Quick Facts
- NAME: Grace Patricia Kelly
- OCCUPATION: Film Actress, Princess
- BIRTH DATE: November 12, 1929
- DEATH DATE: September 14, 1982
- EDUCATION: American Academy of Dramatic Arts
- PLACE OF DEATH: France
- AKA: Princess Grace of Monaco
- AKA: French Princesse Grace de Monaco
Best Known For
A highly popular film actress in the 1950s, Grace Kelly starred in movies such as Dial M for Murder and To Catch a Thief. She married Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
. (2012). Biography.com. Retrieved 04:15, May 22, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/grace-kelly-9362226
[Internet]. 2012. http://www.biography.com/people/grace-kelly-9362226, May 22
"." 2012. Biography.com 22 May 2012, 04:15 http://www.biography.com/people/grace-kelly-9362226
'', Biography.com,(2012) http://www.biography.com/people/grace-kelly-9362226 [accessed May 22, 2012]
"," Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/people/grace-kelly-9362226 (accessed May 22, 2012).
[Internet]. Biography.com; 2012 [cited 2012 May 22]. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/grace-kelly-9362226.
, http://www.biography.com/people/grace-kelly-9362226 (last visited May 22, 2012).
, http://www.biography.com/people/grace-kelly-9362226 (last visited May 22, 2012).
Synopsis
Born in Philadelphia in 1929, Grace Kelly became a popular actress in the 1950s starring in movies such as Dial M for Murder, To Catch a Thief and The Swan. She married Prince Rainier III of Monaco, with whom she had three children, in 1956.
Quotes
"The freedom of the press works in such a way that there is not much freedom from it."
"Hollywood amuses me. Holier-than-thou for the public and unholier-than-the-devil in reality."
Early Life
Actress, Princess Consort of Monaco. Grace Patricia Kelly was born on November 12, 1929, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father, John Brendan "Jack" Kelly, was a champion sculler who won three Olympic gold medals as part of the U.S. rowing team. A self-made millionaire, he owned one of the most successful brick businesses on the East Coast. Her mother, Margaret Katherine Majer, was the first coach of women's athletic teams at the University of Pennsylvania. Kelly was the third of four children and was named after her father's sister, who died at a very young age.
Kelly expressed a deep love of performance at a young age. In addition to participating in school plays and community productions, she occasionally modeled with her mother and sister. While attending Stevens School, a small private high school in Philadelphia, she continued to dream about acting. The arts held a prominent place in the Kelly family. Her uncles Walter C. Kelly, a vaudevillian performer, and George Kelly, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, both had a huge affect on her. It was George who later encouraged his niece to pursue a full-time acting career, mentoring her through her rise in Hollywood.
After high school, Kelly decided to pursue an acting career in New York City despite her parents' objections. According to Kellys close friend Judith Balaban Quine, Jack Kelly thought that acting was "a slim cut above streetwalker." Despite this, Kelly enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. As a student, she modeled part-time and appeared in ads for Old Gold cigarettes and on the covers of magazines like Cosmopolitan and Redbook. Her final performance at the Academy was in A Philadelphia Story. Years later she would reprise her role in High Society, a musical adaptation on the big screen.
After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York at age 19, Kelly sought a career on Broadway, but she found it tough going. Don Richardson, one of her directors and teachers later said, "She would never have had a career in the theater," because she had "great looks and style, yes, but no vocal horsepower."
Whether or not that assessment was correct, Kelly soon found that film was more amenable to her talents. In the years just following World War II, the film and television industries were both booming, and Kelly soon moved to Hollywood. She would eventually feature in 11 films and star in over 60 television productions.
First Hollywood Film
Gary Cooper discovered Grace Kelly on the set of her first film, Fourteen Hours (1951), when she was 22 years old. He arranged for her to play his very young wife in High Noon (1952), an acclaimed Western that put her on the path to stardom. A year later, Kelly was offered a role in Mogambo (1953), a film set in Kenya, starring Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. While filming Mogambo, Kelly had an affair
profile name: Grace Kelly profile occupation:
Your Connections
Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.
Profile Connections
Included In These Groups
-
Celebrity Couples 67 people in this group
-
Famous Irish-Americans 81 people in this group
-
Automobile Accident Victims
View groupJames Dean, Princess Diana, Isadora Duncan, are among the notable people who lost their lives in automobile accidents or from injuries from car crashes.
Automobile Accident Victims 20 people in this group

Mark Zuckerberg
Mobsters
Icons of the Wild West
Robin Gibb
My Ghost Story
Mobsters
Robert Downey Jr
Margaret Thatcher
Marilyn Monroe
I Survived


