Actress, philanthropist, and Princess Grace Kelly was born on November 12, 1929. Grace Kelly was born into an affluent family. Her father was an Olympic gold medalist and her mother was a model and first female athletics coach at the University of Pennsylvania. She began acting and modeling as a child, earning the lead in a school play at the age of 12. Against her parent’s wishes, Kelly embarked on an acting career, studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. She had her Broadway debut while still a student, appearing in The Father. After school, Kelly appeared in the television adaptation of the Sinclair Lewis Novel, Bethel Merriday. This was the first of about 60 live television programs Kelly acted in. Kelly’s television success led to her first film role, a small part in the 1951 movie Fourteen Hours. Though her role didn’t earn Kelly widespread fame, she did catch the attention of Gary Cooper, who visited the set one day. He took notice of Kelly’s elegant, subdued personality, later stating she was “different from all these actresses we’ve been seeing so much of.” As a result, she was invited to Hollywood to co-star in High Noon with Cooper.