Grace Kelly

published 15/09/1982 at 17:52 PM by John-Thor Dahlburg and Jack Jones

Actress - Born Nov. 12, 1929 in Philadelphia, PA - Died Sept. 14, 1982 of automobile accident preceded by a stroke in Monaco Hospital, Monaco

Grace Kelly was an Academy Award-winning actress and princess whose cool beauty, glamour and sophistication made her the ideal movie star.

Kelly made her debut on Broadway as the captain's daughter in "The Father," opening in July 1949. She went on to act in television shows, then started her movie career.

Her motion picture debut was not a big one. She had only a small part in "Fourteen Hours," filmed in New York in 1951. It was in fall 1951 that her film career really began: She went to Hollywood to be Gary Cooper's Quaker wife in a memorable western, "High Noon."

MGM signed her to a seven-year contract and Kelly went to Africa for "Mogambo," in which she starred with Clark Gable. After that came Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M for Murder," then "Rear Window."

It was for her role as the bitter wife of a has-been alcoholic actor (played by Bing Crosby) in the 1954 film "Country Girl" that she won an Oscar.

Some of her other films included "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" with William Holden, "The Swan" and "Green Fire" with Stewart Granger.

Kelly walked away from a meteoric film career after only 11 films to wed Prince Rainier III of Monaco, who relentlessly pursued her after they met at the Cannes Film Festival. Kelly married Rainier in 1956, one of the most publicized events of the 20th century, marking the union of two elites.

She restricted her stage appearances to an occasional poetry reading, usually to support charitable causes. She died Sept. 14, 1982, when she suffered a stroke while driving and her car careened off of a mountainside.

— John-Thor Dahlburg and Jack Jones in the Los Angeles Times April 7, 2005 and Sept. 15, 1982