Grace Kelly Biography

Fast Facts

• Gained an Academy Award nomination as well as a Golden Globe nomination for her first ever leading role in "Mogambo" alongside Clark Gable
• Ranked No․ 13 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years․․․ 100 Stars" list for Female Legends
• As Princess of Monaco, she founded AMADE Mondiale, a non-profit organization that would eventually become recognized by the UN
• Parents gained notoriety in later life with her father earning several Olympic medals and being appointed to public office by FDR, while her mother became the University of Pennsylvania's first-ever female head of the physical education department
• Quote: "Hollywood amuses me, holier-than-thou for the public and unholier-than-the-devil in reality․"
• While driving to the family's country home in France during the fall of 1952, she suffered a stroke while at the wheel of her SUV causing the car to careen down a steep mountainside which subsequently led to her untimely death the following day
• After being noticed by director John Ford, she signed a seven year contract with MGM that only earned her $850 per week starting out in 1952 but quickly grew along with her popularity
• After failing to gain entrance to Bennington College, she considered pursuing acting and modeling full-time by gaining entrance to the AADA in New York, despite her father's view that acting was 'a slim cut above streetwalking'
• Became the first U․S․ actress to appear on a postage stamp in 1993, however U․S․ federal law prohibits honoring foreign dignitaries on stamps, so the Postal Service listed her as 'Grace Kelly' instead of 'Princess Grace'
• Husband Prince Rainier III reportedly came to New York in 1955 seeking a wife after realizing that if he did not produce an heir to the throne of Monaco soon, the country would revert back to France according to a treaty signed in 1918
• After marrying into European royalty, her husband reportedly banned screenings of any of her movies throughout the country and she was forced to turn down any subsequent acting offers