Grace Kelly

Who was Grace Kelly?

Grace, Princess of Monaco was an American film actress and wife of Prince Rainier III of Monaco. She was the Princess Consort of Monaco from 1956 until her death in 1982.

After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of 20, Grace Kelly appeared in New York City theatrical productions as well as in more than forty episodes of live drama productions broadcast during the early 1950s Golden Age of Television. In October 1953, with the release of Mogambo, she became a movie star, a status confirmed in 1954 with a Golden Globe Award and Academy Award nomination as well as leading roles in five films, including The Country Girl, in which she gave a deglamorized, Academy Award-winning performance. She retired from acting at 26 to enter upon her duties in Monaco. She and Prince Rainier had three children: Caroline, Albert, and Stéphanie. She also retained her American roots, maintaining dual US and Monégasque citizenships.

She died after suffering a stroke on 14 September 1982, when she lost control of her automobile and crashed. Her daughter, Princess Stéphanie, was in the car with her, and survived the accident.

In June 1999, the American Film Institute ranked her number 13 in its list of top female stars of American cinema.