Grace Hightower is an American actress, singer, businesswoman, socialite, and philanthropist. According to her website, she is the founder of Grace Hightower & Coffees of Rwanda, a company that assists the Rwandan people in receiving fair compensation for the superior coffee they grow. She also gained popularity because of her marriage to Robert De Niro.
Who Is Grace Hightower?
Grace Hightower was born on 7th April, 1955 in Kilmichael, Mississippi. Her family wasn’t wealthy, so she had to start working at a young age to make ends meet. When it comes to her religion and race, she is African American. She also grew up in a Blackfoot-descendant African-American family. She hasn’t provided the media with a lot of information about her parents or siblings. She also worked for Trans World Airlines as a flight attendant.
Grace Hightower’s Career
Grace Hightower was compelled to start working at a young age due to her family’s financial struggles. She used to trade mutual funds before moving on to work as a cashier at one of Mr. Chow’s establishments.
She had her first opportunity to work in show business in the mid-1990s. In 1994, she made an appearance in the Zeppo Marks Brothers episode of the American police procedural drama television series. She then made an appearance in the action movie “Brotherhood” in 1997. Her next appearance was in the drama film “Precious” twelve years later. Over the following ten years, she had a few more on-screen appearances, but that was about it for her acting career, which never really took off.
She made use of her platform to advocate for those who have endured great hardships in order to receive their just rewards, such as the Rwandan people, and to improve the lives of ordinary people worldwide. “Grace Hightower & Coffees of Rwanda” is the name of the nonprofit organisation she started in Rwanda. The group works for the native Rwandans who toil diligently to produce the world’s best coffee.
The actual individuals who work behind the manufacturing line don’t receive the compensation they deserve, despite the fact that coffee helps the world’s most prestigious restaurants and coffee shops make a fortune. The group has promised to improve these people’s futures and will do everything in its power to support them in getting the best rates for their produce as well as to publicise their efforts.
Hightower is connected to the “Fund for Public Schools, New York,” a group that has been assisting New York’s public schools since 1982. Over a million kids attend the approximately 1800 public schools that are under the organization’s supervision. She speaks on behalf of several groups that also promote the wellbeing of women. She serves as a board member and spokeswoman for the New York Women’s Foundation, an organisation that promotes women’s health and financial independence.
She also speaks on behalf of the Women’s Heart Health Advisory Council, a group that Ronald Perelman founded with the goal of raising awareness of the serious heart problems that affect women. She represents a number of health-related non-profitable organizations like the American Cancer Society and Autism Speaks as well.
Robert De Niro And Grace Hightower
She first got to know Robert De Niro in 1987 while working at Mr. Chow. In a similar vein, they started dating at that time and got married on June 17, 1997. They are parents to two children: their surrogate daughter Helen Grace was born in 2011 and their older son Elliot De Niro was born on March 18, 1998.
Regretfully, in the late 1990s, this couple experienced a great deal of hardship and a very difficult period in their marriage. In addition, Robert sued her in 1999 for divorce for custody of their older son. Later on, though, they took the decision to resolve the reasons causing them to disagree and made amends. Similarly, they resolved this issue in 2004, but they broke up in November 2018.
