A chance meeting with Ormer Locklear at the Minnesota State Fair in 1919 gave him his first introduction to a Hollywood movie star (this was following Locklear’s success with “The Great Air Robbery”), and by the summer of 1920, Grace was in Hollywood working for Fox. But Grace didn’t initially start out as a stunt pilot, he was performing almost any stunt that came his way in the beginning.

Grace’s stunting led him into acting, and his first leading role was in “The Flying Fool” (1925) for Sunset Productions. In this, Gaston Glass plays the bad guy who frames Grace for a burglary hoping to steal his fiancée. He only had one more chance for a starring role, and that came in 1927 in “Wide Open,” again for Sunset Productions.
Throughout the twenties, stunt pilots like Grace and Wilson were much in demand, but there were few films that revolved around aviation. Most had aviation scenes that were woven into the stories. However, the greatest aviation picture of the silent era was about to be made, and Grace played a significant role in its success.

“Wings” was conceived and written by former Army training command flyer John Monk Saunders and was directed by William Wellman who was a combat pilot during World War I. Another stunt pilot, Frank Tomick, was actually hired as the chief pilot for the picture, and Grace was hired for the two main crashes in the film, one in a Spad and one in a Fokker. Both World War I planes were in poor condition, and Grace oversaw somewhat of a “renovation” before he would fly them.

During World War II he joined the Army Air Corps and flew several missions with the 8th Air Force as a B-17 co-pilot. It is said that during his movie career, he performed 45-50 crashes and broke over 80 bones in his body. Unlike many of his contemporaries, it was not a stunt that brought an end to his life. Instead, he died in his sleep from emphysema in 1965 at age 67.