Kelly, Eugene (Gene) Curran

(1912-1996)

   Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, choreographer, dancer, singer, and film director Gene Kelly learned to dance at an early age, and after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 1933, he became an instructor at his family’s dance studio. He moved to New York City and worked as a choreographer in 1937 and first appeared on Broadway in Cole Porter’s Leave It to Me. After working in a number of other productions, he got the leading role in the Rodgers and Hart musical Pal Joey in 1940. His Broadway success led him to Hollywood, where he starred with Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal in 1942 and Rita Hayworth in Cover Girl in 1944. After a brief stint in the Navy Air Service in 1944, he appeared in three films with Frank Sinatra, Anchors Away! (1945), Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), and On the Town (1949), which was unusual for its use of both outside locations and studio shooting. This reflected Kelly’s wish to distinguish himself from Fred Astaire and focus less on ballroom dancing. This was also evident in two films for which Kelly will always be remembered, An American in Paris (1951) and Singin’ in the Rain (1952), which included the famous song and dance routine of the same name.

   In 1951, Kelly was given a special Academy Award for his contribution to film in An American in Paris, marking the height of his career. Although he later received several lifetime achievement awards from various bodies, Kelly’s subsequent films were not of the same quality, in part because of the decline in popularity of musical films with audiences. His last significant film as singer-dancer was Brigadoon (1954). Thereafter he gravitated toward production and direction, most notably directing Hello Dolly! in 1969.

   See also Cinema; Music.