Gene Kelly - IMDb IMDb Actor | Soundtrack | Director Eugene Curran Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the third son of Harriet Catherine (Curran) and James Patrick Joseph Kelly, a phonograph salesman. His father was of Irish descent and his mother was of Irish and German ancestry. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the largest and most powerful studio in Hollywood when Gene Kelly arrived in town in ... See full bio » Born: a list of 26 people created 13 Jan 2012 a list of 36 people created 26 Jun 2013 a list of 43 people created 12 Aug 2013 a list of 35 images created 4 months ago a list of 37 people created 2 weeks ago Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDbPage How much of Gene Kelly's work have you seen? User Polls Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 8 nominations. See more awards » Known For 1984 The Love Boat (TV Series) Charles Dane 1957 Schlitz Playhouse (TV Series) Tom T.

Triplet 2015 My Hindu Friend (performer: "Singin' in the Rain") 2015/I The Intern (performer: "You Were Meant For Me") 2015 Dough (performer: "Singin' in the Rain" from tt0045152) Dancing with the Stars (TV Series) (2 episodes, 2006 - 2014) (performer - 1 episode, 2009) - Round Three: Results Show (2009) ... (performer: "Singin' in the Rain" - uncredited) - Round 7 (2006) ... ("Singin' in the Rain") 2014 Call the Midwife (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Episode #3.4 (2014) ... (performer: "You Were Meant for Me" - uncredited) 2012 Sawako no asa (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Jay Kabira (2012) ...

(performer: "Singin' in the Rain") 2012 Gintberg på kanten (TV Series documentary) (performer - 1 episode) - Rigshospitalet (2012) ... (performer: "Singin' in the Rain" - uncredited) 2012 The Neighbors (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Pilot (2012) ... (performer: "Good Morning" - uncredited) 2011 Gent de paraula (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Episode #1.17 (2011) ... (performer: "New York, New York") 2010 Wishful Drinking (TV Movie documentary) (performer: "Singing in the Rain") 2009 50 años de (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Calle (2009) ...

(performer: "Singin' In the Rain") 2009 Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing (Video documentary) (performer: "New York, New York", "Make Way for Tomorrow" - uncredited) 2008 Parashat Ha-Shavua (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - VaYakhel (2008) ... (performer: "Singin' in the Rain") 2008 Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical Treasure (TV Movie documentary) (performer: "New York, New York", "An American in Paris Ballet", "Good Morning", "Alter Ego Dance", "Dig-Dig-Dig Dig for Your Dinner", "Our Love Is Here to Stay", "Singin' in the Rain" - uncredited) 2007 Por Toda Minha Vida (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Nara Leão (2007) ...

(performer: "Singing in the Rain") 2007 American Masters (TV Series documentary) (performer - 1 episode) 2007 The Pirate: A Musical Treasure Chest (Video documentary short) (performer: "Be a Clown") 2007 Family Guy (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Road to Rupert (2007) ... (performer: "The King Who Couldn't Dance (The Worry Song)) 2000 Strangers with Candy (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Blank Relay (2000) ...

(performer: "I Love to Go Swimmin' with Wimmen" - uncredited) 1998 The Object of My Affection (performer: "You Were Meant for Me") 1997 MGM Sing-Alongs: Friends (Video short) (performer: "Take Me Out to the Ballgame") 1997 MGM Sing-Alongs: Searching for Your Dreams (Video short) (performer: "The Worry Song") 1995 Friends (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - The One with Phoebe's Husband (1995) ... (performer: "Singing in the Rain" - uncredited) 1995 Forget Paris (performer: "Love Is Here To Stay") 1994 Léon: The Professional (performer: "I Like Myself") 1994 That's Entertainment!

III (Documentary) (performer: "On the Town" (1944), "Ballin' the Jack" (1913), "You Wonderful You" (1950), "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" (1936), "An American in Paris Ballet" (1936), "Fit as a Fiddle" (1932), "The Heather on the Hill" (1947) - uncredited) 1992 MGM: When the Lion Roars (TV Mini-Series documentary) (performer - 1 episode) - The Lion in Winter (1992) ...

(performer: "The King Who Couldn't Dance (The Worry Song)", "New York, New York", "Be a Clown", "An American in Paris Ballet", "Singin' in the Rain", "Good Morning", "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean" - uncredited) 1991 Great Performances (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) 1989 Somebody or The Rise and Fall of Philosophy (Short) (performer: "You Are My Lucky Star") 1986 Frankenstein Punk (Short) (performer: "Singin' in the Rain") 1986 Precious Images (Documentary short) (performer: "Singin' in the Rain") 1985 Moonlighting (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Knowing Her (1985) ... (performer: "Singin' in the Rain") 1985 That's Dancing!

(Documentary) (performer: "Moses", "Sinbad the Sailor", "The Binge") 1981 The Muppet Show (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Gene Kelly (1981) ... (performer: "You Wonderful You" - uncredited) 1980 Xanadu (performer: "Whenever You're Away From Me") 1979 Der ganz normale Wahnsinn (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Viertes Kapitel (1979) ...

(performer: "Singin' in the Rain" - uncredited) 1976 That's Entertainment, Part II (Documentary) (performer: "For Me and My Gal" (1917), "Be a Clown" (1948), "Color Change" (1976), "Shubert Alley" (1976), "Good Morning" (1939), "I Got Rhythm" (1930), "I Begged Her" (1944), "Love Is Here to Stay" (1938), "Cartoon Sequence" (1976), "Sinbad the Sailor" (1956), "Broadway Rhythm" (1935), "I Like Myself" (1954), "Finale" (1976) - uncredited) 1976 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Episode dated 4 May 1976 (1976) ...

(performer: "I've Got A Crush On You", "For Me and My Gal" - uncredited) 1976 It's Showtime (Documentary) (performer: "Fido and Me" - uncredited) 1974 That's Entertainment!

(performer: "Singin' in the Rain" (1929), "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (1908), "The Babbitt and the Bromide" (1927), "Be a Clown" (1948), "The Pirate Ballet" (1948), "New York, New York" (1944), "The King Who Couldn't Dance (The Worry Song)" (1945), "The Broadway Ballet" (1935), "An American in Paris Ballet" (1951) - uncredited) 1973 Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra (TV Special documentary) (performer: "We Can't Do That Anymore", "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", "For Me and My Gal", "New York, New York", "Nice and Easy") 1971 A Clockwork Orange (performer: "Singin' In the Rain") 1967 The Young Girls of Rochefort (performer: "Andy Amoureux", "De Hambourg à Rochefort", "Les Rencontres", "Concerto (ballet)" - un

credited) 1967 Jack and the Beanstalk (TV Movie) (performer: "Half Past April, and a Quarter to May", "A Tiny Bit of Faith", "It's Been Nice", "The Woggle-Bird Song", "One Starry Moment" (Reprise)) 1964 What a Way to Go!

(performer: "I Think that You and I Should Get Acquainted", "Musical Extravaganza") 1963 The Danny Kaye Show (TV Series) (performer - 1 episode) - Episode #1.5 (1963) ... (performer: "Ballin' the Jack") 1959 The Gene Kelly Show (TV Movie) (performer: "For Me and My Gal") 1957 Les Girls (performer: "Les Girls", "You're Just Too Too!", "Why Am I So Gone (About that Gal)?", "The Rope Dance" - uncredited) 1956 Invitation to the Dance (performer: "Circus", "Ring Around The Rosy", "Sinbad the Sailor") 1955-1956 MGM Parade (TV Series) (performer - 4 episodes) - Episode #1.19 (1956) ... (performer: "The Babbitt and the Bromide") - Episode #1.11 (1955) ...

(performer: "For Me and My Gal" - uncredited) - Episode #1.10 (1955) ... (performer: "For Me and My Gal" - uncredited) - Episode #1.2 (1955) ...

(performer: "I Like Myself" - uncredited) 1955 It's Always Fair Weather (performer: "March, March" (1955), "The Time for Parting" (1955), "Once Upon a Time" (1955), "I Shouldn't Have Come" (1955), "I Like Myself" (1955) - uncredited) 1954 Deep in My Heart (performer: "I Love to Go Swimmin' with Wimmen") 1954 Brigadoon (performer: "I'll Go Home with Bonnie Jean", "The Heather on the Hill", "Almost Like Being in Love", "The Heather on the Hill" (reprise) - uncredited) 1952 Singin' in the Rain (performer: "Fit as a Fiddle" (1932), "You Were Meant For Me" (1929), "Moses Supposes" (1952), "Good Morning" (1939), "Singin' in the Rain" (1929), "Broadway Rhythm Ballet" (

1952), "Singin in the Rain (in A-Flat)" (1929), "You Are My Lucky Star" (1935), "Main Title" (uncredited), "Would You?

(End Title)" (uncredited)) 1951 An American in Paris (performer: "Our Love Is Here to Stay" (1937), "By Strauss" (1936), "Tra-la-la (This Time It's Really Love)" (1922), "I Got Rhythm" (1930), "'S Wonderful" (1927), "An American in Paris Ballet" - uncredited) 1950 Summer Stock (performer: "All for You", "Dig-Dig-Dig Dig For Your Dinner", " (Howdy Neighbor) Happy Harvest", "Heavenly Music", "You Wonderful You", "Portland Fancy" - uncredited) 1949 On the Town (performer: "New York, New York", "A Day in New York", "Prehistoric Man" (uncredited), "Main Street" (uncredited), "On the Town" (uncredited), "Count on Me" (uncredited), "That's All There Is, Folks" (uncredited)) 1949 Take Me Out to the Ball Game (performer: "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", "Yes, Inde

edy" (uncredited), "O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg" (uncredited), "Strictly U.S.A." (uncredited), "The Hat My Dear Old Father Wore upon St.

Patrick's Day" (uncredited)) Gene Kelly, Dancer of Vigor and Grace, Dies Gene Kelly, Dancer of Vigor and Grace, Dies By ALBIN KREBS Gene Kelly, the dancer, actor, director and choreographer who brought a vigorous athleticism, casual grace and an earthy masculinity to the high romance of lavish Hollywood musicals, died yesterday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 83. His longtime publicity agent, Warren Cowan, said Mr. Kelly had never fully recovered from strokes he suffered in 1994 and last year. Mr. Kelly's highly developed sense of the possibilities of dance on film invigorated classic musicals like "Anchors Aweigh," "On the Town," "An American in Paris" and "Singin' in the Rain." A gifted dancer with his own vibrant style, he also flourished as an innovative choreographer and director in the 1940's and 50's, the heyday of the big, splashy Hollywood musical. Mr.

Kelly, who could also put over a song in a high, thin voice, brought to his films an inventive technique that enabled him to create unusual and imaginative dance routines that usually arose directly out of a plot or script situation. Thus millions of moviegoers remember Mr. Kelly dancing merrily in a downpour in "Singin' in the Rain," hoofing with an animated mouse, Jerry, in "Anchors Aweigh," hopping over garbage cans in a sequence in "It's Always Fair Weather" and, with the aid of special process photography, dancing with himself in the "alter ego" number from "Cover Girl." In addition to his movies, which included "The Pirate," "Brigadoon" and the drama "Inherit the Wind," Mr. Kelly was also a star on Broadway, where he created the title role of the heel as hero in "Pal Joey," choreographed "Best Foot Forward" and directed Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Flower Drum Song." "I don't really know why I clicked," Mr. Kelly said many years later. "I didn't want to be a dancer. I just did it to work my way through college. But I was always an athlete and gymnast, so it came naturally.

"In the 1930's, when I started, Martha Graham was the only dancer doing anything modern, but she did it all to classical music. I couldn't see myself doing 'Swan Lake' every night, and I wanted to develop a truly American style. The only dancer in the movies at that time with any success was Fred Astaire, but he did very small, elegant steps in a top hat, white tie and tails. I was too big physically for that kind of dancing, and I looked better in a sweatshirt and loafers anyway. It wasn't elegant, but it was me." Eugene Curran Kelly was born on Aug. 23, 1912, in Pittsburgh. His mother insisted that all five of the Kelly children take music and dance lessons, and in high school Mr. Kelly continued dance lessons while also playing on the football and hockey teams. His education at Pennsylvania State College was interrupted by the Depression, and his first job was teaching gymnastics at a summer camp for boys. He was later able to major in economics at the University of Pittsburgh and received a degree in 1933, but jobs were scarce and he went to work for a dancing school partly owned by his mother.

Two years later, the school was renamed the Gene Kelly Studio of the Dance and soon a successful branch was opened in Johnstown. Meanwhile, Mr. Kelly directed plays produced locally and formed a dance act with his brother Fred, with whom he performed in a theater for children at the Chicago World's Fair in 1934. In the mid-1930's Mr. Kelly also redirected vaudeville acts that passed through Pittsburgh. Mr. Kelly did not decide to try his luck in New York until 1938, when he was 27 years old.

His first job was as a Broadway chorus boy in 1938's "Leave It to Me," dancing while Mary Martin sang "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," but the next year he won critical acclaim for his featured role as the comic hoofer in William Saroyan's play "The Time of Your Life." That success led to his being cast in "Pal Joey," the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical, in which he played the unscrupulous central character so convincingly that John Martin, a critic for The New York Times, said, "He is not only glib-footed, but he has a feeling for comment and content that give his dancing personal distinction and raise it several notches as a dancing art." Mr. Kelly's ability to meld singing and dancing with characterization and the demands of the play's plot attracted so much notice that David O. Selznick signed him to an exclusive Hollywood contract. At the time, Mr.

Kelly was appearing in "Pal Joey" at night and by day choreographing the Broadway musical hit "Best Foot Forward." In 1941, he left for Hollywood, where he was to bring a new vitality to dance on film and help change the whole concept of movie musicals. Mr. Selznick had no musicals planned, however, and lent Mr. Kelly to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studio most noted for lavish musicals. His first film, in 1942, was "For Me and My Gal," in which he starred as a small-time vaudeville hoofer opposite Judy Garland. It was a huge success, but MGM, after buying the new star's contract from Mr. Selznick, relegated him to relatively minor parts in "DuBarry Was a Lady," "Thousands Cheer," and the wartime drama "Cross of Lorraine." In "Cover Girl," co-starring with Rita Hayworth in 1944 on loan to Columbia Pictures, Mr. Kelly's career took off. With the aid of Stanley Donen, with whom he was to direct and choreograph several movies in years to follow, Mr.

Kelly developed the celebrated "alter ego" solo dance with his ectoplasmic self, the character's conscience. Photographed separately, then combined on a single strip of film, the two Kelly images seemed to pursue each other up and down flights of steps, to threaten each other and leap over each other's heads. "For once, a dance on the screen is not merely a specialty but actually develops character and advances plot," wrote a New York Times critic. The alter ego sequence and others in "Cover Girl" significantly advanced the use of movie song-and-dance numbers that evolve naturally from the plot and the action on screen. Mr. Kelly said later: "In my first picture, I made a startling discovery. Things danced on the screen do not look the way they do on the stage. On the stage, dancing is three-dimensional, but a motion picture is two-dimensional. Also, I felt the dancer in films had never had the opportunity to probe emotional and acting problems adequately. So I tried to do things uniquely cinematic, that you couldn't do on a stage. Call it 'cine-dancing,' or whatever, but I tried to invent the dance to fit the camera and its movements." Mr.

Kelly's choreographic inventiveness was credited with the success of the trail-blazing live-dance-with-animation sequence in "Anchors Aweigh" in 1945. He had a hard time persuading MGM officials that they should spend $100,000 and two months shooting an eight-minute number, in which he would dance with Jerry the mouse from the "Tom and Jerry" cartoon series. Simple live action and animation went back to silent-film days, but Mr. Kelly's idea involved color and intricate dance steps for himself and the cartoon characters, and required complex laboratory and processing work. For the charming sequence, Mr. Kelly first danced against a plain blue background, then animators filmed the mouse song-and-dance portion. What audiences saw was a composite picture made from the two separate films, with man and mouse happily dancing and singing. The procedure is common now, even in television commercials, but in the mid-1940's it was hailed as a cinematic breakthrough. Before joining the Navy in 1944, Mr.

Kelly appeared with his friend Fred Astaire for the first time in a single number, Gershwin's "Babbitt and the Bromide" in MGM's opulent, star-studded "Ziegfeld Follies." "It wasn't a battle of dancers, but our different styles were purposely made apparent," Mr. Kelly said. "My style is strong, wide open; Fred's is intimate, cool, easy. He can give an audience pleasure just by walking across a dance floor." After the war, Mr. Kelly's first big picture was "The Pirate," a 1948 spoof of swashbuckling adventures in which he again starred with Judy Garland, with whom he sang the rousing "Be a Clown." James Agee, the critic, found Mr. Kelly's performance "very ambitious, painfully misguided, by John Barrymore out of the elder Douglas Fairbanks." In "The Three Musketeers" (1948), Mr. Kelly did not dance, but as D'Artagnan he used his balletic skills to burlesque some fencing scenes. One of Mr.

Kelly's most memorable dance performances came in the seven-minute "Slaughter on 10th Avenue" ballet sequence in "Words and Music," a 1948 movie that was only subliminally based on the lives of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Most critics agreed that about the only thing to cheer about the film was the Rodgers ballet, in which Mr. Kelly was partnered with Vera-Ellen. In 1949, Mr. Kelly made two films with Frank Sinatra, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and one of his all-time hits, "On the Town," which he directed and choreographed with Mr. Donen and filmed mostly on location in New York City. Mr. Kelly, whose co-stars included Betty Garrett, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen, turned the film into an exhilarating, joyful experience that began with the brassy "New York, New York (It's a Helluva Town)" opening number and never let up in its mood of pervasive effervescence. "This film was a milestone," he said in 1977. "It was the first musical to be shot on location. We took the musical off the sound stage and showed that it could be realistic.

The idea of doing such a thing was anathema to the studio moguls. We shot a lot of it in New York and showed sailors getting off their ship in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and singing and dancing through the streets of New York. You can't imagine how crazy everybody thought this was at the time, but it changed the face of musicals. The picture has dated a bit, but it's the closest to my heart." But some of Mr. Kelly's most popular and artistically successful films were yet to come. In 1951, "An American in Paris," in which he received sole star billing, won eight Academy Awards, including best picture of the year, and a special Oscar for Mr. Kelly for his contributions to screen choreography. An integral part of the film was a 17-minute ballet conceived by Mr. Kelly and the director, Vincente Minnelli, as a means of showing the impact Paris has on the hero. Costumes, sets and dance movements for the ballet were borrowed from the styles of such artists as Dufy, Renoir, Utrillo, Rousseau, van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec and the music danced to by Mr.

Kelly and Leslie Caron was George Gershwin's "American in Paris" suite. "Singin' in the Rain," released in 1952, was one of the last of the big MGM musicals and it was, said Vincent Canby, film critic of The New York Times, in a 1975 appraisal, "a movie masterpiece." Again teaming with Mr. Donen, Mr. Kelly helped to direct and choreograph the affectionate spoof of the start of the talkies era in movies. The movie made splendid use of such Arthur Freed-Nacio Herb Brown songs as "You Were Meant for Me," "You Are My Lucky Star" and "All I Do Is Dream of You." In the title number, a love-struck Mr. Kelly, with an umbrella as his principal prop, sang and splashed ecstatically and obliviously through a downpour on an all-but-deserted street. The sequence is widely regarded as a classic piece of cinematic choreography.

Since it was a period piece in the first place, taking place in the Hollywood of the 1920's, when sound was revolutionizing the movie business, "Singin' in the Rain" even today does not seem dated, possibly because, as Mr. Kelly put it, "when you work in a period that was, you have some distance and a better chance to make a picture last." Debbie Reynolds, who was 18 at the time and had her first major role in "Singin' in the Rain," had never sung or danced before, but she said years later: "I learned a lot from Gene. He is a perfectionist and a disciplinarian: the most exacting director I've worked for. And he has a good temper. Every so often he would yell at me and make me cry. But it took a lot of patience for him to work with someone who had never danced before." In 1989, "Singin' in the Rain" was among the first 25 films chosen by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry of significant motion pictures. Mr.

Kelly's last major musicals at MGM were "Brigadoon" (1954), a disappointment, and "It's Always Fair Weather (1955) and "Les Girls" (1957), which were both hits. In the 1950's, he also appeared in "Deep in My Heart," "Marjorie Morningstar" and "The Devil Makes Three," and he produced and directed "The Happy Road," "Tunnel of Love" and other movies. Generally regarded as an artistic as well as a commercial failure was Mr. Kelly's ambitious project "Invitation to the Dance," a three-part, plotless dance film without dialogue released in 1956. Mr. Kelly starred in the film and directed and choreographed it. "The public wasn't ready for a serious dance film, and besides, by the time it came out, the popularity of film musicals had declined," Mr. Kelly said.

He nevertheless said he believed the public could be taught to appreciate dance, and late in 1958 conceived, wrote, narrated and danced in an NBC-TV special called "Dancing Is a Man's Game," in which he used athletes to demonstrate the sheer physicality and manliness of dance, often viewed by Americans as an effete art. That same year, Mr. Kelly returned to Broadway to direct the hit Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Flower Drum Song," In 1960, Mr. Kelly was invited to write and choreograph for the Paris Opera ballet troupe a zesty modern jazz ballet, which he set to Gershwin's "Concerto in F." He gave the ballet the punning title "Pas de Dieux," and he received 23 curtain calls after its premiere. A pas de deux he created for the San Francisco Ballet in 1982 was not as enthusiastically greeted. Over the years there were many appearances on television specials by Mr. Kelly, and he also had a weekly series on ABC-TV in 1963 called "Going My Way," in which he was seen as a priest. Mr.

Kelly also continued to direct an occasional movie, including "Hello, Dolly!" in 1969 and "The Cheyenne Social Club" in 1970. His last performance on screen was dancing on roller skates in the 1980 movie "Xanadu," with Olivia Newton-John, a reprise of a number he did with his brother, Fred, years earlier. He also reminisced in the 1994 anthology film "That's Entertainment! III." In 1994, Mr. Kelly was a recipient of the National Medal of Arts, awarded by President Clinton in a ceremony at the White House. Mr. Kelly's first wife was the actress Betsy Blair, from whom he was divorced in 1957. They had a daughter, Kerry. In 1960, Mr. Kelly married Jeanne Coyne, who had been one of his dance students in Pittsburgh and had worked as his assistant choreographer since 1949. They had two children, Timothy and Bridget. Mrs. Kelly died in 1973. In 1990, he married Patricia Ward.

The Hits in Film And Onstage Gene Kelly first won stardom on Broadway, in the musical "Pal Joey." In Hollywood, he sang, danced, acted, choreographed and directed. Here are some highlights of his career. Films For Me and My Gal 1942 Du Barry Was a Lady 1943 Cover Girl 1944 Gene Kelly - Biography - IMDb Gene Kelly Biography Showing all 72 items Jump to: Overview (4) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (3) | Trade Mark (1) | Trivia (45) | Personal Quotes (18) Overview (4) 5' 8" (1.73 m) Mini Bio (1) Eugene Curran Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the third son of Harriet Catherine (Curran) and James Patrick Joseph Kelly, a phonograph salesman. His father was of Irish descent and his mother was of Irish and German ancestry. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the largest and most powerful studio in Hollywood when Gene Kelly arrived in town in 1941.

He came direct from the hit 1940 original Broadway production of "Pal Joey" and planned to return to the Broadway stage after making the one film required by his contract. His first picture for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was For Me and My Gal (1942) with Judy Garland . What kept Kelly in Hollywood were "the kindred creative spirits" he found behind the scenes at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The talent pool was especially large during World War II, when Hollywood was a refuge for many musicians and others in the performing arts of Europe who were forced to flee the Nazis. After the war, a new generation was coming of age. Those who saw An American in Paris (1951) would try to make real life as romantic as the reel life they saw portrayed in that musical, and the first time they saw Paris, they were seeing again in memory the seventeen-minute ballet sequence set to the title song written by George Gershwin and choreographed by Kelly. The sequence cost a half million dollars (U.S.) to make in 1951 dollars.

Another Kelly musical of the era, Singin' in the Rain (1952), was one of the first 25 films selected by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry. Kelly was in the same league as Fred Astaire , but instead of a top hat and tails Kelly wore work clothes that went with his masculine, athletic dance style. Gene Kelly died at age 83 of complications from two strokes on February 2, 1996 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Dale O'Connor <daleoc@worldnet.att.net> Spouse (3) Known for his innovative, athletic style of dancing Trivia (45) During World War II, he was a sailor stationed at the United States Naval Photographic Center in Anacostia, D.C. (where the documentary Victory at Sea (1952) was later assembled for NBC-TV). He starred in several Navy films while on active duty there and in "civilian" films while on leave. Attended Peabody High School in the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ranked #26 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

[October 1997] Inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 1992. Kelly's father was Al Jolson 's road manager in the 1920s. Had three children: Kerry Kelly , with Betsy Blair , in 1942, and Bridget Kelly and Tim Kelly, with Jeanne Coyne , in the 1960s. Had a half-moon shaped scar on his left cheek caused by a bicycle accident he had as a young boy. Was dance consultant for Madonna 's 1993 "Girlie Show" tour. Attended Penn State University before transferring to University of Pittsburgh, where he graduated. His first two wives were dancers. Actress Betsy Blair met Gene while she was a performer and he a choreographer in the show "Diamond Horseshoe". Second wife Jeanne Coyne was Gene's dancing assistant for many years before they married in 1960.

A major talent in her own right, her dazzling footwork can be seen in the "From This Moment On" number alongside partner Bobby Van , Ann Miller , Tommy Rall , Carol Haney and Bob Fosse in Kiss Me Kate (1953) (1953). She died of leukemia in 1973. He and his younger brother Fred Kelly appeared together in a dancing vaudeville act. When Gene got his big break as Harry the hoofer in the dramatic Broadway production of "The Time of Your Life" in 1939, he was eventually replaced by brother Fred, who took it on the road and won a Donaldson award for his efforts. Working on an autobiography at the time of his death. Graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in economics. Kennedy Center Honoree, 1982 A stage version of "Singin' in the Rain" was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2001 for Outstanding Musical Production, with choreography by Kelly. Martial arts stars Jackie Chan and David Carradine both cite him as an influence. Awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 510-515. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988. He was voted the 42nd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Was named the #15 greatest actor on The 50 Greatest Screen Legends list by the American Film Institute Is one of the many movie stars mentioned in Madonna 's song "Vogue" Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 309-312. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1959 Ray Bradbury 's novel "Something Wicked This Way Comes" was dedicated to Kelly. Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6153 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. His last movie musical was Xanadu (1980) co-starring Olivia Newton-John . Had a fever of 103 degrees while filming the famous rain scene in Singin' in the Rain (1952).

Famed producer David O. Selznick signed Gene to his first Hollywood contract after seeing him star in "Pal Joey" while on Broadway. Though Gene had had other offers from studios, he chose to sign with Selznick mostly because his was the only studio that did not insist on a screen test before signing him. Selznick sold Kelly's contact to MGM before he could find a suitable role for him to appear in. He and MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer shared a long standing feud stemming from even before Kelly entered the motion picture business. One evening after seeing Gene perform in "Pal Joey" on Broadway, Mayer met Kelly backstage and offered to sign him to MGM without a screen test. When Kelly later received a call from a MGM representative requesting a screen test, he insisted there was some sort of mistake saying he had Mayer's word he did not have to make one and told the rep to ask Mayer himself. When the rep did, he called back days later stating that he did talk to Mayer and that he still had to make a test. Gene was furious and wrote a scathing letter to Mayer for retracting his promise.

For the first couple of years he worked for Mayer, Kelly was uncertain that Mayer even read the letter until Louis brought it up in an argument one evening. Tony Martin the husband of MGM star/dancer Cyd Charisse said he could tell who she had been dancing with that day on an MGM set. If she came home covered with bruises on her, it was the very physically-demanding Gene Kelly , if not it was the smooth and agile Fred Astaire . Was originally set to star as Don Hewes alongside Judy Garland in Easter Parade (1948). However, before filming began, he broke his leg, resulting in Fred Astaire coming out of retirement in order to replace him in the film. Bob Fosse originally wanted him for a lead role in a musical film adaptation of the Maurine Dallas Watkins play "Chicago" around the early 1970s. He eventually gave up the choice, and Fosse opted to do a stage musical instead. His death is mentioned in the Dream Theater song "Take Away My Pain" from their album "Falling into Infinity" released in 1997 with the lyric "he said look at poor Gene Kelly, I guess he won't be singing in the rain".

Joined the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity while studying at the University of Pittsburgh. He was a lifelong staunch liberal Democrat. Was a fan of the Pittsburg Steelers. His father was of Irish descent and his mother was of half Irish and half German ancestry. Jeanne Coyne, Kelly's second wife, was previously married to his show-business partner Stanley Donen. Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2014. His trademark scar on the left side of his face was the result of a bike accident when Gene was 5 years old, which required stitches. The actor-director named "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" as his favorite film for the AFI. In order to secure the film rights to the hit musical "Best Foot Forward," MGM loaned the services of Gene Kelly to Columbia for one picture. Although it was assumed the studio would mount an adaptation of Kelly's stage hit "Pal Joey," for which they owned the screen rights, they instead co-starred him with their top star, Rita Hayworth, in "Cover Girl." Ironically when they did finally film the property over a decade later with Frank Sinatra, Hayworth again co-starred.

After his death it was reported that Kelly had donated money to the Provisional IRA in the 1970s. In early 1943 MGM announced Gene Kelly was to appear in the forthcoming production The Human Comedy (1943). He eventually did not appear in the film. Was one of Heath Ledger's idols. Personal Quotes (18) [on his working experience with Debbie Reynolds while filming Singin' in the Rain (1952) (1952)] I wasn't nice to Debbie. It's a wonder she still speaks to me. There was no model for what I tried to do with dance . . . and the thing Fred Astaire and I used to bitch about was that critics didn't know how to categorize us. They called us tap dancers because that was considered the American style. But neither of us were basically tap dancers. The contract system at Hollywood studios like MGM was a very efficient system in that because we were at the studio all the time we could rehearse a lot. But it also really repressed people. There were no union regulations yet, and we were all indentured servants - you can call us slaves if you want - like ballplayers before free agency.

We had seven-year contracts, but every six months the studio could decide to fire you if your picture wasn't a hit. And if you turned down a role, they cut off your salary and simply added the time to your contract. Kids talk to me and say they want to do musicals again because they've studied the tapes of the old films. We didn't have that. We thought once we had made it, even on film, it was gone except for the archives. I arrived in Hollywood twenty pounds overweight and as strong as an ox. But if I put on a white tails and tux like [ Fred Astaire ], I still looked like a truck driver. Gene Kelly Movies on iTunes Open iTunes to buy and download movies Biography Gene Kelly was never very popular as a singer, even though he did cut records and was seen in movie roles in which he sang -- rather, it was his work onscreen as a dancer, choreographer, and director that allowed him to exert a key influence over the popularity of certain song catalogs in the mid-20th century.

Showing an early aptitude in both gymnastics and dance, Eugene Curran Kelly, as he was named at birth, had devoured, by his early teens, everything he could about dance in general and ballet in particular. He was already a successful dance teacher in his hometown of Pittsburgh when he began his ascent in the original Broadway production of Richard Rodgers' and Lorenz Hart's Pal Joey. This led to a film contract with David O. Selznick, which was sold to MGM before Kelly even reported to Hollywood. The allegiance with MGM proved a godsend for both the studio and Kelly, who (with the help of producer Arthur Freed) began a process of energizing the film company's musical output for the next 15 years.

The studio had been doing notable musicals almost since the dawn of sound, going back to the original 1929 musical comedy/drama The Broadway Melody, and was gradually moving -- under the guidance of Freed and the people with whom he surrounded himself -- to the next level; by the time Kelly arrived, the "Broadway Melody" series of movies had seen their day, and the rapidly maturing presences of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney would soon bring a halt to their cycle of youth-oriented musicals built around standardized formulas and the two young stars' seemingly boundless enthusiasm. Kelly was initially cast alongside Garland in For Me and My Gal, a safe, period musical coming out of a vaudeville setting and tradition, and in his next screen appearance, starring in Thousands Cheer (1943), he carried the movie, an adult version of the Garland/Rooney-style "hey kids, let's put on a show" vehicle.

But by the mid-'40s, MGM was starting to do somewhat more diverse musicals, which were mounted on an ever-grander scale and used much larger budgets; not all of these were successful, including those in which Kelly worked -- their version of Cole Porter's Du Barry Was a Lady was hopelessly compromised by the studio's dampening down of most of the stage original's more daring elements. But in the midst of all of this activity (which included a loan-out to Columbia Pictures for Cover Girl, a musical that was more ambitious than any of his MGM films to date), Kelly revealed himself to be a quintuple threat: dancer, actor, singer, choreographer, and director. Anchors Aweigh put Kelly alongside a young Frank Sinatra but it also gave him a bravura dance segment involving live action and animation mixed together, all in Technicolor, in which his dancing partner was Jerry the Mouse from the Tom & Jerry cartoons. As Kelly's popularity and box office grosses grew, so did his influence at the studio, and he began proposing more ambitious projects as a director as well as a choreographer and performer.

And there were other activities taking place at MGM in the post-World War II era that utilized additional aspects of his talent -- when MGM started its record label in 1948, there was a Gene Kelly album, Song & Dance Man, included among its earliest releases. And he did, in those days in his movies, share some vocals with the likes of a young Frank Sinatra -- and acquitted himself decently -- but it was the dancing and choreography that were the real focus of his work. It was in the big musicals conceived near the end of the '40s -- starting with On the Town, adapted from the hit stage musical by Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Leonard Bernstein -- and his later, more personalized vehicles, An American in Paris and Singin' in the Rain, that gave Kelly his greatest influence over music. By that time, his vocal range had narrowed somewhat from the pleasing light tenor he'd revealed in For Me and My Gal a decade earlier, but his onscreen geniality and overall popularity allowed him to effectively re-popularize many songs by George and Ira Gershwin, and Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown.

His most popular and influential work as a singer can also be found on the soundtracks for those films -- although it was the films themselves, and the arrangements and visual set pieces (which Kelly had a lot to do with shaping, even when he didn't have co-directing credit, as on An American in Paris), that did more for the songs than his vocalizing. One can also add to that list the soundtracks to Brigadoon, Summer Stock, and the compilation soundtrack That's Entertainment! The Best of the M-G-M Musicals. Rather ironically, his singing on Brigadoon wasn't all that good -- and dangerously close to ragged at times -- but the soundtrack was around for years and it was through the movie that most people came to know the score after the show's original Broadway run. Alas, Kelly's time in the limelight was relatively brief, not quite 20 years in terms of his actual output.

He'd come along on the eve of the studio's ascent to its peak of production in his particular area of expertise (and, in many ways, helped make the achievement of that peak possible); but it was a short time, only a decade, before the arrival of television began reducing movie audiences, and the rise of the teenage filmgoer fundamentally changed the nature of who went to movies, and all production at MGM began getting scaled back. By 1955, the film musical -- especially as it was done at MGM -- was a dying art form commercially, and Kelly turned increasingly toward directing, but those assignments were relatively few and far between, and he allowed his dramatic acting -- which he had never entirely forsaken, but had never built into great prominence before the public either -- to become the focus of his film work in movies such as Marjorie Morningstar and Inherit the Wind. He proved to be as adept at drama as he had been at dance; and in the '70s, spurred on by the growing interest in America's cinematic past that coalesced around MGM's compilation feature That's Entertainment!, Kelly directed the equally fine follow-up, That's Entertainment, Part 2.

But for all of his aspirations as a director, his best movie work of the post- MGM era was probably in the Jacques Demy-directed Young Girls of Rochefort; although Demy's focus was song and melody rather than dance, he succeeded in creating a popular new musical idiom for the '60s outside of Hollywood, where Kelly never really had the proper chance to try, and invested himself instead in gargantuan productions such as Hello, Dolly. Instead, as on That's Entertainment, Part 2, he had to content himself with preserving and working within the context of his own past. ~ Bruce Eder Top Movies Gene Kelly’s Widow Doesn’t Dance Away from His Secrets - Speakeasy - WSJ Gene Kelly’s Widow Doesn’t Dance Away from His Secrets By Kathy Shwiff Jul 24, 2012 10:00 pm ET Gene Kelly did have a 103-degree fever when he filmed the iconic dance sequence in the 1952 MGM movie musical “Singin’ in the Rain,” but milk was not added to the puddles.

And the taps were dubbed later–with Kelly dubbing his taps as well as Debbie Reynolds’, said Patricia Ward Kelly, who married the dancer-choreographer in 1990, when she was 31 and he was 77. He died in 1996. Patricia Ward Kelly spoke during the weekend at Lincoln Center in New York, where the center’s film society is marking the centennial of Gene Kelly’s birth by showing 23 of his movies. 4 Surprising Facts About Gene Kelly | Mental Floss 4 Surprising Facts About Gene Kelly Getty Images Like us on Facebook Eighteen years ago last week, the world lost one of Hollywood's greatest entertainers: Gene Kelly. Arguably, most of the public today knows Kelly best because of his iconic performance in Singin’ in the Rain (1952), but here are a few other facts about the legendary song-and-dance man you may not know. 1. He Perfected Cine-Dance Gene Kelly refused to choreograph his musical numbers like his predecessor Busby Berkeley , who generally filled his films’ frames with visual spectacles and geometric patterns requiring little movement from actors.

Rather, Kelly wanted to make the camera movements serve the choreography, to create something one could not on a theatrical stage. As a result, Gene Kelly adopted the term cine-dance (cinema + dance), which he defined as “any dancing choreographed specifically and particularly to be filmed or televised.” This meant, then, that for every number involving dance, Kelly (and his assistants) had to devise not only the dance choreography, the staging of dances and the dancers’ physical movements, but also the film choreography, the coordination of camera movements in relation to the musical number. Kelly’s cine-dance is evident in Singin’ in the Rain. For example, when Kelly’s character closes his umbrella, not caring if he gets wet, the camera closes in on him. The same thing happens when he sings, “Come on with the rain / I’ve a smile on my face.” Here, he opens his arms wide, inviting both the rain and the camera to move in toward him. But most noticeably, when the music climaxes and Kelly steps out into the street twirling with faster and wider movements, the camera also cranes wider and upward, fusing camera and dance.

If this doesn’t do it for you, turn on any season of Dancing with the Stars or Strictly Come Dancing to see the influence of Kelly’s cine-dance. 2. He Tamed Technology Gene Kelly also broke new ground with his use of special effects. For example, in Cover Girl (1944), Kelly's character picks a fight with himself after worrying that his fiancée is falling out of love with him. This internal struggle leads to a tricky solo dance called the "alter-ego number," in which two Gene Kellys simultaneously dance alongside and against each other onscreen. Created with Kelly’s co-choreographer Stanley Donen— and no CGI —the alter ego number made Kelly a star and secured him a contract at MGM. Kelly also made cinema history when he danced alongside Jerry the Mouse in Anchors Aweigh (1945). In the film musical, Kelly’s character sits before a roomful of school children and reads them a story. But the viewer experiences the tale through a mixture of live action and animation. This memorable segment of Anchors Aweigh only lasts four minutes but took months to complete. There were 10,000 painted frames to synchronize with Kelly's movements.

Kelly was filmed first, and then Jerry was animated frame by frame before the two figures were joined onscreen. The technique was repeated years later in Kelly's experimental dance film, Invitation to the Dance (1956). Finally, Kelly invented "the Ubangi" (now called a “camera offset”), a mechanism to get low-angle shots that were virtually impossible because of the large size of Technicolor cameras. According to Kelly’s biographer , the mechanism was “a long lip that projected from the camera, heavily reinforced with iron grids underneath, and with a mirror on it, only a couple of inches off the floor, so that the camera could shoot down into the mirror which, in turn, could be adjusted to reflect the exact angle [Kelly] wanted.” Kelly invented the device for his satirical fantasy film The Pirate (1948). Each of these technical innovations derives from Kelly's desire to do something onscreen that could not be done onstage and that had never been done before. 3. He took the Musical On Location In keeping with Kelly’s need to advance cinema and the musical specifically, the star wanted to shoot one of his films, On the Town (1949), outside the studio—and outside Hollywood , in fact.

This was generally unheard of in the 1940s, especially for a big-budget MGM musical, all of which were filmed on soundstages, backlots, or nearby. Consequently, to get his wish to travel to and shoot in Manhattan, Kelly had to put up a fight with MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer , who could not visualize the effect that Kelly (and his co-director Stanley Donen) were after. He thought the idea was indulgent and a waste of money. "Why not just do it on the backlot—like everyone else?" Mayer asked. Ultimately, Mayer gave Kelly, Donen, and the rest of the unit five days in NYC, two of which were apparently spoiled by bad weather. The crew shot where and when they could. "We had to 'steal' and 'cheat' every shot, and somehow keep our cameras hidden from the passers-by who would only delay us further and crowd around if they knew a picture was being made," Kelly once said. Numerous scholars and critics consider On the Town the first film musical shot on location.

While this is not completely true, it is the first big-budget color musical from MGM’s Freed Unit (the production unit of which Kelly was a part) to be shot on location, and it prompted other directors to do the same. It was highly successful, earning over three times its budget on first release. 4. He's Making a Comeback Today Even though Kelly has been dead 18 years now and his most admired films are over six decades old, his presence in the 21st century is alive and well. In the past eight years, the deceased Hollywood song-and-dance man has made appearances in Family Guy, a Funny or Die sketch, and at least four television commercials, two for Volkswagen alone. In addition, The Simpsons, Glee, Saturday Night Live, Britain's Got Talent, Usher, Jaime Cullum, and Mint Royale have recently paid homage to Gene Kelly and Singin' in the Rain. Furthermore, over the past decade, several Kelly-related fansites, tumblelogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts, video mash-ups, and message boards have appeared online, all of which continue to be extremely active. And this makes sense, considering the legacy that Kelly left behind. More from mental_floss...

Kelly-Astaire-O'Connor | Basics to Broadway, Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Acrobatics, Pointe, Lyrical Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, and Donald O'Connor: Here's a selection of the most entertaining, and most revolutionary moments from their movie musicals. "Singin' in the Rain" from the movie Singin' in the Rain (1952). Here's one of the most famous dance scenes from movie musical history. Brilliant choreography, exquisite dancing, a clever idea--and in a wet suit. Yep, he's singin'--and dancin'--in the rain. "You, Wonderful You" (Newspaper Dance) from Summer Stock (1950). This is one of the most clever dances of Gene Kelly's career. All he needed was a newspaper and a barn floor. "Me and My Shadow" from Feudin', Fussin' and a-Fightin' (1948). O'Connor's "barn dance" filmed 2 years before Kelly's classic in Summer Stock. "Moses Supposes" from Singin' in the Rain (1952).

Well-matched, high energy, and musically literal footwork makes this legendary duet a classic. "Make 'Em Laugh" from Singin' in the Rain (1952). Prat falls, flips, and comic timing showcase Donald O'Connor's theatrical genius. "The Worry Song" from Anchors Aweigh (1944). In this scene Gene Kelly's combined animation with his own dancing, the film medium with the help of Jerry, the mouse. "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" from Thousands Cheer (1943). Released at the height of World War II, this musical hoped to boost US morale and features Gene Kelly dancing with a mop as his partner. "I Like Myself" from It's Always Fair Weather (1955). In this clip Gene Kelly dances on roller skates in a solo some consider the last great dance performance of his career. "Ups and Downs" from I Love Melvin (1953). This clip features Donald O'Connor dancing on roller skates and was filmed two years before Gene Kelly "tap skated" in It's Always Fair Weather. The "Broadway Melody Ballet" from Singin' in the Rain (1952).

This dance sequence is performed to a combination of "The Broadway Melody" from The Broadway Melody (1929) and "Broadway Rhythm" from Broadway Melody of 1936. In this elaborate production number, Gene's art imitates life as he traces the rise to stardom of a guy who's just "Gotta Dance!" "The Babbitt and the Bromide" from Zigfield Follies (1946). Fred Astaire once said his favorite dance partner was Gene Kelly. In this duet, two of the world's most famous tappers ham it up. "Puttin' On the Ritz" from Blue Skies (1946). An elaborate metaphor for Fred Astaire's career, this dance scene features complicated editing and Astaire at his best. "Sunday Jumps" from Royal Wedding (1951). Fred Astaire's famous duet with a hat rack. When you're this good, even dancing with wood can look fantastic. "You're All the World to Me" from Royal Wedding (1951). A camera bolted to the floor of a rotating room made this brilliant scene possible.

Fred Astaire dances on the walls and ceiling--just as well as on the floor! "Cheek to Cheek" from Top Hat (1935). In one of their most well-known dances, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers demonstrate the footwork, unity, and partnered backbends that made their dances some of the best--and most romantic--in movie history. "Pick Yourself Up" from Swing Time (1936). Considered one of their best dance films, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers demonstrate the fast footwork, syncopated rhythms, and great partnership that made them famous. "Shall We Dance" from Shall We Dance (1937). This film was the seventh of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers partnership, as well as music by George Gershwin and choreography by Hermes Pan. "Begin the Beguine" from Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940). This scene features the incredible timing, and intricate footwork of Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell. Considered one of Astaires best duet dances, the scene was featured in the documentary That's Entertainment (1974).

"Dancing in the Dark" from The Band Wagon (1953). This film, featuring the smooth moves and fluid partnering of Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, was nominated for four Academy Awards and was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.

Question: In what movie did Gene Kelly dance with a streetlight?
Answer: Singin' in the Rain