Grace Kelly’s Raging Libido Almost Ruined Her Hollywood Career
- Photo: High Noon / Olive Studios
While Filming 'High Noon' She Had An Affair With Her Costar
Kelly snagged her first major film role in 1952’s High Noon. During filming, she had her first major affair with a costar. On the set of High Noon, Kelly had an affair with Gary Cooper, who was married and 28 years her senior. This - his marriage and their age difference - would become an ongoing theme in Kelly's affairs.
Of Kelly, Cooper said: “She looked like a cold dish with a man until you got her pants down, then she’d explode.”
- Photo: Mogambo / Warner Bros.
She Had An Affair With Clark Gable In Africa
In 1953, Kelly starred in Mogambo alongside Ava Gardner and Clark Gable. It seemed an affair between Kelly and Gable may have been destined from the start, as Kelly said: “Mogambo had three things that interested me: John Ford, Clark Gable, and a trip to Africa with expenses paid. If Mogambo had been made in Arizona I wouldn’t have done it.”
When Kelly and Gable finally did get hot and heavy, news of the affair reached Kelly’s mother, who flew out to chaperone her young daughter in Africa. A chaperone may have been unnecessary, as Gable supposedly ditched Kelly once she grew too clingy.
When later asked about the affair, Kelly famously said: “What else is there to do if you're alone in a tent in Africa with Clark Gable?”
- Photo: High Society / Warner Home Video
She Hooked Up With Bing Crosby, Who Then Walked In On Her With Marlon Brando
Kelly starred alongside Bing Crosby in 1954’s The Country Girl, for which Kelly won an Oscar, and 1956’s High Society, which was her final film. Kelly supposedly had an affair with Crosby while filming The Country Girl. The night Kelly won an Oscar for her performance in the film, Crosby reportedly came to her hotel room expecting to spend the night with her, only to find Marlon Brando, who had beaten out Crosby for an Oscar earlier that night, in her bed.
It’s very unlikely - though, not completely impossible - that Crosby and Kelly hooked up again when they reunited for High Society. While filming, Kelly was engaged to be married to Prince Rainier III of Monaco. Kelly even donned her 10.47-carat engagement ring in the film, as her character was also engaged.
- Photo: Dial M For Murder / Warner Bros.
Her Affair With Ray Milland Nearly Ruined Marriage
While filming 1954’s Dial M For Murder, Kelly’s affairs finally began to catch up with her. She engaged in an affair with her married costar Ray Milland, who had been married for more than 20 years. When his wife found out about him shacking up with Kelly, she threw him out of their house.
It was even reported that Milland planned to leave his wife for Kelly. That is, until Milland realized just how much a divorce would cost him. Milland ended up staying married to his wife until his passing in 1986.
- Photo: Dial M For Murder / Warner Bros.
Following The Milland Affair, She Was Branded A Homewrecker By The Press
Kelly’s affair with Milland almost cost her her career. Famed gossip columnist Hedda Hopper reported on the affair and branded Kelly a nymphomaniac. This was about par for the course with Hopper, who devoted herself to destroying the career of anyone she morally disagreed with, including anyone who didn’t identify as heterosexual.
Being branded a homewrecker almost destroyed Kelly’s career. It was the '50s, a time in which America reverted back to its puritanical, almost Victorian roots. This wasn’t a time in which actresses were allowed to be anything other than a prim and proper lady. When Ingrid Bergman left her husband for Italian director Roberto Rossellini she was pretty much shunned from traditional Hollywood. Ed Sullivan blacklisted Bergman from his show and the United States government literally called Bergman an “instrument of evil.” Somehow, Kelly avoided the same reckoning.
- Photo: Robert LeRoy Knudsen / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Prince Rainier III Wasn’t The Only Royal With Whom She Was Involved
After marrying Prince Rainier III, Kelly became a real-life princess, but the prince wasn’t the only royal Kelly dated. In the '50s Kelly briefly dated millionaire playboy Prince Aly Khan, the leader of the Nizari Muslims, who gifted her an emerald-studded gold bracelet. Prince Aly Khan would reportedly gift women he dated a cigarette case with one emerald in it and women with whom he slept an emerald bracelet.
Prince Aly Khan went on to marry Rita Hayworth, yet another Old Hollywood star to become a princess. Kelly also dated the Shah of Iran. It was said that he showered Kelly in jewelry, including a gold vanity case with a clasp featuring 32 diamonds.
- Photo: Unknown / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
She's Rumored To Have Terminated Her Pregnancy With Oleg Cassini’s Child
Before becoming a princess, Kelly was engaged to the famed fashion designer Oleg Cassini, who is credited with giving Jackie Kennedy her signature look. Cassini and Kelly were engaged to be married, but Kelly’s parents disapproved of the relationship because of Cassini’s Russian roots and his previous divorces. Because Kelly so longed for her parents’ approval, she called off the engagement. It was even rumored that Kelly was pregnant with Cassini’s child, but terminated the pregnancy.
Kelly went on to marry into the Monaco royal family. Some say her marriage was an effort to win her father's approval.
- Photo: Dick DeMarisco/New York World Telegram & Sun / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
She May Have Dressed Up Like A Nurse For A Sick JFK
Given their reputations, of course Grace Kelly and John F. Kennedy hooked up. Their fathers, both self-made Irish-American millionaires, were friends, so Kelly and Kennedy socialized even before they were famous in their own right. In the early ‘50s, Kelly and Kennedy were in a romance so intense they even discussed marriage; however, Kennedy’s father put a stop to any and all marriage talk because he didn’t want an actress to hinder his son’s political career.
In 1954, Kennedy, now married to Jackie, found himself recovering from back surgery. To cheer up her husband, Jackie - completely unaware of their previous relationship - had Kelly visit Kennedy in the hospital. Kelly arrived, dressed as a nurse. According to a gossip columnist, she performed fellatio on the recovering Kennedy. This story makes Monroe's "Happy Birthday" rendition seem rather PG.
- Photo: The Country Girl / Paramount
She Had An Affair With William Holden, Who Wanted To Leave His Wife For Her
Kelly appeared alongside William Holden in 1954’s The Country Girl and The Bridges At Tokyo-Ri. Kelly reportedly had an affair with Holden, who was married at the time. While tabloids reported on Kelly’s affairs, she remained discreet and made comments like, “As an unmarried woman, I was thought to be a danger.”
The fact that Kelly was seen as wholesome by the general public, despite her apparently busy private life, was something other Hollywood actresses frequently commented on. Silent film star Clara Bow said: “Grace Kelly, however, will get away with having many lovers. Know why? The damn public will never believe it!”
Zsa Zsa Gabor, who racked up nine husbands during her lifetime, said of Kelly: “She had more boyfriends in a month than I had in a lifetime. She went to bed with anyone she fancied at the time.”
- Photo: To Catch A Thief / Paramount Pictures
It’s Rumored She Had An Ongoing Affair With Cary Grant
It’s been rumored that Kelly had an affair with her To Catch a Thief costar Cary Grant. This supposed affair is said to have lasted several years, perhaps even while Kelly was married to Prince Rainier. However, it's never actually been confirmed.
Either way, Kelly is confirmed as Grant’s favorite leading lady. In an interview, Grant said: “With all due respect to Ingrid Bergman, I much preferred Grace. She had serenity.”
Grant starred alongside Bergman twice in 1946's Notorious and 1958's Indiscreet. Grant went on to say: “Ingrid, Audrey, Deborah Kerr were splendid, splendid actresses, but Grace was utterly relaxed. The most extraordinary actress ever.”
- Photo: Sterling Publications / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
She Said She Broke Her Hymen Playing Field Hockey And Went On To Become A Princess
Before her wedding to Prince Rainier wedding, Kelly reportedly pretended to be a virgin, claiming she broke her hymen playing field hockey in high school.
And that is how she became Princess Grace of Monaco.
