Gene Kelly

Gene Kelly (1912-1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks, and the likable characters that he played on screen. He starred in, choreographed, or co-directed some of the most well-regarded musical films of the 1940s and 1950s until they fell out of fashion in the late 1950s. Kelly is best known today for his performances in films such as Anchors Aweigh (1945), On the Town (1949), which was his directorial debut, An American in Paris (1951), Singin' in the Rain (1952), Brigadoon (1954), and It's Always Fair Weather (1955).


French postcard, no. 1. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Vera Ellen and Gene Kelly in On the Town (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1949).


Vintage autograph card. Photo: Leslie Caron and Gene Kelly in An American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli, 1951).


Dutch postcard. Photo: M.G.M. Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse in Singin' in the Rain (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, 1952).


Belgian postcard by Les Editions d'Art L.A.B., Brussels, no. 2020. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Kathryn Grayson and Gene Kelly in Thousands Cheer (George Sidney, 1943).


Dutch postcard by van Leer's Fotodrukindustrie N.V., Amsterdam, no. 351, no. 6. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer (M.G.M.) June Allyson and Gene Kelly in The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948), based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.

An accomplished sportsman and able to defend himself

Eugene Curran Kelly was born in 1912 in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh. He was the third son of James Patrick Joseph Kelly, a phonograph salesman, and his wife, Harriet Catherine Curran.

By the time he decided to dance, he was an accomplished sportsman and able to defend himself. He attended St. Raphael Elementary School in the Morningside neighbourhood of Pittsburgh and graduated from Peabody High School at age 16. He entered Pennsylvania State College as a journalism major, but after the 1929 crash, he left school and found work in order to help his family financially.

He created dance routines with his younger brother Fred to earn prize money in local talent contests. They also performed in local nightclubs. In 1931, Kelly enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh to study economics. His family opened a dance studio in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

In 1932, they renamed it the Gene Kelly Studio of the Dance and opened a second location in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1933. Kelly served as a teacher at the studio during his undergraduate and law-student years at Pitt. Kelly eventually decided to pursue a career as a dance teacher and full-time entertainer, so he dropped out of law school after two months.

In 1937, having successfully managed and developed the family's dance school business, he finally did move to New York City in search of work as a choreographer. His first Broadway assignment, in 1938, was as a dancer in Cole Porter's 'Leave It to Me!'

Kelly's first big breakthrough was in the Pulitzer Prize-winning 'The Time of Your Life' (1939), in which, for the first time on Broadway, he danced to his own choreography. In 1940, he got the lead role in Rodgers and Hart's 'Pal Joey', choreographed by Robert Alton. This role propelled him to stardom. Offers from Hollywood began to arrive.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 262. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M.G.M.).


Vintage card. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M.G.M.).


Italian postcard in the Divi del Cinema series by Vetta Traldi, Milano, no. 102.


Italian postcard by B.F.F. Edit. (Casa Editr. Ballerini & Fratini, Firenze), no. 2879. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (M.G.M.).


French postcard by Edition P.I., Paris, no. 211, offered by Victoria, Brussels, no. 639. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1950.

The most inventive and effervescent musical

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the largest and most powerful studio in Hollywood when Gene Kelly arrived in town in 1941. There he made his film debut with Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal (Busby Berkeley, 1942). The film was a production of the Arthur Freed unit at MGM and it was one of the big hits of the year.

The talent pool at MGM 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. Kelly's film debut was followed by Cole Porter's Du Barry Was a Lady (Roy Del Ruth, 1943) with Lucille Ball, the morale booster Thousands Cheer (George Sidney, 1943), Cover Girl (Charles Vidor, 1944) opposite Rita Hayworth, and Anchors Aweigh (George Sidney, 1945) with Frank Sinatra.

MGM gave him a free hand to devise a range of dance routines for the latter, including his duets with Sinatra and the celebrated animated dance with Jerry Mouse — the animation for which was supervised by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Anchors Aweigh became one of the most successful films of 1945 and Kelly was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

In Ziegfeld Follies (1946), Kelly collaborated with Fred Astaire, for whom he had the greatest admiration, in 'The Babbitt and the Bromide' challenge dance routine. He co-starred with Judy Garland in The Pirate (Vincente Minnelli, 1948) which gave full rein to Kelly's athleticism. It features Kelly's work with the Nicholas Brothers— the leading black dancers of their day — in a virtuoso dance routine. Now regarded as a classic, the film was ahead of its time but flopped at the box office.

Kelly made his debut as a director with On the Town (Gene Kelly, 1949), for Arthur Freed. Stanley Donen, brought to Hollywood by Kelly to be his assistant choreographer, received co-director credit for On the Town. A breakthrough in the musical film genre, it has been described as "the most inventive and effervescent musical thus far produced in Hollywood."

Two musicals secured Gene Kelly's reputation as a major figure in the American musical film. First, he directed and starred in An American in Paris (Gene Kelly, 1951) with Leslie Caron. The highlight of the film is 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.

Kelly's many innovations transformed the Hollywood musical, and he is credited with almost single-handedly making the ballet form commercially acceptable to film audiences. In 1952, he received an Academy Honorary Award for his career achievements, the same year An American in Paris won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Probably the most admired of all film musicals is his next film, Singin' in the Rain (1952). As co-director, lead star, and choreographer, Kelly was the central driving force and unforgettable is Kelly's celebrated and much-imitated solo dance routine to the title song. Dale O'Connor at IMDb: "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."


Belgian postcard by Victoria Biscuits Chocolats, no. 4. Photo: M.G.M. Frank Morgan, Reginald Owen, Gene Kelly, Van Heflin, Gig Young, and Robert Coote in The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948), based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.


Belgian postcard by Victoria Biscuits Chocolats, no. 8. Photo: M.G.M. June Allyson and Gene Kelly in The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948), based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.


Belgian postcard by Victoria Biscuits Chocolats, no. 12. Photo: M.G.M. Angela Lansbury, June Allyson, and Gene Kelly in The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948), based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.


Belgian postcard by Victoria Biscuits Chocolats, no. 17. Photo: M.G.M. Lana Turner and Gene Kelly in The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948), based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.


Belgian postcard by Victoria Biscuits Chocolats, no. 19. Photo: M.G.M. Gene Kelly and June Allyson in The Three Musketeers (George Sidney, 1948), based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.

The 15th greatest male screen legend of Classic Hollywood

Kelly continued his string of classic Hollywood musicals with Brigadoon (1954) with Cyd Charisse, and It's Always Fair Weather (1955), co-directed with Donen. The latter was a musical satire on television and advertising and includes his roller-skate dance routine to 'I Like Myself', and a dance trio with Michael Kidd and Dan Dailey that Kelly used to experiment with the widescreen possibilities of Cinemascope.