Place of birth: Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (USA)
Family: Brothers: Gene, Jay, Louis, Jim, Fred, part of the group “The Five Kellys”
Biography:
His mother, Harriet, was in charge of getting Gene and his brother interested in the world of dance. It was she who promoted the birth of the group “The Five Kellys”, made up of the five brothers. After breaking up the group, he and his brother Fred continued dancing and preparing energetic choreography under the name of “The Kelly brothers”.
When the economic depression hit the US, Gene began working in various trades to help support his family, including teaching dance classes.
Gene travels to New York with the firm idea of becoming a professional dancer, and succeeding like a star. Fortunately, in a short time it achieved great success.
He made his Broadway debut in 1938, rising a very important step in fame with the musical “Pal Joey” (1940), a work that caught the attention of David O. Selzinick.
Together with his wife Betsey Blair, and Stanley Donen, who would soon become his friend, he went to Hollywood to try his luck. Kelly finally manages to sign a contract with Seznick but, unfortunately, Seznick had no interest in producing musicals and believed that Kelly could become a great dramatic actor, putting aside his career as a dancer. However, Gene was not very happy with this idea, so he was overjoyed when he received an offer from MGM to star opposite Judy Garland. “For my girl and for me”. A film that met his expectations and garnered rave reviews, and also made Gene attract the attention of all of Hollywood.
After that film, he made a series of films also with MGM, but it was not until “Cover Girl” (this time for Columbia) who bought Kelly’s contract from Selznick in 1942.
The feature film quickly became a smash hit and the actor became a great source of income for the company.
Things were going well for him until warfare broke out, Pearl Harbor was bombed, and Gene decided to enlist and fight for his country. Although initially not allowed, in 1944 he left for two years.
He made movies like “Living in a Big Way”, “The Pirate” Y “The thtree Musketeers”, wondering if his audience had forgotten. To your surprise when brand new “On the town” He reached a level of fame that he had never known before.
This was his debut as a director with Donen and, it was so much the outbreak of his success that the film has marked history in musical cinema.
The studio realized that he really was a great professional and decided to give him more freedom in putting his ideas into practice. Thanks to this fact, it became possible for the two most memorable musicals of all time to see the light.
“An american in Paris” (1951) was the film that elevated Kelly to the rank of superstar. It was one of the biggest hits of the year, reaching six Academy Awards, including “Best Picture,” and an honorary one for Gene’s versatility as an actor, singer, dancer, director, choreographer, and more. specifically, for his contribution to the musical genre.
The following year, in 1952, Kelly made history again with “Singin ‘in the rain”. Probably one of the best films ever made, although in those years it was overshadowed by the success of its predecessor.
“It’s always fair weather” (1955) was also excellently criticized by the public and the press.
Kelly’s career began to spoil and lose the splendor it had achieved due to fame, money and so on. Both his professional and personal life were in a very difficult time.
His marriage to Betsey Blair, which had already lasted fifteen years, ended overnight, as did his friendship with Stanley Donen, as his wife and Kelly were maintaining a relationship.
In 1960, the actor and Donen’s ex-wife finally get married and later have two children together.
After a couple of years of quiet, and apparent oblivion, his fame returned by directing Barbra Streisand in “Hello Dolly”, as well as James Stewart and Henry Fonda in “The Cheyenne Social Club”.
However, at the time when he was getting his best films and roles, his wife was diagnosed with cancer, who died a short time later, in 1973.
A widower with two children, he decided to reject all those projects that could keep him away from Los Angeles for a long time, in order to dedicate himself exclusively to them.
During the next decade, he appeared on TV a few times and occasionally accepted a job as a director.
In 1980, he made his last appearance in a musical, “Xanadu”, but unfortunately it was a resounding failure.
Five years later, he received the “American Film Institute” award in honor of his entire professional career, among other awards.
In July 1994 and February 1995, he suffered complications from two strokes.
Gene Kelly died on February 12, 1996.
Filmography:
- Hollywood Hollywood (1976, acting and directing)
- Once upon a time in Hollywood (1974)
- Cheyenne’s Social Club (1970, director)
- Hello Dolly (1969, director)
- Guide to the Married Man (1967, direction)
- Gigot (1962, direction)
- The Inheritance of the Wind (1960)
- The Billionaire (1960)
- Happy Road (1957, acting and directing)
- The Girls (1957)
- Brigadoon (1954)
- And with the devil we are three (1952)
- Singing in the Rain (1952, acting and directing)
- An American in Paris (1951)
- A day in New York (1949, acting and directing)
- The Three Musketeers (1948)
- Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
- Light in the soul (1944)
- The Models (1944)