Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer.
He entered the 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.
It's an Irish quality, a jaw-jutting, up-on-the-toes cockiness—which is a good quality for a male dancer to have." He was also heavily influenced by an African-American dancer, Robert Dotson, whom he saw perform at Loew's Penn Theatre around 1929.
However, his main interest was in ballet, which he studied under Kotchetovsky in the early 1930s.
While Fred Astaire had revolutionized the filming of dance in the 1930s by insisting on full-figure photography of dancers, while allowing only a modest degree of camera movement, Kelly freed up the camera, making greater use of space, camera movement, camera angles, and editing, creating a partnership between dance movement and camera movement without sacrificing full-figure framing.
They also performed in local nightclubs. In 1931, Kelly enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh to study economics, joining the Theta Kappa Phi fraternity (later known as Phi Kappa Theta after merging with Phi Kappa).
In 1931, he was approached by the Beth Shalom Synagogue in Pittsburgh to teach dance, and to stage the annual Kermesse.
In 1932, they renamed it the Gene Kelly Studio of the Dance and opened a second location in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1933.
After graduating in 1933, he continued to be active with the Cap and Gown Club, serving as the director from 1934 to 1938.
In 1932, they renamed it the Gene Kelly Studio of the Dance and opened a second location in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1933.
Ballet gave him the same feeling of exhilaration, and in 1933, he was convinced it was the most satisfying form of self-expression." He also studied Spanish dancing under Angel Cansino, Rita Hayworth's uncle.
After graduating in 1933, he continued to be active with the Cap and Gown Club, serving as the director from 1934 to 1938.
He increased his focus on performing and later said: "With time I became disenchanted with teaching because the ratio of girls to boys was more than ten to one, and once the girls reached 16, the dropout rate was very high." 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.
After graduating in 1933, he continued to be active with the Cap and Gown Club, serving as the director from 1934 to 1938.
Kelly returned to Pittsburgh, to his family home at 7514 Kensington Street, by 1940, and worked as a theatrical actor. ==Stage career== After a fruitless search for work in New York, Kelly returned to Pittsburgh to his first position as a choreographer with the Charles Gaynor musical revue Hold Your Hats at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in April 1938.
Kelly appeared in six of the sketches, one of which, La cumparsita, became the basis of an extended Spanish number in the film Anchors Aweigh eight years later. 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 1939, he was selected for a musical revue, One for the Money, produced by the actress Katharine Cornell, who was known for finding and hiring talented young actors. Kelly's first big breakthrough was in the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Time of Your Life, which opened on October 25, 1939—in which, for the first time on Broadway, he danced to his own choreography.
However, after becoming disenchanted by the Roman Catholic Church's support for Francisco Franco against the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War, he officially severed his ties with the church in September 1939.
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 returned to Pittsburgh, to his family home at 7514 Kensington Street, by 1940, and worked as a theatrical actor. ==Stage career== After a fruitless search for work in New York, Kelly returned to Pittsburgh to his first position as a choreographer with the Charles Gaynor musical revue Hold Your Hats at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in April 1938.
He began dating a cast member, Betsy Blair, and they got married on October 16, 1941. In 1940, he got the lead role in Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey, again choreographed by Robert Alton.
He began dating a cast member, Betsy Blair, and they got married on October 16, 1941. In 1940, he got the lead role in Rodgers and Hart's Pal Joey, again choreographed by Robert Alton.
Selznick, agreeing to go to Hollywood at the end of his commitment to Pal Joey, in October 1941.
His first marriage was to actress Betsy Blair in 1941.
Despite this, critic Manny Farber was moved to praise Kelly's "attitude", "clarity", and "feeling" as an actor while inauspiciously concluding, "The two things he does least well—singing and dancing—are what he is given most consistently to do." At the end of 1944, Kelly enlisted in the U.S.
In Ziegfeld Follies (1946)—which was produced in 1944 but delayed for release—Kelly collaborated with Fred Astaire, for whom he had the greatest admiration, in "The Babbitt and the Bromide" challenge dance routine. ===1946–1952: MGM=== After Kelly returned to Hollywood in 1946, MGM had nothing planned and used him in a routine, black-and-white movie: Living in a Big Way (1947).
It gained an Emmy nomination for choreography and now stands as the key document explaining Kelly's approach to modern dance. Kelly appeared frequently on television shows during the 1960s, including Going My Way (1962–63), which was based on the 1944 film of the same name.
Reviewing the film, Farber enthused, "Kelly is the most exciting dancer to appear in Hollywood movies." 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)—which was produced in 1944 but delayed for release—Kelly collaborated with Fred Astaire, for whom he had the greatest admiration, in "The Babbitt and the Bromide" challenge dance routine. ===1946–1952: MGM=== After Kelly returned to Hollywood in 1946, MGM had nothing planned and used him in a routine, black-and-white movie: Living in a Big Way (1947).
In 1947, he was part of the Committee for the First Amendment, the Hollywood delegation that flew to Washington to protest at the first official hearings by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
In the interim, he capitalized on his swashbuckling image as d'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers (also 1948)—and also appeared with Vera-Ellen in the Slaughter on Tenth Avenue ballet in Words and Music (1948 again).
1942), and divorced in April 1957. In 1960, Kelly married his choreographic assistant Jeanne Coyne, who had previously been married to Stanley Donen between 1948 and 1951.
This musical film persuaded Arthur Freed to have Kelly make On the Town (also 1949), in which he partnered with Frank Sinatra for the third and final time.
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).
From the mid-1940s through the early 1950s, Blair and he organized weekly parties at their Beverly Hills home, and they often played an intensely competitive and physical version of charades, known as "The Game". His papers are housed at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University. Late in life, Kelly was awarded Irish citizenship under Ireland's Citizenship by Foreign Birth program.
one of the finest ever put on the screen." Also in 1951, Kelly received an honorary Academy Award for his contribution to film musicals and the art of choreography. The following year, Singin' in the Rain featured Kelly's celebrated and much imitated solo dance routine to the title song, along with the "Moses Supposes" routine with Donald O'Connor and the "Broadway Melody" finale with Cyd Charisse.
In December 1951, he signed a contract with MGM that sent him to Europe for 19 months to use MGM funds frozen in Europe to make three pictures while personally benefiting from tax exemptions.
In 1951, he summed up his vision as: "If the camera is to make a contribution at all to dance, this must be the focal point of its contribution; the fluid background, giving each spectator an undistorted and altogether similar view of dancer and background.
1942), and divorced in April 1957. In 1960, Kelly married his choreographic assistant Jeanne Coyne, who had previously been married to Stanley Donen between 1948 and 1951.
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.
It was beset with delays and technical problems, and flopped when finally released in 1956. When Kelly returned to Hollywood in 1953, the film musical was beginning to feel the pressures from television, and MGM cut the budget for his next picture Brigadoon (1954), with Cyd Charisse, forcing him to make the film on studio backlots instead of on location in Scotland.
It was beset with delays and technical problems, and flopped when finally released in 1956. When Kelly returned to Hollywood in 1953, the film musical was beginning to feel the pressures from television, and MGM cut the budget for his next picture Brigadoon (1954), with Cyd Charisse, forcing him to make the film on studio backlots instead of on location in Scotland.
1942), and divorced in April 1957. In 1960, Kelly married his choreographic assistant Jeanne Coyne, who had previously been married to Stanley Donen between 1948 and 1951.
After leaving MGM, Kelly returned to stage work. ===1958–1996: After MGM=== In 1958, Kelly directed Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical play Flower Drum Song.
Early in 1960, Kelly, an ardent Francophile and fluent French speaker, was invited by A.
It was a major success, and led to his being honored with the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by the French Government. Kelly continued to make some film appearances, such as Hornbeck in the Hollywood production of Inherit the Wind (1960) and as himself in Let's Make Love (also 1960).
It gained an Emmy nomination for choreography and now stands as the key document explaining Kelly's approach to modern dance. Kelly appeared frequently on television shows during the 1960s, including Going My Way (1962–63), which was based on the 1944 film of the same name.
1942), and divorced in April 1957. In 1960, Kelly married his choreographic assistant Jeanne Coyne, who had previously been married to Stanley Donen between 1948 and 1951.
He also appeared in three major TV specials: The Julie Andrews Show (1965), New York, New York (1966), and Jack and the Beanstalk (1967)—a show he produced and directed that again combined cartoon animation and live dance, winning him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program. In 1963, Kelly joined Universal Pictures for a two-year stint.
He joined 20th Century Fox in 1965, but had little to do—partly due to his decision to decline assignments away from Los Angeles for family reasons.
Then, a major opportunity arose when Fox—buoyed by the returns from The Sound of Music (1965)—commissioned Kelly to direct Hello, Dolly! (1969), again directing Matthau along with Barbra Streisand, nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three. In 1966, Kelly starred in an hour-long musical television special for CBS titled, Gene Kelly in New York, New York.
In 1967, he appeared in French director Jacques Demy's musical comedy The Young Girls of Rochefort opposite Catherine Deneuve.
Another French effort, Jacques Demy's homage to the MGM musical, The Young Girls of Rochefort (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, 1967), in which Kelly appeared, was a box-office success in France and nominated for Academy Awards for Best Music and Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation), but performed poorly elsewhere. He was asked to direct the film version of The Sound of Music, which had already been turned down by Stanley Donen.
Guest stars included choreographer Gower Champion, British musical comedy star Tommy Steele, and songstress Damita Jo DeBlanc. In 1970, he made another television special: Gene Kelly and 50 Girls and was invited to bring the show to Las Vegas, Nevada—which he did for an eight-week stint on the condition he be paid more than any artist had ever been paid there.
In 1973, he worked again with Frank Sinatra as part of Sinatra's Emmy-nominated TV special, Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra.
This marriage lasted until Coyne died in 1973. Kelly married Patricia Ward in 1990 (when he was 77 and she was 30).
His family and pets escaped and he suffered a burnt hand. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Kelly among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire. ==Illness and death== Kelly's health declined steadily in the late 1980s.
The application was initiated on his behalf by his wife Patricia Ward Kelly. ===Material loss=== On December 22, 1983, the actor's Beverly Hills mansion burned down.
This marriage lasted until Coyne died in 1973. Kelly married Patricia Ward in 1990 (when he was 77 and she was 30).
In July 1994, he suffered a stroke and stayed in Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center hospital for seven weeks.
In early 1995, he had another stroke in Beverly Hills.
Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer.
Kelly died on February 2, 1996, at the age of 83.
His final film project was the animated film Cats Don't Dance, not released until 1997, on which Kelly acted as an uncredited choreographic consultant.
Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997.
In 1999, the American Film Institute also ranked him as the 15th greatest male screen legend of Classic Hollywood Cinema. ==Early life== Kelly was born in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
As was the practice at the time, he was rarely formally credited in the film titles. ===Theatre=== ===Television=== ===Documentaries=== 1999 – Anatomy of a Dancer, directed by Robert Trachtenberg, PBS, 2002 2013 – Gene Kelly, to Live and Dance, by Bertrand Tessier, France 5, 2017 ===Radio=== ==References== ===Further reading=== Wise, James.
His family and pets escaped and he suffered a burnt hand. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Kelly among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire. ==Illness and death== Kelly's health declined steadily in the late 1980s.
As was the practice at the time, he was rarely formally credited in the film titles. ===Theatre=== ===Television=== ===Documentaries=== 1999 – Anatomy of a Dancer, directed by Robert Trachtenberg, PBS, 2002 2013 – Gene Kelly, to Live and Dance, by Bertrand Tessier, France 5, 2017 ===Radio=== ==References== ===Further reading=== Wise, James.
His family and pets escaped and he suffered a burnt hand. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Kelly among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal Studios fire. ==Illness and death== Kelly's health declined steadily in the late 1980s.
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