Gene Kelly
American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer (1912-1996) · United States · Actors · Died at 83
Gene Kelly is read about 2,207 times a day, in 80 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 15 October 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 390 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?He danced through puddles and up lampposts with an athleticism that made ballet look like something any guy could try. Gene Kelly wanted dance for the common man, and delivered it in films that still define what a musical can be.
A life in dates
The Young Girls Turn 25Film1985“It's all true. It's true I didn't want to be a dancer. What I really wanted to be was a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates.”In their words8 March 1985Speaking on March 8, 1985 at the American Film Institute; as quoted in "Hollywood Honors Man Who `Danced Joy'" by Paul Rosenfield, in LosAFI Life Achievement AwardAward
North and SouthSeries, 1985Sen. Charles Edwards1981Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille AwardAward1980
XanaduFilm, Danny McGuire1978
The Kennedy Center HonorsSeries1976
Cérémonie des CésarSeries1974
That's Entertainment!Film1973
The American Film Institute Salute to ...Series1970“I really don't know why I clicked. I didn't want to be a dancer, I just did it to work my way through college. But I was always an athlete and gymnast, so it came naturally.”In their words29 November 1970Quoted in "Gene Kelly's Musical Memories" by Rex Reed, in The Chicago Tribune (November 29, 1970)
The Cheyenne Social ClubFilm, 1970Director, Producer1967Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Animated ProgramAward
OmnibusSeries, 1967
A Guide for the Married ManFilm, 1967Director1962
Going My WaySeries, Father Chuck O'Malley1961
The Mike Douglas ShowSeries1960
Inherit the WindFilm, E.K. Hornbeck1957
Les GirlsFilm, Barry Nichols1956Golden BearAward1955
It's Always Fair WeatherFilm, Director1953
The OscarsSeries1952
Singin' in the RainFilm, Director1951Academy Honorary AwardAward1950
Black HandFilm, Giovanni E. 'Johnny' Columbo1948
The Ed Sullivan ShowSeries
The PirateFilm, 1948Serafin1944
Christmas HolidayFilm, Robert Manette1942
For Me and My GalFilm, Harry Palmer1912Born23 August 1912Also in Deutsch
Photos 8
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In their own words 4
, It's all true. It's true I didn't want to be a dancer. What I really wanted to be was a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
I really don't know why I clicked. I didn't want to be a dancer, I just did it to work my way through college. But I was always an athlete and gymnast, so it came naturally.
In the 1930s, when I started, Martha Graham was the only dancer doing anything modern, but she did it all to classical music.
Filmography 40
SJSid & Judy
TIThat's Entertainment! IIITTThe Young Girls Turn 25
TDThat's Dancing!XAXanadu
TIThat's Entertainment, Part IITEThat's Entertainment!
CA40 CaratsTCThe Cheyenne Social Club
HDHello, Dolly!
TRThe Young Girls of RochefortAMA Guide for the Married Man
JBJack and the Beanstalk
WGWhat a Way to Go!IWInherit the Wind
LLLet's Make Love
TLThe Tunnel of Love
MMMarjorie MorningstarLGLes Girls
IDInvitation to the DanceIWIt's Always Fair Weather
BRBrigadoon
DHDeep in My HeartSRSingin' in the Rain
APAn American in Paris
SSSummer StockBHBlack Hand
OTOn the Town
TGTake Me Out to the Ball Game
TMThe Three MusketeersTPThe Pirate
WMWords and Music
AAAnchors Aweigh
ZFZiegfeld Follies
CGCover GirlCHChristmas Holiday
TLThe Cross of Lorraine
TCThousands Cheer
DLDu Barry Was a LadyFGFor Me and My Gal174 credits on file
Television 24
IÉIl était une fois Champs-Élysées
TPTalking PicturesNSNorth and South
CEChamps-ElyséesTHThe Kennedy Center Honors
TSThe Muppet ShowCCCérémonie des César
NUNuméro un
TRThe Dean Martin Celebrity RoastsTTThe American Film Institute Salute to ...
GPGreat PerformancesOMOmnibus
TSThe Danny Kaye Show
TCThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TSThe Merv Griffin ShowGWGoing My WayTSThe Mike Douglas Show
MPMGM ParadeTOThe Oscars
OMOmnibus
WLWhat's My Line?TSThe Ed Sullivan ShowAwards
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Eugene Curran Kelly was born August 23, 1912, and spent the 1940s and '50s remaking the Hollywood musical from the inside. His film debut came in 1942 opposite Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal, but the run that mattered started with Anchors Aweigh in 1945, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. In 1949 he and Stanley Donen co-directed On the Town, his first time behind the camera, then followed with Singin' in the Rain in 1952 and several more through the decade as the genre began to fade. An American in Paris won Best Picture in 1951; his solo directing debut, Invitation to the Dance in 1956, flopped. He kept directing into the '60s - Hello, Dolly! in 1969 landed a Best Picture nomination - and collected lifetime honors from the Kennedy Center, the Screen Actors Guild, and the American Film Institute. He died February 2, 1996, having made the ballet form commercially acceptable to audiences who'd never thought twice about it.
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