Grace Kelly

Nicholas Cathedral, (Monaco Cathedral) Monte Carlo, Monaco. Step by step she would get engagements on Swedish stages and in Swedish films, but she would never regain the popularity she had enjoyed before and in the first years of World War II. Princess Grace is interred in the St. Zarah Leander had been far too much associated with the Nazi propaganda, and was shunned. Princess Stephanie, who was alleged by some sources to have been the actual driver of the car, suffered only minor injuries. After the Wehrmacht's defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad, Nazi criticism and pro-Americanism came to dominate totally in Sweden. It resulted in an accident, and she died the next day without regaining consciousness. Her villa in the fashionable Berlin suburb of Grunewald was hit in an airstrike, the increasingly desperate Nazis pressured her to apply for German citizenship, and she decided to break her contract with Ufa, leave Germany, and retreat to Sweden, where she had bought a mansion at Lönö, not far from Stockholm.

It had been rumored that she was driving on the same stretch of highway in Monaco that had been featured in To Catch a Thief, although her son, Prince Albert of Monaco, says it was not the same road. Zarah Leander's last film in Nazi Germany went up at the theaters on March 3, 1943. At the age of 52, Princess Grace suffered a stroke while driving. Many of her songs had a frivolous undertext, or could at least be interpreted that way. Presently, the line of succession is: Prince Albert, Princess Caroline, then her children by second husband Stefano Casiraghi and third husband Prince Ernst August of Hanover. Her was the role of a femme fatale, independently minded, beautiful, passionate and self-confident. In 2002, a new treaty between France and Monaco clarifies that even if there are no heirs to carry on the dynasty, the Principality will remain an independent nation rather than revert to France. She played roles with, basically, the same personality in all her German films; some said she played herself.

Prince Rainier and Princess Grace had three children:. A stupefied Propaganda Minister Goebbels dubbed her "Enemy of Germany", but as a leading film star at UFA, she participated in ten films, most of them great successes, and great contributions to the Third Reich's propaganda, as a counterweight to the international isolation and criticism that not the least Swedish newspapers demonstrated. Gisèle and Rainier supposedly parted when a physical examination reportedly found her to be infertile (she later married and had children). At the same time, she landed a contract with UFA in Berlin, and became known as an extraordinarily tough negotiator, demanding influence, high salaries and half of it paid in Swedish currency. Before Grace Kelly drew Rainier's attention, French film star Gisèle Pascal had been his love interest for six years (she was born Gisèle Tallone in Cannes, France). It was followed by the film Premiere, in which she played the role of a successful cabaret star. Prince Rainier's paternal grandfather, Prince Louis II of Monaco had done just that in 1919 when he adopted his illegitimate daughter Charlotte Louvet, who would become Rainier's mother, and made her his heir Princess Charlotte of Monaco. Nonetheless, survival of the nation was a different matter than the survival of the dynasty, and here there was a history of concern about fertility. It was a parody on Hollywood and not the least a parody of the German Marlene Dietrich, who had fled a Europe marked by Mussolini's, Stalin's and Hitler's stars.

In fact, there was really little actual danger that Monaco would revert to France as, since 1882, a childless prince of Monaco has been able to adopt an unrelated heir, thereby ensuring Monaco's survival as a principality. A second break-through, by contemporary measures her international debut, was the world premiere (1936) of Axel an der Himmelstür at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, directed by Max Hansen. Tales were circulated that Monaco would revert to France in the absence of an heir; and though there is no requirement for a Catholic marriage, it was thought unlikely that a Catholic prince would divorce and remarry if his chosen wife was barren. And she knew the language!. Her Catholicism and ability to bear children were key factors in her being chosen to marry Prince Rainier, as dynasties always make great import of their survival. What if she brought her children with her, and then some day found herself without employment? A mother could not divorce from her children, and she would not put them at such a risk. Austria and (Nazi) Germany were much closer. She reportedly was surprised to learn from Rainier that she was expected to give up her film career entirely, but followed his wishes. In her view it was, most of all, too insecure.

The musical comedy High Society (1956) was her last film, as her marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco marked her retirement from acting. Before her marriage, she was previously involved with Clark Gable, Bing Crosby, Ray Milland, William Holden, Oleg Cassini, and Jean-Pierre Aumont. As a mother of two school-age children, she ruled out a move to America. While it was being filmed, she had engaged in a brief affair with co-star Bing Crosby which was kept quiet to protect both their reputations. Zarah Leander opted for an international career on the European continent. In 1955 she was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Country Girl. Her fame brought her proposals also from the European continent and from Hollywood, where a number of Swedish actors and directors were working. Kelly made three films with Alfred Hitchcock: Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, and To Catch a Thief. In the following years, she embarked on a splendid career and could make a decent living as a popular artist on stage and in film in Scandinavia.

It earned Kelly an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, but the award went to Donna Reed for her role in From Here to Eternity. However, it was as operetta artist, as Anna Glavari in Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow that she had her definitive break-through (1931). By then she had divorced Nils Leander. The film Mogambo (1953), a drama set in the Kenyan jungle, centers on the love triangle portrayed by Kelly, Clark Gable, and Ava Gardner. In 1930, she participated in four cabarets in the capital, Stockholm, made her first records, including a cover of Marlene Dietrich's "Falling in Love Again," and played a part in a film. The following year she "starred" with a minor role in High Noon (1952), a generally praised but somewhat controversial western starring Gary Cooper. However, in 1929 she was engaged, as an amateur, in a touring cabaret by Ernst Rolf and for the first time sang "Vill ni se en stjärna," which soon would become her signature tune. Though her family had opposed her becoming an actress, Kelly became a fashion model and appeared in her first film, Fourteen Hours (1951), when she was 22. As a teenager she lived two years in Riga (1922–1924), learned the then most important international language, German, took up work as a secretary, married Nils Leander (1926), and had two children (1927 & 1929).

Kelly Drive in Philadelphia is named for John, Jr., who was a city councilman there. Although Zarah Leander studied piano and violin already as a small child, and sang on stage for the first time at the age of six, she made a serious attempt at an ordinary life. Her father was a self-made millionaire and a gold-medal-winning Olympic sculler, and her brother "Jack" followed in that tradition. She was born as Zarah Stina Hedberg in Karlstad, and died in Stockholm. (October 4, 1889 - June 20, 1960) and Margaret Majer; her Irish Catholic family were new but prominent figures in Philadelphia society. Zarah Leander (March 15, 1907 - June 23, 1981) was a famous European actress and singer of Swedish nationality. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to John Brendan Kelly, Sr.
Zarah Leander.

Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 - September 14, 1982), later known as Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco, was an Oscar-winning American film actress who became the wife of Prince Rainier III of Monaco. High Society (1956). The Swan (1956). To Catch a Thief (1955).

The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954). The Country Girl (1954). Rear Window (1954). Green Fire (1954).

Dial M for Murder (1954). Mogambo (1953). High Noon (1952). Fourteen Hours (1951).

Princess, Stephanie Marie Elisabeth, born February 1, 1965. Prince, Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre, heir to the throne, and Marquis des Baux, born March 14, 1958. Princess, Caroline Louise Marguerite, born January 23, 1957.