Gene Kelly
Acting
- Born:
- 1912-08-23
- Died:
- 1996-02-02
- Place of birth:
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Biography
Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 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 Cover Girl (1944), Anchors Aweigh (1945), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, 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). Kelly made his film debut with Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal (1942), and followed by Du Barry Was a Lady (1943), Thousands Cheer (1943), The Pirate (1948), Summer Stock (1950), and Les Girls (1957) among others. After musicals he starred in two films outside the musical genre: Inherit the Wind (1960) and What a Way to Go! (1964). In 1967, he appeared in French director Jacques Demy's musical comedy The Young Girls of Rochefort opposite Catherine Deneuve. Kelly solo directed the comedy A Guide for the Married Man (1967) starring Walter Matthau, and later the extravagant musical Hello, Dolly! (1969) starring Barbra Streisand, recognized with an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Kelly co-hosted and appeared in Ziegfeld Follies (1946), That's Entertainment! (1974), That's Entertainment, Part II (1976), That's Dancing! (1985), and That's Entertainment, Part III (1994). His many innovations transformed the Hollywood musical, and he is credited with almost single-handedly making the ballet form commercially acceptable to film audiences. Kelly received an Academy Honorary Award in 1952 for his career achievements; the same year, An American in Paris won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. He later received lifetime achievement awards in the Kennedy Center Honors (1982) and from the Screen Actors Guild and American Film Institute. In 1999, the American Film Institute also ranked him as the 15th greatest male screen legend of Classic Hollywood Cinema.
Known For
Filmography
Gene Kelly: An American in Hollywood
True Blue
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
Sid & Judy
La La La
JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala
Talking Pictures
Directing Dolly: Gene Kelly Remembered
Frank Sinatra: Around the World
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
Summer Stock: Get Happy!
Happy Again
Reunited at MGM: Astaire and Rogers Together Again
Easter Parade: On the Avenue
Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon'
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies
Judy Garland: By Myself
Cole Porter in Hollywood: Ça c'est l'amour
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
Hollywood Musicals of the 40's
A Bing Crosby Christmas
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
That's Entertainment! III
The Young Girls Turn 25
Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
Roger Rabbit and the Secrets of Toon Town
Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues
The Movie Palaces
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Sins
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
North and South
That's Dancing!
Olympic Gala
James Bond: The First 21 Years
Showbiz Goes to War
Sylvie Vartan: Live in Las Vegas
Night of 100 Stars
Champs-Elysées
The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
Reporters
Xanadu
Olivia Newton-John: Hollywood Nights
Lucy Moves to NBC
Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years
The Kennedy Center Honors
The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait
Mickey's 50
Cinderella at the Palace
Ersatz
Yabba Dabba Doo! The Happy World of Hanna-Barbera
Viva Knievel!
An Evening with Gene Kelly
NBC: The First Fifty Years
The Muppet Show
That's Entertainment, Part II
Cérémonie des César
It's Showtime
Doug Henning's World of Magic
Numéro un
The Lion Roars Again
The Sandy Duncan Special
That's Entertainment!
The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
Frank Sinatra: Ol' Blue Eyes is Back
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
40 Carats
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Film '72
The Funny Side
Great Performances
Omnibus
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Jack and the Beanstalk
Behind the screens : Les demoiselles de Rochefort
The Julie Andrews Show
What a Way to Go!
Hollywood and the Stars
The Danny Kaye Show
Going My Way
The Merv Griffin Show
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Mike Douglas Show
Musikalische Unterhaltung
Hollywood: The Golden Years
Let's Make Love
Inherit the Wind
Dancing, a Man's Game - Gene Kelly
Marjorie Morningstar
Les Girls
The Happy Road
The Life You Save May Be Your Own
Invitation to the Dance
MGM Parade
It's Always Fair Weather
Deep in My Heart
Brigadoon
Seagulls Over Sorrento
Reflets de Cannes
The Oscars
Omnibus
The Devil Makes Three
Singin' in the Rain
Love Is Better Than Ever
It's a Big Country
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
An American in Paris
Summer Stock
The Costume Designer
Black Hand
What's My Line?
On the Town
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Words and Music
The Three Musketeers
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Pirate
Living in a Big Way
The Story of Submarine Warfare in the Pacific
Ziegfeld Follies
Anchors Aweigh
Combat Fatigue Irritability
Christmas Holiday
Cover Girl
Twenty Years After
The Cross of Lorraine
Thousands Cheer
Du Barry Was a Lady
Pilot #5
For Me and My Gal