Grace Kelly was born in Philadelphia, on November 12, 1929 to John Brendan Kelly, Sr., also known as Jack Kelly, and Margaret Katherine Majer. With two sisters and a brother, she spent her childhood in the Kelly home on the hill above East Falls. Her father was a self-made millionaire and a gold-medal-winning Olympic sculler, and her brother John B. Kelly, Jr., sometimes known as "Jack, Jr." followed in that tradition. She started school in the autumn of 1934, at the Academy of the Assumption, Ravenhill, Philadelphia, in the parish of St. Bridget's, and attended it in the next nine years. In 1943 she transferred to the Stevens School in Germantown, where she completed her high school education and graduated in May 1947. Then she left for New York City where she was attending American Academy of Dramatic Arts and worked as a model and TV player. Grace Kelly made her stage debut in 1949 in the Broadway production of The Father by A.Strindberg. Though her family had opposed her becoming an actress, Kelly became a fashion model and appeared in her first film, Fourteen Hours (1951), when she was 22. Her first film appearance was in 1951 in Fourteen Hours. The following year she played Gary Cooper's wife in the classic western High Noon. In 1953 MGM signed her and gave her the second lead in Mogambo. She received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for the role. Dial M for Murder, an excellent thriller set in a claustrophobic London apartment and shot in 1953, was the beginning of the fascinating co-operation with director Alfred Hitchcock. Grace Kelly personified the essence of his cool blonde and he made the most brilliant use of her regal, sophisticated and aristocratic beauty. Their next movie, Rear Window, with the camera which almost didn't leave the New York apartment, was the most successful experiment of the genious director. In 1954, The Country Girl, with the unglamorous, depressive and so opposite of Lisa Fremont role, won her an Oscar. In the spring Grace Kelly arrived to the French Riviera to play Frances Stevens, the part Hitchcock designed for her in the stylish To Catch a Thief . This beautiful, elegant, wise, sparkling cool blonde, active and ambiguous, was one of her best performances. High Society, a musical adaptation of The Philadelphia Story, was her last movie. The song "True Love", a beautiful duet with Bing Crosby, became a Platinum record. In 1956 Grace Kelly married Prince Raineir III of Monaco, retired from film, became Princess Grace of Monaco and the best ambassador of her new country. It was announced that she was retiring from her Hollywood film career. She had three children: Princess Caroline, Prince Albert and Princess Stephanie. In 1962 Alfred Hitchcock offered her the leading role in Marnie but she had to refuse that. In 1977 she narrated a documentary The Children of Theatre Street. As Princess Grace of Monaco, she served as head of a number of charitable and philanthropic organizations, and gave birth to three royal children: Princess Caroline, Prince Albert and Princess Stephanie. In 1982, Princess Grace lost control of the vehicle in which she and her daughter were travelling. While Princess Stephanie survived the accident with minor injuries, Grace lingered in a coma for barely 24 hours, before she died on 14th September. Princess Grace personfied beauty, class, and glamour and will never be forgotten by her fans and subjects.
