Gene Kelly
| Gene Kelly | |
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 Kelly in 1986, by Allan Warren |
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| Born | Eugene Curran Kelly August 23, 1912 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | February 2, 1996 (aged 83) Beverly Hills, California, United States |
| Occupation | Actor, dancer, singer, director, producer, choreographer |
| Years active | 1938–1994 |
| Spouse | Betsy Blair (1941–1957) Jeanne Coyne (1960–1973) (her death) Patricia Ward (1990–1996) (his death) |
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer. A major exponent of 20th century filmed dance, Kelly was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks and the likeable characters that he played on screen.
Although he is known today for his performance in Singin' in the Rain, he was a dominant force in Hollywood musical films from the mid 1940s until this art form fell out of fashion in the late 1950s. His many innovations transformed the Hollywood musical film, and he is credited with almost single-handedly making the ballet form commercially acceptable to film audiences.[1]
Kelly was the recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 1952 for his career achievements. He later received lifetime achievement awards in the Kennedy Center Honors, and from the Screen Actors Guild and American Film Institute; in 1999, the American Film Institute also numbered him 15th in their Greatest Male Stars of All Time list.
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[edit] Early life
He was the third son of James Kelly, a phonograph salesman, and Harriet Curran, who were both children of Irish Roman Catholic immigrants. He was born in the Highland Park neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and, at the age of eight, was enrolled by his mother in dance classes, along with his elder brother James. They both rebelled, and, according to Kelly: "We didn't like it much and were continually involved in fistfights with the neighborhood boys who called us sissies...I didn't dance again until I was fifteen." He thought it would be a good way to get girls.[2] Kelly returned to dance on his own initiative and by then was an accomplished sportsman and well able to take care of himself. He attended St. Raphael School Elementary School [3] In the Morningside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. He graduated from Peabody High School in 1929 at the age of sixteen. He enrolled in Pennsylvania State College to study journalism but the economic crash obliged him to seek employment to help with the family's finances. At this time, he worked up dance routines with his younger brother Fred in order to earn prize money in local talent contests, and they also performed in local nightclubs.[2]
In 1930, Kelly's family started a dance studio on Munhall Road in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. In 1931, he enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh to study economics where he joined the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1933.[4] In 1932, the dance studio was renamed The Gene Kelly Studio of the Dance. A second location was opened in Johnstown, Pennsylvania in 1933. While still an undergraduate student and later as a student at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, Gene was a teacher at the dance studio. In 1931, he was approached by the Rodef Shalom synagogue in Pittsburgh to teach dance and stage the annual Kermess and was so successful that his services were retained for seven years until his departure for New York.[5] Eventually, though, he decided to pursue his career as a dance teacher and entertainer full-time and so dropped out of law school after two months. He began to focus increasingly on performing, later claiming: "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 sixteen the dropout rate was very high."[2] In 1937, having successfully managed and developed the family's dance school business, he moved to New York City in search of work as a choreographer.[2]
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