She was America’s Cinderella, the movie star daughter of a bricklayer who wasn’t allowed to be a debutante so she became a princess instead. But the bricklayer was millionaire Jack Kelly, a father she adored but could never please and she lived in a 17-room mansion with her parents and 3 siblings where she was often alone. Cinderella grew up to be one of the most photographed women in the world and almost every man she met fell in love with her. Except the man she chose to marry!

Grace Patricia Kelly was born on November 12 th, 1929 , the third of four children, in East Falls , Philadelphia . Her handsome, athletic and gregarious father was one of a brood of ten children in an Irish Catholic family and he earned his first dollar working as a bricklayer in a construction company owned by two older brothers. Then he decided to borrow money from two other brothers (Walter, a well-known vaudeville comedian and George, a successful playwright) and built his own company into the largest on the east coast. But it was his prowess at the oars in sculling that made Jack a local hero and won him an Olympic Gold Medal. In Philadelphia that akin to sainthood.

Grace at 18 months ....

...and Grace at 2!

Grace’s mother, Margaret Majer Kelly was Jack’s exact opposite. “Ma” Kelly came from German Protestant stock and converted to Catholicism with some reservations. A striking blonde, she was also athletic and the first woman to ever teach physical education at Penn State. Grace, who inherited her mother’s cool beauty, called Margaret “That old Prussian mother of mine” referring to the fact that “Ma” ran a tight ship ..

Three little Kellys...Kell, Grace and Peggy

Growing up, Grace was the “different” child. Unlike her brother and sisters, she was frail and prone to colds and allergies. Jack favored Peggy who was more like him and often ignored the little girl tugging on his coat longing for a hug. Ma Kelly was busy running her household and usually responded with a fresh hanky and “Gracie, blow your nose”. So Grace spent most of her time alone in her room playing make-believe with her dolls. Make-believe would later become her career but she never gave up her dolls. They reminded her of the hours alone…and she even took them with her to the palace!

The whole Kelly clan!

In the fall of 1934, when she was not quite 5 years old, Grace was enrolled in the Academy of the Assumption in Ravenhill, a suburb of Philadelphia. At 14 she transferred to a private finishing school in Germantown, Pa. where the primary courses dealt with decorum, etiquette and “never go out without your gloves”! Grace began dreaming of debutante balls, white formals and long staircases but a society debut was not in her future. In Philadelphia, society was “old guard” established families. You had to be born into it and nouveau riche, Irish Catholics need not apply. So Grace bypassed college and, with the help of favorite Uncle George, was accepted at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Sciences. Her father was not pleased.

Grace’s first real romance began at the Academy with her director Don Richardson. But it wasn’t her first sexual encounter (she had a planned tryst before she left for New York so she would “be ready for the big city”).

Ma, Pa and Grace!

Don was Jewish, separated from his wife and 9 years older than Grace. Older, unattainable men became a pattern in Grace’s love life. Another pattern also quickly formed…her family descending on her to stop any hanky-panky! They pounced on Don with bribes and even threats but he was not impressed. However, discouraging Grace’s suitors soon became a frequent family affair. She was finally getting their attention!

Grace was still at AADA when her face began to appear on magazine covers ( Redbook, Ladies Home Journal and Cosmopolitan) and in ads from sweepers to toothpaste. She was considered “wholesome”. In 1949 she won a part in the Bucks County Playhouse production of Uncle George’s play “The Torch Bearers” and, on the basis of that performance, was chosen for a part in a Broadway play “The Father” with Raymond Massey. Then television beckoned and Grace was on her way up!

Grace in a toothpaste ad for Ipana

But her romances were beginning to make more news than her career and her father was furious. The Shah of Iran, in New York for a week, saw Grace every night. Prince Ali Khan was also attentive and gave her a bracelet that Don, still Grace’s current beau, threw in the fish bowl and then ended their relationship. And there were others not so royal but just as enamored of Miss Kelly.

The Shah of Iran

Prince Ali Khan

In 1951 Grace was in Colorado when she got word that Hollywood director Fred Zinneman wanted her for a small part in “High Noon” with Gary Cooper. She had done only one film “Fourteen Hours” for 20 th Century Fox in 1950 in a part so small she was listed as “lady in lawyer’s office”. Zinneman recalled later that it was the first time he had ever interviewed an actress who came wearing white gloves. But it was her shy demeanor that won the part. When gossip arose about a romance between the two stars, Ma sent little sister Lizanne to room with Grace for the duration.

When “High Noon” was nominated by the Academy for Best Picture , Grace’s movie career

Grace and Gable

went into high gear. But she had to sign a 7-year contract with MGM to get a chance at “Mogambo” with Clark Gable and she did so reluctantly. She almost lost the chance when Actors Equity refused to grant her a permit to work in Africa. They relented and soon Grace was on her way but when she got there Grace found out she was again “forgotten”. The press was more interested in the “Battling Sinatras” (Frank had come to visit Ava Gardner on the set). However, Gable was very glad to see her!

But it was Alfred Hitchcock that taught Grace how to lose her cool and smolder on screen. They made 3 pictures together (“Dial M For Murder”, “Rear Window”, and “To Catch a Thief”) and every one was a hit. And when Miss Kelly took off the gloves (and the make-up) and donned baggy clothes for “The Country Girl” she won an Academy Award.

The gold statuette!

It was just after Grace came back from filming “To Catch a Thief” in France that she met fashion designer Oleg Cassini. He was overjoyed when she agreed to marry him but when Grace took him home to meet her parents, he was met with a wall of silence. The romance-busting Kelly clan had struck again.

Grace and Rainier

Enter Prince Rainier…he was royal, rich, unattached and Catholic. He wasn’t Grace’s type at all. But she was just what Rainier needed…she looked wholesome and fertile (later she would be tested for that), rich, unmarried and Catholic and he needed both a wife and a heir. Rainier pursued her all the way home to Philadelphia and took his spiritual adviser, Father Tucker, along just in case. Ma liked Rainer but Pa still wasn’t pleased. He didn’t want “any broken-down prince marrying my daughter”. But even so (maybe Pa would learn to like him) and even though Grace still loved Oleg, she accepted Rainier’s proposal. She would learn to love him later.

A prayerful bride

On April 18 th (the civil ceremony) and April 19 th, 1956 ( the church wedding) Grace Patricia Kelly married Rainier III, Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand de Grimaldi, His Serene Highness of Monaco. The civil service was held in the palace and the church ceremony in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas.

Formal wedding picture

Grace Kelly never made another feature film. She bore the Prince 3 lovely children (Caroline, Albert and Stephanie) and learned to run the palace as efficiently as Ma Kelly ran the mansion. Grace died much too soon in a tragic auto accident along the same road she traveled with Cary Grant in “To Catch a Thief”. She was 53 years old. The princess is buried in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, the same church where she was married some 26 years earlier.

Cathredral of St, Nicholas
The grave of Her Serene Highness.....

For more on Grace Kelly ,see Arabella's Notes.

Filmography

Fourteen Hours 1951
High Noon 1952
Mogambo 1953
Dial M For Murder 1954
Rear Window 1954
The Country Girl 1954
Green Fire 1954
The Bridges at Toko-Ri 1955
To Catch a Thief 1955
The Swan 1956
High Society 1956
Rearranged 1982