Kelly, Grace |
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BORN 12 Nov 1929, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - DIED 14 Sep 1982, Monaco: Monaco Hospital BIRTH NAME Kelly, Grace Patricia CAUSE OF DEATH brain damage after traffic accident GRAVE LOCATION Monaco: St. Nicholas Cathedral |
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Daughter of John Brendan Kelly and Margaret Majar, a German immigrant of noble origin. She grew up as a Roman Catholic. Her mother became the first woman to direct the Physical Education Department at the University of Pennsylvania. Her father had won Olympic gold at rowing and his brick business made him a millionaire. Her uncle George Kelly was a dramatist. Grace was educated at the girls' school Ravenhill Academy before she went to high school where she acted and danced. She entered the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and worked as a model to pay for it. She debuted on Broadway in Strindberg's "The Father" and appeared on television. When she made her movie debut with a small part in "Fourteen Hours" (1951) she was noticed by Gary Cooper when he visited the set. In 1952 she signed for seven years with MGM and she was off to Africa to film "Mogambo". The part earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 1954 she was in several movies, among them "Dial M for Murder" and "Rear Window", both directed by Alfred Hitchkock. In 1955 Hitchkock directed her once more in "To Catch a Thief" and in 1956 she was in "High Society" with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. In 1955 she headed the US delegation to the Cannes Film Festival and there she met Prince Rainier III. Back in America she started a correspondence with him and soon he proposed to her. The press called it the wedding of the century, but her family had to pay a dowry of USD 2,000,000 and in later times it came out that the prince had made a list of women and that she hadn't been on top of it. They married on 19 Apr 1956 and nine months later their daughter Caroline was born. Albert (1958) and Stéphanie (1965) followed. her marriage meant the end of her career, but in 1962 Alfred Hitchkock offered her the lead in "Marnie". She wanted to do it very much, but in Monaco the idea that she would play a kleptomaniac was criticised severely and she was forced to reject the offer. On 13 Sep 1982, when she was driving from her country home to Monaco, she suffered a stroke and drove her car down a mountainside. She died the next day at the Monaco Hospital (now the Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace). Her daughter suffered a cervical fracture and some minor injuries. At the time it was rumoured that Stéphanie had been at the wheel. Grace was buried at the St. Nicholas Cathedral in Monte Carlo. Related persons • was a friend of Marquet, Mary |
| Images |
 The grave of Grace Kelly, Monte Carlo. Picture by Androom (01 Dec 2008) |
Sources • Grace Kelly - Wikipedia |
