Gene Kelly (August 23, 1912 - February 2, 1996), better known as Gene Kelly, was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was an American dancer, actor, singer, director, producer, and choreographer. Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the likeable characters that he played on screen.
Gene was the third son of James Kelly, a phonograph salesman, and Harriet Curran, who were both children of Irish Catholic immigrants. He attended college at the University of Pittsburgh where he joined the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. Early in his Broadway career, he appeared in Cole Porter's Leave It To Me as an Eskimo who supports Mary Martin while she sings "My Heart Belongs to Daddy." In 1940 he was given the leading role in Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey, which brought him to national attention. During this period he also choreographed several hit plays, including the 1941 production of Best Foot Forward.
Kelly's first motion picture was For Me and My Gal (1942) with Judy Garland. He went on to make a number of classic musicals, including An American in Paris (1951) and Singin' in the Rain (1952).
His most notable moments on film include:
Dancing with a group of French schoolchildren to "I Got Rhythm" in An American in Paris.
The climactic ballet/finale of An American in Paris.
Singing and dancing in the rain in a much-parodied scene from the film Singin' in the Rain; a scene he filmed while sick with a 103-degree (39.4 °C) fever.
Dancing with a squeaky floorboard and a newspaper in Summer Stock.
Dancing on roller skates in It's Always Fair Weather.
Dancing with Jerry Mouse in Anchors Aweigh.
Dancing with his own reflection in Cover Girl
He was the first American to choreograph and stage a ballet in the Paris Opera.
Kelly was awarded a special Academy Award “in appreciation of his versatility as an actor, singer, director and dancer, and specifically for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film” in 1951 and reawarded in 1984's Academy Awards due to a fire which burned down his home in the previous year.
Kelly was awarded the Légion d'honneur by the French government in 1960. He also received the Life Achievement Award from American Film Institute in 1985. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian award, from President Clinton in 1994, but was too ill to accept it in person.
Kelly died on February 2, 1996, in Beverly Hills, California, after suffering two strokes, at the age of 83.
Kelly married three times:
Betsy Blair (1940-1957) (one child, Kerry)
Jeanne Coyne (1960-1973) (two children, Bridget and Tim)
Patricia Ward (1990-1996)
The Gene Kelly Awards, given annually to high school musicals in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, are named in his honor.
In 2005, Volkswagen used Gene Kelly's as part of their Golf GTi promotion. The television clip featured a partly CGI version of Kelly breakdancing to a new version of "Singin' in the Rain", remixed by Mint Royale. The tagline was, "The original, updated."
That's Entertainment! (1974)
