Grace Kelly: The life story y'all may not know

Grace Kelly was—and is—the image of elegance and style. To this day, decades afterwards her untimely death, few fifty-fifty come shut.

She fabricated her way, at first, as a hard-working model and actor. The daughter of a prominent Philadelphia family, Kelly studied acting, appeared in alive tv dramas, and finally made her way to the Broadway stage.

Kelly helped render three of director Alfred Hitchcock's suspense films into masterpieces: "Punch Thousand for Murder," "Rear Window," and "To Catch a Thief."

Of course, not but was she a Hollywood star, but she became a real-life princess, sweeping off to wed a European prince in lavish luxury. So enamored was the public of the couple that their appointment announcement was front-page news at The New York Times. Brides still crave gowns styled like the one she wore of silk taffeta and erstwhile lace.

Kelly'due south influence is perpetual. She radiated poise, mode, taste, form, graciousness, and dazzler.

Although Kelly was one of the almost public figures of the 20th-century, Stacker has found 25 facts about her life that you may not know, drawn from media coverage, movie archives, historical accounts, and fashion reviews.

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1929: Born in Philadelphia

Grace Patricia Kelly was born in Philadelphia on November. 12, 1929. She was the third of four children. The eldest sibling was Peggy, followed by John Jr., and sis Lizanne was the youngest.

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1920s: An Olympic athlete father

Grace Kelly's father, Jack, was a champion athlete, winning iii Olympic golden medals in 1920 and 1924 for sculling. He besides ran a successful construction company, Kelly for Brickwork, and once made a bid for Philadelphia mayor. The family unit lived in a firm overlooking the Schuylkill River, where the histrion's father liked to row.

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1920s: A family of achievers

The Kelly family did non fall short of success. Grace Kelly'south mother, Margaret Majer Kelly, was a erstwhile cover-daughter model and competitive swimmer, and she was also the first woman to teach concrete education at the University of Pennsylvania. 1 of Grace Kelly'due south uncles was Walter Kelly, a vaudevillian entertainer, and another was George Kelly, a playwright who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1926 for "Craig'southward Wife." Her cousin John Lehman Jr. served as U.South. Secretary of the Navy.

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1940s: School days in Pennsylvania

Kelly graduated in 1947 from the Stevens Schoolhouse in Germantown, Philadelphia. Classmates wrote in her yearbook that she would become a star of the stage and screen.

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1940s, early on 1950s: A move to New York

When she was 18, Kelly moved to New York Metropolis, where she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She stayed in the Barbizon Hotel for Women and worked every bit a commercial model, appearing in print advertisements. In the early 1950s, she acted in live "playhouse" television dramas and made more than 30 goggle box appearances.

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1949: Landing a function on the Broadway phase

Kelly landed her offset large Broadway function in 1949, playing the daughter in "The Father." The play starred Raymond Massey. She was criticized for having a loftier voice that did not project well, and she trained her voice to be deeper.

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1951, 1952: Getting piece of work in Hollywood

Kelly picked upwards her get-go film part when she was 22, playing Mrs. Louise Ann Fuller the 1951 movie "Fourteen Hours." Her role, that lasted just over two minutes, was that of a bystander. The following year, she played Gary Cooper's wife in "High Noon." The Western won four Oscars.

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Stanley Kramer Productions

1952: Signing on with MGM

The role player signed a seven-year contract with MGM in 1952. It paid her $750 a calendar week, and it stipulated she could live in New York every other year to pursue her stage ambitions. She made 9 movies under the contract, five of them with studios where MGM lent her out.

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1953: Catching the eye of John Ford

In her third moving-picture show role, 1953'southward "Mogambo," Kelly co-starred in the jungle drama with Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. In casting Mogambo, director John Ford noticed Kelly in a screen test she had done three years earlier for a role she did non land.

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1950s: Starring every bit Hitchcok's leading actor

Director Alfred Hitchcock gave Kelly three leading roles—in "Dial M for Murder," "Rear Window," and "To Catch a Thief"—that made her a Hollywood star. He needed a atomic number 82 extra for "Dial M for Murder" subsequently his previous choice, Ingrid Bergman, was caught upwards in a scandalous affair with married director Roberto Rossellini.

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1954: An acclaimed operation in 'Rear Window'

Kelly'south well-nigh critically acclaimed performance in her movies past Alfred Hitchcock was in 1954'south "Rear Window." The male person lead was played by actor James Stewart, whose grapheme is using a wheelchair due to a broken leg. He suspects he has witnessed a murder in a neighboring apartment. To investigate, he enlists the help of his girlfriend, played by Kelly. To make "Rear Window," Kelly turned downward the female lead in "On the Waterfront," that was taken instead by Eva Marie Saint.

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1954: Engaged to Oleg Cassini

Kelly dated Russian fashion designer Oleg Cassini, who wooed her with bouquets of roses until she agreed to go out with him. The couple was engaged briefly in 1954. He was credited with helping curate Kelly's trademark elegant style and later helped create the distinctive style of first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

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1954: Voted on to Best-Dressed List

Kelly was voted onto the International Best-Dressed Listing in 1954 and again for several years thereafter. In 1955, her image was the model for a line of mannequins that were used in department store windows.

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1955: A dark at the Oscars

Kelly was the highest-earning female actor in Hollywood in 1955, the yr she won an Oscar for best actress for her role in "The Country Girl." She played the married woman of a washed-upward alcoholic actor and singer played past Bing Crosby. Judy Garland, who played in "A Star Is Built-in," had been the expected winner. Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper reported the University'due south vote on the category winner was ane of the closest ever, with just six votes' difference.

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1955: Coming together the prince

Kelly met Prince Rainier of Monaco in May of 1955 at the Cannes Motion picture Festival, where her Oscar-winning film "The Country Girl" was being shown. The annunciation of their appointment in January 1956 took many of those who knew her by surprise since the couple had known each other for a relatively short time. The January. vi, 1956 engagement announcement ran on the forepart page of The New York Times.

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1956: 'The Wedding ceremony of the Century'

Kelly and Prince Rainier married on April 19, 1956 in what was widely chosen "The Wedding of the Century" at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Monaco. Kelly and an entourage of 66 travelled by ship to Monaco, and almost ii,000 reporters covered the gala ceremony. The hymeneals was filmed by MGM and aired live in Europe.

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1956: A gown of silk, vintage lace

Kelly's nuptials gown was created past MGM costume designer Helen Rose. It consisted of 25 yards of silk taffeta and 100 yards of silk net. The rose point lace was 125 years sometime and purchased from a museum, and thousands of tiny pearls were sewn onto the veil. The dress went on to inspire the choices of myriad brides, including the dress made by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen for Kate Middleton's 2011 wedding ceremony.

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1956: A toast to the bride and groom

As part of the celebration in Monaco to marker the marriage of the prince and the histrion, bartenders began serving a specially concocted drink for the occasion. The Princesse Cocktail was made of equal parts bourbon, grenadine, and fresh cream.

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1956: Creating a signature look for new mothers

While pregnant in 1956 with her first child, Caroline, Kelly created the at present-coveted Kelly pocketbook. She was using her large, square Hermès handbag to protect her belly, and the purse became hugely pop. Still highly desired, Kelly numberless, peculiarly vintage ones, can be very expensive.

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1957: Princess Caroline is born

The couple had their first child, Caroline, who was conceived during their honeymoon and whose birth assured a Grimaldi succession for Monaco, allowing it to become independent from France. Caroline has been married three times, and she has four children. Her 2d husband, Stefano Casiraghi, was killed in 1990 in a high-speed boating accident.

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1958: Prince Albert is born

Kelly and Rainier had their son, Albert, in 1958. He ascended to the throne in 2005 when his father died. As a fellow, Albert competed in the Olympics games of 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, and 2002 on Monaco'due south bobsledding team. He is the male parent of twins Jacques and Gabriella, born in 2014, with his wife Princess Charlene, a quondam Olympic swimmer from Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. Albert also has a son, born in 2003, with a erstwhile Air France flight attendant, and a daughter, born in 1992, with a woman from California.

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1964: A thwarted render to the movies

Kelly wanted to return to acting and appear in Alfred Hitchcock'south 1964 film "Marnie." Apparently the idea was not pop in Monaco, with the land confronting its princess in the office of a compulsive thief across from heartthrob Sean Connery. Kelly withdrew from the product, and he role went to Tippi Hedren.

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1965: Princess Stephanie is born

Kelly and Rainier'southward tertiary child, Stephanie, was built-in in 1965. Stephanie grew up to become a model, singer, and way designer. Her outset husband, Adans Lopez Peres, whom she divorced, was a circus acrobat. She had two children with her second married man, Daniel Ducruet, whom she also divorced. She had a third child with a former imperial bodyguard.

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1982: Death on the road

On Sept. xiii, 1982, Kelly was driving with her girl Princess Stephanie on a roadway in Monaco when she lost control of the auto. The motorcar ran off the road and down a steep mountainside, and Kelly was killed in the horrific crash. Stephanie suffered a cervical fracture. It is believed Kelly had a small stroke while at the wheel. She was 52.

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1982: Interred at Cathedral of St. Nicholas

Kelly was laid to rest in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Monaco. The inscription uses the words "uxor principis," meaning prince'due south married woman. Her favorite flowers were roses, and Prince Rainier opened up a public rose garden in Monaco following her decease.

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