Gene Kelly

Lore & Background

Kelly was born in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, the middle of three children. His mother enrolled him and his older brother James in dance classes when he was eight, but they rebelled due to neighborhood taunts. He did not dance again until age 15. He attended St. Raphael Elementary School and graduated from Peabody High School at 16. He studied journalism at Pennsylvania State College, then economics at the University of Pittsburgh, where he joined the Theta Kappa Phi fraternity and became involved in the Cap and Gown Club. After graduating in 1933, he continued with the club as director from 1934 to 1938. He was admitted to law school but dropped out after two months to pursue dance teaching and performing. His family opened a dance studio in Pittsburgh, later renamed the Gene Kelly Studio of the Dance, with a second location in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He taught there during his undergraduate and law-student years.

Reader's Guide

Kelly's significance lies in his transformation of the Hollywood musical through an athletic, accessible dance style he called 'dance for the common man.' He is credited with almost single-handedly making the ballet form commercially acceptable to film audiences. Working with co-director Stanley Donen and director Vincente Minnelli, he fundamentally affected the way movies are made, according to dance historian Beth Genné, doing so with a dancer's eye and perspective. His best-known films include An American in Paris (1951), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and Singin' in the Rain (1952), which he co-directed and choreographed. He received an Academy Honorary Award in 1952 for his career achievements, and later lifetime achievement awards from the Kennedy Center Honors (1982), the Screen Actors Guild, and the American Film Institute. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him as the 15th greatest male screen legend of Classic Hollywood Cinema.

Did You Know?

• Kelly's childhood dream was to play shortstop for the hometown Pittsburgh Pirates.
• He created dance routines with his younger sister Louise to earn prize money in local talent contests.
• He was admitted to the University of Pittsburgh Law School but dropped out after two months.
• His first Broadway assignment was as a dancer in Cole Porter's Leave It to Me! in November 1938.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Gene Kelly (born Eugene Curran Kelly, August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director, producer, and choreographer." — Gene Kelly "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." — Gene Kelly "Quoted in "Gene Kelly's Musical Memories" — Gene Kelly "Fred Astaire represented the aristocracy, I represented the proletariat." — Gene Kelly