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Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the fifth of nine children of a legendary family, died today at 88. Shriver avoided the spotlight her siblings were drawn to, instead working quietly behind the scenes to lift up the less fortunate. The Daily Beast looks back on Shriver’s life in photographs, and reveals little-known facts about who she was.

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Mikki Ansin, Liaison / Getty Images
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The Kennedy clan in 1931 in Hyannisport, MA.

Mikki Ansin, Liaison / Getty Images
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Three children of the Kennedy family, Patricia, Jack, and Eunice spend a holiday with their parents in the hills above Cannes.

Bettman / Corbis
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Rose Kennedy (1890-1995) poses for a portrait with her daughter, Eunice, in Palm Beach, Florida.

Morgan Collection / Getty Images
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John F. Kennedy with his sister, Eunice, shown in the Kennedy apartment in Washington, 1947.

Bettman / Corbis
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At a party being held in honor of Jean Kennedy, sister of Democratic Senator John Kennedy. Left to right: Jacqueline Kennedy; Patricia Lawford; Ethel Kennedy; Jean Kennedy, and Eunice Shriver.

Bettmann / Corbis
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Senator Edward Kennedy and his sister, Eunice, arrive at Andrews Air Force Base via helicopter after the assassination of their brother, John F. Kennedy.

Washington Bureau / Getty Images
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Shriver is shown swimming with youngsters in a pool at the day camp for mentally challenged children in Fairmount Park at Philadelphia, August 21, 1964. She founded the Special Olympics four years later.

AP Photo
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Shriver visiting Municipal Children's home for the mentally disabled.

John Loengard, Time Life Pictures / Getty Images
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Shriver was guest speaker at an award dinner for meritorious service to the ill, aged and handicapped at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, March 5, 1966 in New York.

AP Photo
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Shriver arrives at Truman Capote's Black and White Ball at New York's Plaza Hotel on November 28, 1966. Capote set the fashion tone by insisting that his female guests wear black or white.

AP Photo
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Sargent Shriver and his wife Eunice watch a satirical presentation on a day in the life of Shriver by the staff of the Office of Economic Opportunity on April 24, 1968 in Washington.

Charles Harrity / AP Photo
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Shriver tells a child at St. Joseph College's Gengras Center for Exceptional Children that she has a son "this tall." Shriver spoke to a senior class seminar at the college in 1973 in Hartford.

Bob Child / AP Photo
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Sen. Ted Kennedy speaks with his mother, Rose Kennedy, as his sister, Eunice, looks on. They were in Washington, DC, attending the RFK Memorial Journalism Award luncheon in May 1975.

Burton Berinsky / Landov
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Walter Kennedy, retiring National Basketball Association Commissioner, right, and Shriver, President of Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation Special Olympics, smile for photographers during a news conference in New York in 1975. The two are holding an engraved plate made by a developmentally disabled child.

Marty Lederhandler / AP Photo
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Shriver interviewed at the Copley Plaza Hotel, February 12, 1976.

Tom Landers, Boston Globe / Landov
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Eunice, Sen. Edward Kennedy, and Rory Kennedy kneel at the grave of President John F. Kennedy on the fourteenth anniversary of his assassination in 1977.

John Duricka / AP Photo
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Shriver and Ted Kennedy at "Superman" Boston Premiere.

Ron Galella, WireImage / Getty Images
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Eunice Kennedy Shriver at the Special Olympics in South Bend, Indiana, 1987.

Bill Eppridge / Landov
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Fashion photographer Herb Ritts talks to Shriver in front of a series of portraits Ritts took of her at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 19, 1996.

Brian Snyder / Landov
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Sargent and Eunice Shriver pose for a photograph, August 6, 2000 in Hyannisport, MA.

Steve Connolly, Liaison / Getty Images
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Former South African President Nelson Mandela with Shriver waves to children during Mandela's celebration of his 84th birthday in Pietersburg, South Africa on July 20, 2002.

Juda Ngwenya, Reuters / Landov
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Arnold Schwarzenegger and wife Maria Shriver celebrate with parents Sargent and Eunice at his victory party in the gubernatorial recall election in October of 2003.

Robyn Beck, AFP / Getty Images
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Former President Bill Clinton and Shriver attend the Global Youth Forum for people with intellectual disabilities and their friends during the Special Olympics on February 27, 2005 in Nagano, Japan.

Junko Kimura / Getty Images
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Shriver makes remarks during a Social Dinner in Honor of the Special Olympics and hosted by Former President George W. Bush in the State Dining Room of the White House on July 10, 2006 in Washington, DC.

Tim Sloan, AFP / Getty Images
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Sen. Ted Kennedy talks with his sister Eunice after a news conference introducing the Student Aid Reward Act.

Tom Williams / Newscom
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First Lady Maria Shriver and her mother Eunice present the Minerva Lifetime Achievement Award during the Women's Conference 2007 held at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California.

Steve Jennings, WireImage / Getty Images