EARLY DAYS PRODUCTIONS
Eugene Curran Kelly was the third son of James Kelly, a phonograph salesman, and Harriet Curran, who were both children of Irish Roman Catholic immigrants. He was born on August 23, 1912 in the Highland Park neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and, at the age of eight, was enrolled by his mother in dance classes, along with his elder brother James. In 1930, Kelly's family started a dance studio on Munhall Road in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. In 1932, the dance studio was renamed The Gene Kelly Studio of the Dance. While still an undergraduate student and later as a student at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, Gene was a teacher at the dance studio. Eventually, though, he decided to pursue his career as a dance teacher and entertainer full-time and so dropped out of law school after two months.
1912-1996
Stats:
Full Name: Eugene Curran Kelly
Height: 5' 7"
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Light
Brown
Nickname: "Gene"
Quote:"If Fred Astaire is the Cary Grant of dance, I'm the Marlon Brando."
Full Name: Eugene Curran Kelly
Height: 5' 7"
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Light
Brown
Nickname: "Gene"
Quote:"If Fred Astaire is the Cary Grant of dance, I'm the Marlon Brando."
In 1937, having successfully managed and developed the family's dance school business, he moved to New York City in search of work as a choreographer. His first Broadway assignment, in November 1938, was as a dancer in Cole Porter's "Leave It to Me!" as the American ambassador's secretary 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", again choreographed by Robert Alton, and this role propelled him to stardom. Offers from Hollywood began to arrive and he signed with David O. Selznick, agreeing to go to Hollywood at the end of his commitment to "Pal Joey", in October 1941. Selznick sold half of Kelly's contract to MGM and loaned him out to MGM for his first motion picture: "For Me and My Gal" (1942) with Judy Garland.
He achieved his breakthrough as a dancer on film, when MGM loaned him out to Columbia to work with Rita Hayworth in "Cover Girl" (1944), where he created a memorable routine dancing to his own reflection. In his next film "Anchors Aweigh" (1945), MGM virtually gave him a free hand to devise a range of dance routines, including the celebrated and much imitated animated dances with Jerry Mouse, and his duets with co-star Frank Sinatra. "Anchors Aweigh" became one of the most successful films of 1945 and it garnered Kelly his first and only Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
He ceaselessly fought for an opportunity to direct his own musical film. It was his appearance in "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" with Frank Sinatra and Esther Williams which persuaded Arthur Freed to allow Kelly to make "On the Town", where he partnered with Frank Sinatra for the third and final time, creating a breakthrough in the musical film genre which has been described as "the most inventive and effervescent musical thus far produced in Hollywood." Stanley Donen, brought to Hollywood by Kelly to be his assistant choreographer, received co-director credit for "On the Town".
After appearing in "The Black Hand" (1949) and "Summer Stock" (1950), Kelly starred in two musicals which have secured Kelly's reputation as a major force in the American musical film, "An American in Paris" (1951) and, probably the most popular and admired of all film musicals, "Singin' in the Rain" (1952). in 1953, the film musical was already beginning to feel the pressures from television, and MGM cut the budget for his next picture "Brigadoon" (1954), with Cyd Charisse, forcing the film to be made on studio backlots instead of on location in Scotland. MGM's refusal to loan him out for "Guys and Dolls" and "Pal Joey" put further strains on his relationship with the studio. He negotiated an exit to his contract which involved making three further pictures for MGM. The first of these, "It's Always Fair Weather" (1956) co-directed with Donen, was a musical satire on television and advertising, and includes his famous roller skate dance routine to "I Like Myself". A modest success, it was followed by Kelly's last musical film for MGM, "Les Girls" (1957), fittingly ending, as he had begun, with a Cole Porter musical. The third picture he completed was a co-production between MGM and himself, the B-movie "The Happy Road", set in his beloved France, his first foray in his new role as producer-director-actor.
Kelly continued to make some film appearances, such as Hornbeck in the 1960 Hollywood production of Inherit the Wind. However, most of his efforts were now concentrated on film production and directing. Kelly continued to make frequent TV appearances and in 1980, appeared in an acting and dancing role opposite Olivia Newton-John in Xanadu (1980), an expensive theatrical flop which has since attained a cult following. In Kelly's opinion "The concept was marvelous but it just didn't come off.Kelly died in his sleep at 8.15 a.m. on February 2, 1996, in Beverly Hills, California after a stroke. He was 83 years old.
For more information about Gene Kelly please visit: Wikipedia
Gene Kelly's Filmography
1980 Xanadu
1977 Viva Knievel!
1973 40 Carats
1967 The Young Girls of Rochefort
1964 What a Way to Go!
1960 Inherit the Wind
1958 Marjorie Morningstar
1958 Something for the Girls
1957 Les Girls
1957 The Happy Road
1956 Invitation to the Dance
1955 It's Always Fair Weather
1954 Deep in My Heart
1954 Brigadoon
1954 Crest of the Wave
1952 The Devil Makes Three
1952 Singin' in the Rain
1951 It's a Big Country
1951 An American in Paris
1950 Summer Stock
1950 Black Hand
1949 On the Town
1949 Take Me Out to the Ball Game
1948 The Three Musketeers
1948 The Pirate
1947 Living in a Big Way
1945 Ziegfeld Follies
1945 Anchors Aweigh
1944 Christmas Holiday
1944 Cover Girl
1943 The Cross of Lorraine
1943 Thousands Cheer
1943 Pilot #5
1943 Du Barry Was a Lady
1942 For Me and My Gal
1977 Viva Knievel!
1973 40 Carats
1967 The Young Girls of Rochefort
1964 What a Way to Go!
1960 Inherit the Wind
1958 Marjorie Morningstar
1958 Something for the Girls
1957 Les Girls
1957 The Happy Road
1956 Invitation to the Dance
1955 It's Always Fair Weather
1954 Deep in My Heart
1954 Brigadoon
1954 Crest of the Wave
1952 The Devil Makes Three
1952 Singin' in the Rain
1951 It's a Big Country
1951 An American in Paris
1950 Summer Stock
1950 Black Hand
1949 On the Town
1949 Take Me Out to the Ball Game
1948 The Three Musketeers
1948 The Pirate
1947 Living in a Big Way
1945 Ziegfeld Follies
1945 Anchors Aweigh
1944 Christmas Holiday
1944 Cover Girl
1943 The Cross of Lorraine
1943 Thousands Cheer
1943 Pilot #5
1943 Du Barry Was a Lady
1942 For Me and My Gal
Early Days Productions: Gene Kelly 08/14/2011
Scene: Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
The late, great impresario Florenz Ziegfeld looks down from heaven and ordains a new revue in his grand old style. - From the IMDB