In Photos: Grace Kelly Through the Years

Grace Kelly was born in 1929 to John B. Kelly, Sr. and Margaret Katherine Majer, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Her father was an Olympic gold medalist for rowing and her mother taught physical-education at the University of Pennsylvania. Later, her father became a self-made millionaire in the brick business.

The names of Grace's three siblings are the equally classic Margaret, John, and Elizabeth.

Grace Kelly's nickname amongst family and close friends was "Graciebird."

Grace began her acting career in plays and participated in fashion events while attending Ravenhill Academy and Stevens School as a young girl.

In 1947, Kelly made the fateful trek from Philadelphia to New York City, a move not common for upper class girls like herself, expected to graduate and find husbands.

There, she enrolled at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Fellow students include Spencer Tracy and Kirk Douglas.

For her final performance at the Academy, Kelly took on the role of Tracy Lord in The Philadelphia Story.

She would later play this role once again in the 1956 film adaptation, High Society.

Grace Kelly earned an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role in The Country Girl, a decidedly unglamorous role for the beautiful actress. She beat out Judy Garland for her role in A Star is Born.

Prior to her win, Grace Kelly was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in the 1953 film Mogambo. That year, she lost to Donna Reed in From Here to Eternity.

Before any Academy Awards, Kelly tried her hand at stage acting on Broadway before turning her sites on Hollywood.

In 1952, she starred with Gary Cooper in High Noon, a seminal moment that helped land her a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

In the total of her acting career, Grace Kelly would appear in 11 films and star in over forty television broadcasts—a relatively small number in light of her immense and enduring fame.

Inarguably, her most successful and famed film relationship was with director Alfred Hitchcock.

Here, Kelly waits backstage with Audrey Hepburn to present an award at the 28th Annual Academy Awards.

In a fateful decision, Kelly said no to the the role of Edie Doyle in the award-winning On the Waterfront in favor of working with the famed auteur.

In total, Kelly appeared in three suspenseful films for Hitchcock, Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, and her final, in 1955, To Catch a Thief.