6. Grace Kelly - Hollywood Darling Quits Acting At 26 To Become Royalty
race Kelly, in her short career, managed to craft one of the most critically acclaimed filmographies in the industry's history - no less a source than the American Film Institute ranks her as the 13th greatest female movie star of all time. What makes the achievement all the more remarkable is that Kelly left acting and Hollywood behind her at the incredibly young age of 26, retiring from movie-making to marry Prince Rainier III and take up a new role as the Princess of Monaco. Beginning as a theatrical actress, Kelly quickly moved towards the silver screen and became a favourite of Alfred Hitchcok who cast her as one of his blonds in Dial M for Murder, Rear Window and To Catch a Thief. Perhaps the peak of her five year movie career, however, was an uncharacteristically non-glamorous performance in The Country Girl for which she won an Academy Award - her popularity reflected by both her acting peers and cinema going audiences alike. With performances like this one, it's breath-taking to speculate what Grace Kelly could have achieved had she the desire to extend her career as an active performer.
Kelly's eleventh, and final, film was titled High Society - a fitting precursor to the life as royalty ahead of her.