Gracefully exquisite star of Hollywood films in the late 1950s. Born in Philadelphia, PA, the daughter of a former cover girl and a wealthy industrialist, former world champion oarsman Jack Kelly, and the niece of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Craig's Wife, etc.) George Kelly, she made her stage debut as a child of 10 in a Philadelphia production. After attending Raven Hall Academy, then the Stevens School, both in Philadelphia, she came to New York, where she took up modeling while attending classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She auditioned for many plays, but at first the only parts she could get were in cigarette commericals on TV. She finally made it Broadway in 1949, in a revival of Strindberg's The Father, starring Raymond Massey. Her serene beauty attracted attention in Hollywood and she landed a bit part in the film FOURTEEN HOURS (1951). The following year she got her first starring role, as the wife who ultimately did not forsake Gary Cooper in HIGH NOON. She was nominated for best supporting actress in 1953 for her portrayal of an adulteress in MOGAMBO. The following year she won the best actress Academy Award and the New York Critics Award for her performance as the embittered wife of an alcoholic actor-singer (Bing Crosby) in THE COUNTRY GIRL. The qualities that typed her as a star were an icy aloofnes and haughty reserve underneath which lay dormant passions. A dash of humor was added to her screen personality in two of the three films she made for Alfred Hitchcock (DIAL M FOR MURDER and REAR WINDOW, both 1954, and TO CATCH A THIEF, 1955). While working on TO CATCH A THIEF, the action of which takes place on the French Riviera, she met Prince Ranier III, the ruler of the tiny principality of Monaco. They married in 1956 in a spectacular royal ceremony (three months before the release of HIGH SOCIETY), and Grace retired from the screen. Instead of publicity photos, her delicate face now appeared on postage stamps. In 1962 she hosted a TV tour of Monaco. There was talk of a film comeback, but several announced projects did not materialize. She did narrate, however, THE CHILDREN OF THEATRE STREET (1978) and other documentaries. At 52, still one of the world's most beautiful and elegant women, she died of cerebral hemorrhages, one leading to and another resulting from a fatal accident, when the car she was driving on a treacherous Cote d' Azur mountain road plunged down a 45-foot embankment and burst into flames. The circumstances of the crash remain a mystery. Cheryl Ladd impersonated her in the TV movie "Grace Kelly" (1981).  Nominated for Supporting Actress 1953: MOGAMBO  Actress 1954: THE COUNTRY GIRL 2 nominations, 1 Award