Random Fascinating Facts About Grace Kelly, The Movie Star Who Became A Princess (14 items)

(#3) She Wasn't Considered Beautiful In Her Younger Years

Throughout her adult life, Kelly was frequently cited as one of the most beautiful women in the world – but she wasn't considered particularly attractive in her younger years, even after landing some work as a model. According to an A&E biography, her family and friends, who had never thought of her as being anywhere near movie star material, were stunned when they saw her on the big screen for the first time.

As one of her childhood friends recalled, "We had no idea she was as beautiful as she was. Grace always a bandana on, and had the glasses, and the sweater, nothing glamorous. And when she went to New York and we started to see her on television, and in magazines, it was, 'My heavens! That's our Grace?'"
(#6) She Had A Tumultuous Love Life

Kelly was something of an early bloomer when it came to romance; her now legendary love life began in her teens. While in acting school, she had her first serious relationship with Don Richardson. Her parents were scandalized by her choice of partner – Richardson was older, separated but not divorced from his wife, and Jewish. What's more, he carried condoms.
After she began working in the film industry, Kelly reportedly had a string of affairs with her usually older co-stars. She fell for the married Gary Cooper on the set of High Noon, dallied with Clark Gable while filming Mogambo, hooked up with Ray Miller while making Dial M for Murder – and more followed. Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper labeled Kelly a home wrecker and a nymphomaniac, but even such flamboyantly lurid branding didn't stop Kelly from continuing to date her leading men.
One of Kelly's most serious relationships was with designer Oleg Cassini. The two were reportedly engaged, and Kelly was rumored to have gotten pregnant by him and had an abortion. However, she was apparently ultimately looking for a husband who wouldn't feel threatened by her fame ... and Prince Rainier, whom she would meet at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955, would fulfill that criteria.
(#12) She Took Voice Lessons To Get Rid Of Her Philly Twang

After she enrolled in acting school in 1947, Kelly's instructors began working avidly to "correct" what they called her "Philadelphia twang." As biographer James Spada explains, "one of the first things her instructors at the Academy of Dramatic Arts told her is that she had to work on her elocution. So Grace developed this almost British way of speaking... very measured, the vowels very well rounded." (The resulting affectation placed her "somewhere between Philadelphia debutante and British schoolgirl").
(#9) She Almost Starred In On The Waterfront

Kelly once said no to a surprising role: Edie Doyle in Elia Kazan's 1954 classic On the Waterfront. (She opted out so she could play the enigmatic Lisa Carol Freemont in Rear Window instead). The choice ended up working out for everyone: the Waterfront role went to Eva Marie Saint, who of course knocked it out of the park, and Window became one of Kelly's most celebrated films.
(#13) Her Final Film Project Was Cut Short By Her Death

Despite the fact that most people considered her to be essentially retired from film, Kelly was, in fact, planning a comeback of sorts shortly before her death. She narrated a documentary on a Russian ballet school, and was set to play herself in a film called Rearranged. (The movie was intended to be a comedy of manners, and was set at the Monaco Flower Show). However, the project was never finished because of her untimely death, and her husband (who had also been involved in its making) opted not to release the existing footage.
(#5) She Gave Up Acting For Her Husband, And Regretted It

According to various sources – including J. Randy Taraborrelli in his book Once Upon a Time: Behind the Fairy Tale of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier – Kelly struggled with some aspects of her royal marriage. In particular, she missed being able to continue her acting career ... especially after Prince Rainier went so far as to ban her films in Monaco. (She did continue to support the arts in various other capacities, however).