Grace Kelly

Grace Patricia Kelly (12 November 1929-14 September 1982) was an Oscar-winning actress, fashion icon, and princess of Monaco.

Kelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to John and Margaret Kelly. John B. Kelly was a wealthy contractor. At a young age, Grace decided she wanted to become an actress, and studied acting (primarily theater) at New York City's American Academy of Dramatic Art and worked as a stage actress and model before moving to Hollywood. When in New York, Grace promoted Old Gold cigarettes and appeared on the covers of magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Redbook.

Grace debuted in the film 14 Hours, in a minor supporting role, but then starred in High Noon. Grace then appeared in Mogambo, which won her an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Her work in High Noon and a screen test for the film Taxi piqued the interest of director Alfred Hitchcock, who, with the aid of Edith Head, pruned Grace into his ideal of the elegant, beautiful blonde. She gave Hitchcock wonderful performances in Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, and To Catch a Thief. Grace went against Hitchcock's glamorized vision of her for the film The Country Girl, which won her the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role of 1954. The success of the song "True Love" from the movie High Society earned Grace a gold record. In 1956, she was voted the Golden Globe's World Film Favorite Actor, Female.

Later that year, she married Prince Rainier Grimaldi III of Monaco to become Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco. As a princess, she gave up her successful acting career, in which she had made eleven films. She had three children: Princess Caroline, Prince Albert, and Princess Stéphanie. Grace died on 14 September 1982 after her car went off a road in the cliffs of Monaco.