Nancy Grace was born on October 23, 1959 in Macon, Georgia. She is one of the most famous personalities in television as political journalist and commentator.
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Tragedy In Her Youth
She was the youngest among three children, and her father, Mac Grace, was working as a freight agent in Southern Railway. Her mother, Elizabeth Grace, was working as a factory worker. In her young age, Nancy faced many challenges and tribulations. In 1979, Keith Griffin proposed to Grace, and they had a love affair of more than two years. Her boyfriend, Keith was working for a construction company in Georgia. Grace’s family also liked Griffin as he was very polite and charming. At that time, she got secretly engaged with Keith Griffin, only Griffin’s sister knew about this. One day, Griffin was shot by his co-worker Tommy McCoy. After that, she lost her interest in life and at the age of 19, she decided to pursue law. After the death of her fiancé, she became jaded with life and started to form the cold demeanor that she is now famous for.
Background in Education
In 1977, she completed her graduation from Windsor Academy. She was a big admirer of Shakespearean literature and wanted to be an English Professor after her graduation. She attended the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer and received her certificate of Juris Doctor. She also had been a Law Review Member there.
She enrolled in New York University for Masters of Law in constitutional and criminal law. Grace showed her potential early in life by teaching litigation and business law at the Georgia State University College of Law and GSU’s School of Business respectively. She also got the chance at practicing Anti Law and Consumer Protection Law and worked for a Federal Court Judge as a clerk. Mercer University appreciated her knowledge and made her a part of its board of trustees.
Getting Established with The Law
Grace put a lot of her energy for a decade as a Special Prosecutor in the office of Atlanta-Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney. Most of her work involved felony cases, like serial child molestation, serial murder, serial arson and serial rape. Her work ended there when the District Attorney refused to run for a re-election. Grace had been credited twice for withholding the evidence as a prosecutor by the Supreme Court of Georgia in a 1997 murder case and by Judge William H.Preyor, Jr. in a 1990 triple murder case.
A New Beginning as a Television Star
Once Grace left the job at the Fulton County Prosecutor’s Office, the founder of Court TV, Steven Brill approached her with an offer that she couldn’t offer. The offer was to do a legal commentary show. She worked on this show with Johnnie Cochran for some time and later did it solo after Johnnie left the show.
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After some time, she got the opportunity to do another show simultaneously with the Court TV show. This show was to be telecast on CNN Headline News and the title of the show was “Nancy Grace.” On June 19, 2007, Court TV broadcasted her last episode and she dedicated all her time to her own CNN show. She was also very involved in charity work.
She had also been a host for the show “Swift Justice with Nancy Grace” but for a few months only. The reason she didn’t work long for this show was because of the switch of the production from Atlanta to Los Angeles and she didn’t want to leave Los Angeles. Later, she was cast in numerous TV shows as well as films including Dancing with the Stars, Raising Hope, Law & Order, Hancock, and The Wire,
Trying for a New Love Life
In 2007, Grace got married to David Linch. He was an investment banker in Atlanta, and she met him while studying at Mercer University. After the death of her fiancé, she decided not to marry but after meeting David and spending some time with him, she decided that she could find love again and wanted to get married.
She told her family about her intentions, just two days before the wedding. After two months of her marriage, she announced that she was pregnant and expecting twin babies. In November 2007, she gave birth to Lucy Elizabeth and John David.
In spite of all bad things happened to her; she bravely fought in all the situations she faced like finding the murderer of her fiancé Keith Griffin. She fought her case with all the efforts she could muster, as his murderer was one of his co-workers. As an advocate for justice, she fought for victims’ rights. In the end, the murder suspect Tommy McCoy was sentenced to life imprisonment.
As David’s wife, she started living her life again and her babies taught her to love again. She is living a peaceful life with her husband and children. After all the turmoil in her life, Grace appeared on several shows and had her own prosecutor website. Some of the famous shows she has appeared on are Good Morning America and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Her net worth is around $18 Million.
Awards and Books
Nancy has become successful in all her career paths as a television host, legal commentator, former prosecutor and television journalist.
She was recognized by her work and advocacy on victim rights issues. She is one of the most famous legal analysts and host of top rated shows on major news networks. She has received some awards in her life.
For her Court TV show, she received two Gracie Awards by the Foundation of American Women in Radio & Television and also got awards of best program host. She is also known for her work of fiction. Her first published book was “The Eleventh Victim” which was published by Hyperion and released on August 11, 2009. Her second book was also a novel, titled “Death on the D-List.” Another of her literary creations, “Objection”, became a controversial book when the New York Observer suggested it to be an effort on the part of her to support her image. But, Grace tried to rebuff this suggestion and said the book was purely fiction.
Last Modified: Apr 8, 2020
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