Getting the Role of a Lifetime
Just as things were looking up, the Hollywood hopeful’s best offer was a $250-a-week studio contract. She rejected the offer. Even if she started thinking that Hollywood wasn’t for her, it didn’t last too long.
Grace Kelly, Clark Gable, Ava Gardner. Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
Her losses turned into wins when John Ford, looking for an actress to play a married woman who cheats on her husband with a safari guide in Mogambo, saw Kelly’s rejected screen test for Taxi. As soon as he saw it, he said, “This girl can act. Get her!” A chance to be in a big movie AND kiss Clark Gable in Kenya? Yes, sir.