Rainer, Grace, Stephanie, and Caroline
On November 12, 1929, this young actress and princess came into the world in
Philadelphia, Penn. Her mother was a model and her father, John “Jack” Kelly,
won two gold medals in the 1920 Olympics and later became a very skilled brick
contractor. She was the third of four children and as a young child she was good
at being alone. This beautiful, young lady happened to be Princess Grace Kelly;
and she became very dedicated in her career choice as an actress.
George Kelly, Grace’s uncle and a very successful playwright, helped her gain
admission to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, a prestigious acting school
in New York. Before her acting career, she modeled successfully. Grace just so
happened to be at a friend’s fashion shoot and the photographer noticed her and
quickly arranged for her to be on the front cover of Redbook magazine as the
cover model. This in turn led to other modeling arrangements, including ads for
Old Gold cigarettes and the Bridgeport Brass Co. (Kehoe)
Grace made her Broadway debut in “The Father” by Strinndberg. In her first
appearance on the silver screen she played a minor part in a box-office failure
called “Fourteen Hours”. Her first starring role was in “High Noon”. In her
acting career she came across very shy and rumors say she had intimate romances
with many of her co-workers. Some of these men included Clark Gable, Bing
Crosby, Ray Milland, William Holden, Oleg Cassini, and Jean-Pierre Aumont, just
to name a few. It doesn’t sound as though Grace had a problem with being shy
with all of her boyfriends. In one specific incident an observer remembered
attending a lunch given by Aristotle Onassis. Grace accompanied Cary Grant. The
observer wrote: ”Grace said little during lunch, and when it was over, Onassis
took Cary aside and invited him back anytime. ‘And please,’ the billionaire
said, nodding towards Grace,’ bring your secretary along with you.’” (Kehoe)
Grace was so quiet that Aristotle believed her to be Cary’s secretary instead of
his co-worker. Even though she seemed shy, when you got her on stage she wasn’t
as shy as most would think. Jimmy Stewart, one of her co-workers, said, “If
you’ve ever played a love scene with her, you’d know she’s not cold . . .
besides, Grace has that twinkle and touch of larceny in her eye.”(Kehoe)
Around 1954, she met her future husband at the Cannes Film Festival. A
journalist arranged for her to meet His Serene Highness Prince Rainier Grimaldi
of Monaco, one of his 142 titles, and she canceled the meeting because of an
appointment with a hairdresser. (Kehoe) Rainier did, however, keep in touch with
Grace and in December of 1955 he traveled to the United States to join the
Kellys’ for their annual Christmas party. Only three days later Grace and Prince
Rainier announced their marriage plans. They were married on April 19, 1956.
Grace was 26 years old and fit the princess role perfectly. Even if she hadn’t
been born to royal blood, she was beautiful, famous, and a devout Roman Catholic
from a wealthy background. (Rompalske)
There were about 1,500 journalists who decided to cover the marriage and just as
Princess Diana was mobbed by the paparazzi, so were Grace and Rainier. (Kehoe)
The royal family was in the news often with pictures published when each of
their two daughters and son were born, of family vacations, and holidays.
Princess Grace and Princess Diana had similar life stories in that they were
both humanitarians, worked hard for charitable causes, gave up careers to marry
into royalty and have families, and their lives both ended tragically in car
accidents. The differences between the two were that Princess Grace was driving
and not the chauffeur, and the paparazzi weren’t involved. It is said that
Princess Grace and her youngest daughter Stephanie were arguing over Stephanie’s
plans to join her boyfriend, Paul Belmondo (son of the famous actor Jean-Paul
Belmondo), and Princess Grace excused their driver to continue their
conversation in private. According to a reliable source, Princess Grace was seen
at the wheel of their Rover, however other rumors say that Princess Stephanie
was at the wheel illegally. There was a truck driver behind the vehicle who
recalls, ” It was honking in warning as it swerved dangerously around the
highways sharp curves.” Also, according to the truck driver, “ as the Rover
approached the fatal turn, instead of slowing down it appeared to accelerate
suddenly and sail straight over the edge of the cliff. After shearing off the
tops of several trees it rolled over and came to a stop upside down in a
ravine.” Nobody knows what really happened on that fatal day. Princess Stephanie
refuses to talk about that specific day even though it would clear up the rumors
and stories. Princess Stephanie suffered minor injuries compared to her mother
who suffered head trauma. A CAT scan after the accident it showed that Princess
Grace’s brain had been damaged in two different places. One was from the trauma
of the crash and the other appeared to have been a stroke, although it was
impossible to tell if the stroke caused the accident or if the accident caused
the stroke. Princess Grace was put on life support and her family had to make
the difficult decision of deciding whether or not to end the artificial life
support. The family decided that they were going to “pull the plug” -as it is
said. Princess Grace died on September 14, 1982, after languishing in a coma for
over 24 hours. The saddest part about the accident has to be that her death
might have been prevented if she had been wearing her seatbelt. (Romplaske)
Although Princess Grace is missed in Monaco along with the rest of the world,
they have found a way to remember her every year. They named a rose after her -
the Princess Grace Rose - that is widely planted in Monaco Even though she’s not
there, every spring she still remains a part of Monaco. (Kehoe)
This beautiful, young princess was loved around the world and had a big heart.
She loved theater and acting even if her career ended in 1956 when she married.
Her family helped her in getting her career started. She may not have gotten her
first break if not for her uncle. It has been 18 years since her death and she
will forever be missed and her films loved. The best way to describe Princess
Grace’s dedication to her work is in the words of Mother Theresa, “a life not
lived for others, is a life not worth living.” She may be gone but her memory
lives on forever.