Gene Kelly

Intro

• Gene Kelly was an American film actor and director whose athletic style and classical ballet technique transformed the film musical.
• He boldly blended solo dancing, mass movement and offbeat camera angles to tell a story in purely visual terms.
• Kelly is remembered for his lead role in Singin' in the Rain, regarded by some as the best dance film ever made.

Intro

Early Life

• One of five children, Kelly was born on August 23, 1912, and grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• While his friends were playing baseball, he was taking dance lessons.
• Kelly put his lessons to good use in college, teaching at a local studio to help him pay for his education. He also performed with his brother, Fred.
• Deep In My Heart, 1954. "I Love To Go Swimming With Women"**
• In the late 1930s, Kelly made his way to the Broadway stage. He had small roles in Leave It to Me! starring Mary Martin, and One For the Money.
• In 1940, Kelly played the lead in the popular musical comedy Pal Joey.
• MGM executive Louis B. Mayer caught Kelly's stellar performance and offered him a movie contract with his studio.
• In 1942, Kelly made his film debut opposite Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal.**

Early Life

Career

Film Career

• While he often was compared to another famous film dancer, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly had his own unique style.
• He brought dance into real life in his movies, performing largely in regular clothes and in common settings.
• "All of my dancing came out of the idea of the common man," Kelly once explained.
• He also produced some of film's most innovative and enthusiastic dance numbers, pushing the limits of the genre.
• In Anchors Aweigh (1945), Kelly danced a duet with Jerry, a cartoon mouse—a feat that had not been seen before. **
• He had sailors performing ballet moves in On the Town (1949), in which he starred with Frank Sinatra. (New York, New York)**
• Working with director Vincent Minnelli, Kelly continued to take dance on film into uncharted territory with An American in Paris (1951). (I Got Rhythm)**
• He choreographed the movie, including its groundbreaking finale—a lengthy ballet sequence.
• For his efforts on the film, Kelly received a honorary 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."

More Films

• The following year, Kelly co-directed with Stanley Donen, choreographed and starred in Singin' in the Rain (1952), one of his most famous films.
• As silent film star Don Lockwood, Kelly sang and danced in the rain, cleverly using an umbrella as a prop in what would become one of the most memorable musical performances in movie history.
• He explained that his inspiration for the famous dance scene was the way children like to play in the rain.
• Kelly followed his most celebrated screen role by appearing in more musical films including Brigadoon (It's Almost Like Being in love 1954),** Deep in My Heart (1954), It's Always Fair Weather (1955; which he directed with Donen), Invitation to the Dance (1956; which he also directed) and Les Girls (1957).
• Good Mornin, Singin' in the Rain**

More

films

Late Career

Late Career

• As interest in the movie musical began to fade in the 1960s, Kelly turned to television.
• He starred in two short-lived programs—Going My Way, an adaptation of the 1944 Bing Crosby movie, and a 1971 variety show called The Funny Side.
• Kelly fared better with the 1967 television movie Jack and the Beanstalk, which he directed, produced and starred in.
• The children's telefilm earned him an Emmy Award.
• In 1973, Kelly also guest starred on Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra, performing a medley with Sinatra that included the songs "Can't Do That Anymore,” ”Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” ”For Me and My Gal” and ”New York, New York.” 4:58
• Kelly's later films include the 1960 film adaptation of the play Inherit the Wind with Spencer Tracy and Frederic March, and the 1964 comedy What a Way to Go!, which co-starred Shirley Maclaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin and Dick Van Dyke.
• Kelly also co-hosted the documentary series That's Entertainment! in the mid-1970s to help promote and preserve the great film musicals of the past.
• In the 1980s, Kelly largely retreated from acting. He made his last film appearance in the 1980 musical fantasy Xanadu with Olivia Newton-John, which proved to be a box-office dud, but a cult classic decades later. On the small screen, Kelly had a few supporting roles and guest spots on such series as The Muppet Show*** and The Love Boat. He often appeared as himself on tribute specials.

Legacy

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