In the summer of 1954, Grace Kelly and Cary Grant were on the French Riviera working on an Alfred Hitchcock movie, To Catch a Thief. It was probably the scene after she speeds along the Moyen Corniche to quickly get to the "picnic grounds" -- and away from a tailing police car -- that she had time to look at the Mediterranean and the countryside along the coast. "Whose gardens are those?" she asked screenwriter John Michael Hayes. "Prince Grimaldi's". She would not meet the prince until the following year. In New York in March 1955, she received a call from Rupert Allan, Look Magazine's west coast editor who had become a friend since writing three cover stories on her. The French government wanted her to attend the Cannes Film Festival that May. She had some good reasons to go. One: The Country Girl would be shown at the festival. Two: she had really loved working on the Riveria the summer before. She met Prince Rainier of Monaco during the Cannes festival. He needed a wife, because with no heir to the throne, Monaco would again be part of France -- after his death -- and its citizens would have to pay French taxes. And Kelly thought it was time for her to select a husband, one who would finally meet with her parents' approval. Her biographers show that the life of a princess was not exactly living happily ever after. Old friends from Philadelphia as well as people she had known in Hollywood reported how glad she was to talk about her life in America and to be speaking English. And then on a cliff road she had known so well since her first visit to the Riviera, there was the fatal crash. The spot is said to be the same spot where the picnic scene from To Catch a Thief was filmed in 1954.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#5). [1995] Ranked #51 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Hoped to return to acting in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie, but the people of Monaco didn't want their princess playing a thief and romancing Sean Connery. Has three children with Prince Rainier of Monaco: Princess Caroline of Monaco (1957), Prince Albert of Monaco (1958) and Princess Stephanie of Monaco (1966). Her movies were banned in Monaco by order of Prince Rainier of Monaco. The inscription at her burial site in Monaco's cathedral does not refer to her as a princess. It uses the title "uxor principis" (prince's wife), which is traditional in the House of Grimaldi. Interred at the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, Monaco-ville, Monaco. Assisted in the pre-production status of Grace Kelly starring Cheryl Ladd as Grace Kelly. Actress Rita Gam was among her bridesmaids. Born at 5:31 AM EST. In 1993, the USA and Monaco simultaneously released a commemorative postage stamp honoring her. However, USA federal law forbids postage stamps depicting foreign heads of state, so the USA stamp listed her as "Grace Kelly", while the Monaco stamp listed her as "Princess Grace". Part of Prince Rainier of Monaco's attraction to marrying a movie star was to increase tourism in his tiny, cash-poor principality, and the Kelly family was turned off by his demands that a substantial dowry accompany Grace to Monaco. A figure of $2,000,000 was finally agreed upon, which was diverted from Grace's inheritance so that her brother and two sisters wouldn't be shortchanged. Kelly's wedding gown was the most expensive garment that MGM designer Helen Rose had ever made. It used twenty-five yards of silk taffeta and one hundred yards of silk net. Its 125-year-old rose point lace was purchased from a museum and thousants of tiny pearls were sewn on the veil. Was considered for the role of Maggie the Cat in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof that was eventually played by Elizabeth Taylor. The so-called "wealthy" family Grace was born into was actually an immigrant family of bricklayers who had barely a generation of new-found business success. Grace's father and brother were both Olympic gold-medal scullers. Grace's cousin, former US Secy of Navy John Lehman, Jr. now chairs the Princess Grace Foundation, which supports young performing talent. Attended and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, New York. The Country Girl, the film that won Kelly an Oscar, was first offered to Jennifer Jones, who had to turn it down due to pregnancy. When she left Hollywood, several roles she was slated to play were eventually filled by Lauren Bacall (Designing Woman and The Cobweb). Director George Stevens also wanted her for Giant. Niece of playwright George Kelly. Measurements: 34-24-35 (1955 pin-up), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) Irish/German. Father Jack Kelly was the son of Irish immigrants. Mother Margaret Major was German. On January 1959 the Austrian government awarded her a medal of merit for aid to Hungarian refugees escaping Russian invasion, given through Monaco's Red Cross. She was one of many famous tenants of the Barbizon Hotel for Women when she lived in New York. Other tenants included Candice Bergen, Liza Minnelli, Cloris Leachman, Ali MacGraw, and Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale. She was voted the 27th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Referenced in the songs "Grace Kelly", by Die Ärzte; "Grace Kelly Blues" by Eels (Mark Everett); and "Grace Kelly with Wings" by Piebald. The very first actress to appear on a postage stamp, in 1993. Hedda Hopper reported that Judy Garland's loss of the Academy Award to Grace for The Country Girl was the result of the closest Oscar vote up till that time that didn't end in a tie, with just six votes separating the two. In any event, it was a heartbreak from which Judy Garland never really recovered and which has remained a matter of some controversy ever since. Summoned Sydney Guilaroff, the chief hairstylist at MGM Studios, to style her hair for her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956. She was voted the 12th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Premiere Magazine. Was named #13 Actress on The American Film Institute's 50 Greatest Screen Legends The road accident which led to her death was apparently caused by a stroke she suffered while driving. Was romantically involved with fashion designer Oleg Cassini. Is portrayed by Christina Applegate and Cheryl Ladd in Grace Kelly. Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue" Broke off her engagement to Oleg Cassini to marry Prince Rainier of Monaco Bought a silver frame as a wedding gift to Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981. While pregnant with Princess Caroline of Monaco, Grace often used her Hermes bag to shield her belly from prying paparazzi. The company nicknamed that purse "the Kelly bag." Her favorite flowers were roses. After her death, Prince Rainier of Monaco opened a public rose garden in Monaco. Her lovers included actors Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, William Holden, David Niven, Ray Milland, Bing Crosby, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis and Cary Grant. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 447-450. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998. In Italy, a vast number of her films were dubbed by Fiorella Betti. She was also dubbed by Miranda Bonansea, Dhia Cristiani and Rina Morelli, respectively in High Noon, Dial M for Murder and To Catch a Thief.