Name
Gene Kelly
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1912-08-23
Deathday
1996-02-02 (84 years old)
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
8.125
In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his paranoid ...
6.993
Jerry Mulligan is an exuberant American expatriate in Paris trying to make a reputation as...
6.807
In 17th century France, young D'Artagnan wants to join the King's Musketeers, but instead ...
6.4
When billionaire Jean-Marc Clement learns that he is to be satirized in an off-Broadway re...
6.988
Dolly Levi is a strong-willed matchmaker who travels to Yonkers, New York in order to see ...
7.7
In the seaside town of Rochefort, twin sisters Delphine and Solange dream of love and arti...
6.995
Three sailors wreak havoc as they search for love during a whirlwind 24-hour leave in New ...
7.089
A four-time widow discusses her four marriages, in which all of her husbands became incred...
- 1952 Singin' in the Rain as Don Lockwood
- 1960 Inherit the Wind as E.K. Hornbeck
- 1951 An American in Paris as Jerry Mulligan
- 1944 Cover Girl as Danny McGuire
- 1949 On the Town as Gabey
- 1964 What a Way to Go! as Pinky Benson
- 1942 For Me and My Gal as Harry Palmer
- 1944 Christmas Holiday as Robert Manette
- 1958 Marjorie Morningstar as Noel Airman
- 1949 Take Me Out to the Ball Game as Eddie O'Brien
- 1948 The Pirate as Serafin
- 1950 Black Hand as Giovanni E. 'Johnny' Columbo
- 1948 The Three Musketeers as D'Artagnan
- 1973 40 Carats as Billy Boylan
- 1985 That's Dancing! as Self - Host
- 1957 The Life You Save May Be Your Own as Tom T. Triplett
- 1950 Summer Stock as Joe D. Ross
- 1945 Ziegfeld Follies as Gentleman (segment "The Babbit and the Bromide")
- 1957 Les Girls as Barry Nichols
- 1943 Du Barry Was a Lady as Alec Howe / Black Arrow
- 1943 Thousands Cheer as Eddie Marsh
- 1980 Xanadu as Danny McGuire
- 1978 The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait as Self
- 1956 Invitation to the Dance as Host / Pierrot / The Marine / Sinbad
- 1945 Anchors Aweigh as Joseph Brady
- 1955 It's Always Fair Weather as Ted Riley
- 1954 Brigadoon as Tommy Albright
- 1977 Yabba Dabba Doo! The Happy World of Hanna-Barbera as Self - Host
- 1982 Showbiz Goes to War as (archive footage)
- 1967 Jack and the Beanstalk as Jeremy Keen, the Peddler
- 1951 It's a Big Country as Icarus Xenophon
- 1976 That's Entertainment, Part II as Self - Host
- 1977 Viva Knievel! as Will Atkins
- 1943 The Cross of Lorraine as Victor
- 1982 The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 1943 Pilot #5 as Vito S. Alessandro
- 1952 The Devil Makes Three as Jeff Eliot
- 1972 Hollywood: The Dream Factory as Self (archive footage)
- 1947 Living in a Big Way as Leo Gogarty
- 1957 The Happy Road as Michael J. Andrews
- 1954 Seagulls Over Sorrento as Lieutenant Bradville
- 1993 The Young Girls Turn 25 as Self (archive footage)
- 1978 Ersatz as Don Lockwood (voice) (archive sound)
- 1995 The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies as Self
- 1948 Words and Music as Gene Kelly
- 1990 You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story as Self
- 1973 The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli as Self (archive footage)
- 2005 Easter Parade: On the Avenue as Self (Archive Footage)
- 2005 Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon' as Self (archive footage)
- 1986 The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years as Self (archive footage)
- 2003 Cole Porter in Hollywood: Ça c'est l'amour as Self (archive footage)
- 1988 Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues as Self
- 1961 Hollywood: The Golden Years as Self - Host
- 1974 That's Entertainment! as Self - Host / Narrator
- 1973 Frank Sinatra: Ol' Blue Eyes is Back as Self - Guest Performer
- 2013 Directing Dolly: Gene Kelly Remembered as Self (archive footage)
- 1954 Deep in My Heart as Performer (segment "Dancing Around")
- 1982 Sylvie Vartan: Live in Las Vegas as Self
- 1998 A Bing Crosby Christmas as Self / Narrator (archive footage)
- 1981 Reporters as Self
- 1977 An Evening with Gene Kelly as Self
- 1958 Dancing, a Man's Game - Gene Kelly as Self
- 2002 Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer as Self (archive footage)
- 1994 That's Entertainment! III as Self - Host
- 2004 Judy Garland: By Myself as Self - Actor (archive sound)
- 2000 Hollywood Musicals of the 40's as Self (archive footage)
- 1980 Olivia Newton-John: Hollywood Nights as Self
- 1987 The Movie Palaces as Self
- 1960 Let's Make Love as Gene Kelly (uncredited)
- 1945 Combat Fatigue Irritability as Seaman Bob Lucas
- 1980 Lucy Moves to NBC as Self
- 1983 James Bond: The First 21 Years as Self
- 1990 Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash as Self
- 1944 Twenty Years After as (archive footage)
- 1974 The Sandy Duncan Special as Self
- 1965 The Julie Andrews Show as Self
- 2006 Happy Again as Don Lockwood (archive footage)
- 1950 The Costume Designer as Self (archive footage)
- 1952 Love Is Better Than Ever as Gene Kelly (uncredited)
- 1988 Roger Rabbit and the Secrets of Toon Town as Self – Interviewee
- 2018 La La La as Various Roles (archive footage)
- 1987 James Stewart: A Wonderful Life as Self
- 1976 It's Showtime as Self (archive footage)
- 1978 Mickey's 50 as Self
- 1945 The Story of Submarine Warfare in the Pacific as Narrator (voice)
- 2019 Sid & Judy as Self (archive footage)
- 2011 Frank Sinatra: Around the World as Self - Guest
- 1967 The Young Girls of Rochefort as Andy Miller
- 1979 Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years as Self
- 2005 Reunited at MGM: Astaire and Rogers Together Again as Self (archive footage)
- 1975 The Lion Roars Again as Self
- 1982 Night of 100 Stars as Self
- 2024 True Blue as (Archive Footage)
- 2009 Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing as (archive footage)
- 2009 Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical as Self (archive)
- 2004 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies as Don Lockwood
- 2025 Gene Kelly: An American in Hollywood as Self - Portrait Subject & Interviewee (archive footage)
- 1966 Behind the screens : Les demoiselles de Rochefort as Self
- 2006 Summer Stock: Get Happy! as Joe D. Ross (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1978 Cinderella at the Palace as Host
- 1976 NBC: The First Fifty Years as Self
- 2017 JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala as Self
- 1984 Olympic Gala
- 1952 Omnibus ( 1 episode ) as Self (segment)
- 1961 Musikalische Unterhaltung ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1962 The Merv Griffin Show ( 3 episodes ) as Self
- 1976 The Muppet Show ( 1 episode ) as Self - Special Guest Star
- 1962 Going My Way ( 30 episodes ) as Father Chuck O'Malley
- 1951 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars ( 1 episode ) as Tom T. Triplett
- 1953 The Oscars ( 5 episodes ) as Self
- 1978 The Kennedy Center Honors ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1973 The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts ( 3 episodes ) as Self
- 1975 Doug Henning's World of Magic ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1985 North and South ( 4 episodes ) as Sen. Charles Edwards
- 2013 Talking Pictures ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1986 Sins ( 3 episodes ) as Eric Hovland
- 1955 MGM Parade ( 1 episode ) as Performer in 'Ziegfeld Follies' (archive footage)
- 1955 MGM Parade ( 1 episode ) as Self - Actor
- 1971 The Funny Side ( 14 episodes ) as Self - Host
- 1948 The Ed Sullivan Show ( 3 episodes ) as Self
- 1973 The American Film Institute Salute to ... ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1975 Numéro un ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2022 Il était une fois Champs-Élysées ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1963 Hollywood and the Stars ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1982 Champs-Elysées ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1961 The Mike Douglas Show ( 2 episodes ) as Self - Co-Host
- 1950 What's My Line? ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1963 The Danny Kaye Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1971 Great Performances ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1954 Reflets de Cannes ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1967 Omnibus ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1955 MGM Parade ( 2 episodes )
- 1955 MGM Parade ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1955 MGM Parade ( 3 episodes ) as self
- 1976 Cérémonie des César ( 1 episode ) as Self - President
- 1971 Film '72 ( 2 episodes ) as Self
