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wealthy and a rowing champion like her brother. Not much was expected of Grace, the youngest after a sister and brother, her family reckoned it�d be her siblings who would get good jobs. Two of her uncles were in showbiz and her family supported her in her chosen profession. In the early 50s she had been on some early TV shows, and in 1951 was in her first film, Fourteen Hours. By 1952 she was starring in the Western High Noon which made her an overnight star. The next year she was in an African set safari adventure opposite such Hollywood legends as Ava Gardner and Cary Grant. She soon caught the attention of Alfred Hitchcock and became one of his famous blonde actresses, starring in 2 of his thrillers in 1954, Rear Window and Dial M For Murder and in 1955 another Hitchcock, To Catch a Thief (where she filmed a scene with Cary Grant on the road she was later killed on). Later that year she won a Best Actress Oscar for The Country Girl, where she donned a wig and glasses to make herself uglier, not unlike recent Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron. Her slightly posh accent (which she put on when she 1st learnt to act) perfect blonde curls and porcelain skin made her a classic 50s beauty and brought her success, fame, money and a Royal husband. 1956�s High Society, a musical with Bing Crosby, was her last film, which saw her character marry into society, which was the real life reason why it was her last film. She had met Prince Ranier of Monaco, and was going to give up Hollywood at her peak to devote herself to royal duties as Princess of Monaco. In 1962 she announced she�d be in another Hitchcock film but withdrew and never acted in film again, although the urge was always there. She had 3 children who are now Monaco�s remaining royal family. When she was 52 in 1982 she was driving along the road featured in To Catch A Thief with her teenage daughter Stephanie (is has been rumoured that she was the one driving) when their car went off the road on the Monte Carlo hills after Grace suffered a heart attack at the wheel. She died but Princess Stephanie survived, marking a tragic end to Hollywood�s greatest real life fairytale. |
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