Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier of Monaco marry
American actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier of Monaco in a spectacular ceremony on this day in 1956.Kelly the daughter of a former model and a wealthy industrialist began acting as a child.After high school she attended the American Academy for Dramatic Arts in New York.While she auditioned for Broadway plays she supported herself by modeling and appearing in TV commercials.
In 1949 Kelly debuted on Broadway in The Father by August Strindberg.Two years later she landed her first Hollywood bit part in Fourteen Hours.Her big break came in 1952 when she starred as Gary Coopers wife in High Noon.
Her performance in The Country Girl as the long-suffering wife of an alcoholic songwriter played by Bing Crosby won her an Oscar in 1954.The same year she played opposite Jimmy Stewart in Alfred Hitchcocks Rear Window.While filming another Hitchcock movie To Catch a Thief (1955) in the French Riviera Kelly met Prince Rainier of Monaco.It wasnt love at first sight for Kelly but the prince initiated a long correspondence which led to their marriage in 1956.
Afterward she became Princess Grace of Monaco and retired from acting.She had three children and occasionally narrated documentaries.Kelly died tragically at the age of 52 when her car plunged off a mountain road by the Cote DAzur in September 1982.
