at once she's Ava Gardner. It's the same for Lana Turner or Elizabeth Taylor, but not for me. I'm never Grace Kelly. I'm always someone who looks like Grace Kelly.
Fairy tales tell imaginary stories. Me, I'm a living person. I exist. If the story of my life as a real woman were to be told one day, people would at last discover the real being that I am.
If there is one thing that is foreign to me it is shopping for pleasure. On the other hand, I believe that it is right to honour all those who create beautiful things and give satisfaction to those who see me wearing them.
It would be very sad if children had no memories before those of school. What they need most is the love and attention of their mother.
I avoid looking back. I prefer good memories to regrets.
I'm basically a feminist. I think that women can do anything they decide to do.
The studios are tenacious. When they want someone or something, they always get it in the end. I ended up signing a contract with MGM. I signed because they offered me the chance of shooting in Africa, but I signed it at the desk of the airport, when the engines of the plane were already turning.

Before my marriage, I didn't think about all the obligations there were awaiting me. My experience has proved useful and I think that I have a natural propensity to feel compassion for people and their problems.
[on Gary Cooper] He's the one who taught me to relax during a scene and let the camera do some of the work. On the stage you have to emote not only for the front rows, but for the balcony too, and I'm afraid I overdid it. He taught me the camera is always in front row, and how to take it easy...
Salary (1)
Dial M for Murder (1954) $14,000
See also

GRACE KELLY , AMERICAN ACTRESS MARRIED PRINCE OF MONOCCA BORN 1929 NOVEMBER 12

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
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
Full name Grace Patricia Kelly
House	Grimaldi (by marriage)
Father	John B. Kelly
Mother	Margaret Katherine Majer
Religion	Roman Catholicism[1]
Occupation	Actress/Princess consort
Signature

After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of 20, Kelly appeared in New York City theatrical productions and more than 40 episodes of live drama productions broadcast during the early 1950s Golden Age of Television. In October 1953, she gained stardom from her performance in the film Mogambo. 

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.

Kelly in High Noon (1951), her first major film role

Kelly was born on November 12, 1929, at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to an affluent and influential family.[4] Her father, Irish-American John B. Kelly Sr. (1889–1960),[5] had won three Olympic gold medals for sculling and owned a successful brickwork contracting company that was well-known on the East Coast. 

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]

Kelly in a promotional photograph for Rear Window (1954)

 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.

Kelly in 1956

After the success of Mogambo, Kelly starred in a TV play The Way of an Eagle with Jean-Pierre Aumont, before being cast in the film adaptation of Frederick Knott's Broadway hit Dial M for Murder. Director Alfred Hitchcock also saw the 1950 screen test[11] and took full advantage of her beauty on-camera. He was one of her last mentors in the film industry.

The cast of Mogambo (1953)

Kelly began filming scenes for her next film The Bridges at Toko-Ri in January 1954 with William Holden. She played Nancy, the wife of naval officer Harry (Holden), who was a minor but pivotal character in the story. A film review that was released 12 months later, The New Yorker remarked on the apparent on-screen chemistry between them, and took note of her delivery of her performance "with quiet confidence."


Kelly in a promotional photograph for Rear Window (1954)

Kelly in a promotional photograph for Rear Window (1954)

Kelly unhesitatingly turned down the opportunity to star alongside Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront.[citation needed] Eva Marie Saint, who replaced her, won an Academy Award for that role. Kelly committed to the role of Lisa Fremont in Rear Window instead. Said Kelly, "All through the making of Dial M for Murder, he (Hitchcock) sat and talked to me about Rear Window all the time, even before we had discussed my being in it."[19] During the shooting of Dial M for Murder, they shared a close bond of humor and admiration, although minor strife sometimes emerged on set.

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. 

The cast of Mogambo (1953)

Just as he had done earlier, Hitchcock provided the camera with a slow-sequenced silhouette of her, along with a close-up of the two stars kissing, and finally lingering closely on her profile. With the film's opening in October 1954, she was praised again. Variety's film critic remarked on the casting, commenting on the "earthy quality to the relationship between Stewart and Miss Kelly. Both do a fine job of the picture's acting demands."[21]

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.

The tomb of Grace Kelly

Kelly's funeral was held at the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monaco[44] on September 18, 1982. After a Requiem Mass, she was buried in the Grimaldi family vault. Over 400 guests attended, including Cary Grant, Nancy Reagan, and Diana, Princess of Wales. At a later memorial service in Beverly Hills, James Stewart livered the following eulogy:

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]