Grace Kelly: The American Princess | The Hollywood Collection

She was born in a prospers

Philadelphia family.

Though she was a shy child,

she will live her life in the public eye.

"Don't try to be a hero!

You don't have to be a hero,
not for me!"

"I'm not trying to be a hero..."

At the age of 23, her beauty and talent

took her to Hollywood.

She made eleven films in
three and a half years

and became one of the most
sought-after stars of her time.

She worked with Hollywood's
most important directors,

played opposite its top leading men.

"There's nothing quite so mysterious

and silent as a dark theater..."

Then, at 26, she turned her back
on make-believe.

But make-believe came true,

in a fairy tale shared
by the entire world.

Her name was Grace Kelly.

It became Her Serene Highness,
Princess Grace of Monaco.

I don't think Grace really believed that

she was going to give up acting when

she became Princess Grace from Monaco

I think that the reallity of that probably

struck her some place in the middle of

the Mediterranean after the honeymoon again

She took everything so much in her stride

nothing seemed to be too much for her

Of any name, Grace, could not have been

more fitting

and even her death, her tragic early death

made her enter even more into legend

Monaco, a principality of less than

five hundred acres on the French Riviera

For centuries, the monarchs had held on

to their distinctive character,
and their pride

But, to this world, this place was known

as a "playground for the wealthy"

and came to enjoy its beauty
and its gambling

Monaco became a home of young
American actress

who arrieved in 1956 to be its Princess

She brought it fame, her cool beauty

her intelligence, and she brought war
a sense of purpose

Well, this story about the Princess
was firmly anchored in reality

Reality had its origins

back in Philadelphia

Competition came easily to the Kelly's

here along Kelly Drive

named after Grace's father, John B. Kelly

they still race in the sport for which

Jack Kelly won an Olympic medal

A statue elected by the citizens
of Philadelphia

commemorates that achievement

Jack Kelly's father was a bricklayer from
Ireland

who went on to make a fortune

young Jack soon joined
the family business:

construction and brick making

He started his own business

and made his own fortune

But he always professed pride in

his family's humble origins

Jack Kelly belived that the world

was what you made of it

Margaret Majer, who married Jack, had been

a model as well as a champion
swimmer athlete

Margaret and Jack were determined

to raise their children in their own way

If you are good enough, you're sure
to reach the top

It was drilled into Kelly children
from their earliest years

As a family, we were always very close

four of us, Peggy, my sister, the oldest

our brother Jack, Grace and then myself

She was the baby for three and
a half years

and loved every minute of it

Grace, when she was young, she
was very shy

and a mama's baby

There were many times were we had
pictures taken

that our mother had to lean back

away from the camera so Grace
would not cry

and taken away from her mother

she was very sweet and soft, and
loved to held

and cuddled and kissed, and loved

I, on the other hand, and I think my

brother and older sister, were more

"don't let me" "don't get around me"

we wanted to do our own things

we always had a place at the shore,
when we were young

and, at that time, I think we had our best
times together

we just had a marvelous time

and Grace, all her life, loved
being by the ocean and the sea

Grace and all the family were
a competitive family

I htink we got that, I know we got that
from our mother and our father

They stilled into us a deep sense
of competition

and the love of sports

the will of winning, but also taught us
how to lose gracefully

But the Kelly's didn't intend to lose
and there never was a better

drillness during the Jack Kelly

It was fun, family fun, and it left a
special kind of determinaiton

This determination didn't matter Grace
as much in the sporting field

But her determination sooner took
another turn

She loved sit by the hours and pretend
and create situations and say

"Lizzie, you do this, and I'll be this"

and "I'll be the mother and you'll be
the baby"

of course, I gave her a hard time
a lot of times because I did not

want to play her games

For Grace, growing up wealthy meant
winter sports in Lake Placid

It also meant, the best private schools

working for causes they believed in
started young

with modeling it's society fasion benefits

But for Grace, this shows meant more
than fundraising

It was theatre

She got most of her love from the
theatre my uncle George

He was a play writer and he directed plays

Very gracious, highly educated person
well-read, and very witty

and she just was fascinated with
all the tails of the stage and the theatre

Her uncle George, tell her she was a
great example to him

He was sensitive and kind, and talented
I think of all the men she ever knew

rather than going for the
"athletic macho type"

I think her ideal man was her uncle George

My recollections of father and John B.
an Jack Kelly were an enourmous man with

a tremendous amount of gust,
everything up-front

everything in the open, moved ahead

A nice man, but not a tremendous
amount of internal sensitivity

Her father believed absolutely the pea
that our elder sister was going to be

like the big star of the family and succed

and he never payed her the attention
to the family and his 4 children

and she was quiet, observant of the
others and adored her older brother

John B. Kelly Jr., an also athletic star,
great racer

her father thought he was great

but Gracie just accepted, and I don't
think he understood her at all

but she adored him

and yet, one worders, when you don't
get from a parent, what it is

perhaps what you need, if that isn't what
creates a great deal of the driving in

you to go out and become the fullest
part of yourself

She decided to go to New York, and my
mother and father escpecially surprised

because she was a shy and retiring girl

My mother and father were a little scary
of New York and on her own

but mother said "Jack, it is not as if she
is going to Hollywood or to California"

Grace knew that her father didn't think
much of an acting career

They allowed her to go, to get it out
of her system

"Let her go, it won't be anything"