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Gene Kelly Profile
* Films in Bold Type air on 8/17
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Stardates: Born August 23, 1912, in
Pittsburgh, Pa.; died 1996.
Star Sign:
Virgo
Star Qualities: Grace and
masculinity in equal measures, cocky
charm, endless enthusiasm.
Star Definition:
“His career stands as an example
for all of us how a performer can produce an unforgettable
work of art.” – Mikhail Baryshnikov
Galaxy Of Characters:
Harry Palmer in For Me and My Gal (1942), Gabey in On the
Town (1949), Jerry Mulligan in An American in Paris (1951),
Don Lockwood in Singin’ in the Rain (1952).
"If Fred Astaire is the Cary Grant of dance, I'm the Marlon Brando,"
said Gene Kelly of his Hollywood career. And true, if you think of
dancers in movies, only two men come to mind - Astaire and Kelly. But
with such incredibly different styles, Astaire all classical movement
and elegance, and Kelly the athlete who made dance out of everyday
life, there was clearly room in town for both men to be stars. Astaire
arrived first, but Gene Kelly soon found a spotlight of his own, as a
dancer, actor, director and choreographer.
Gene Kelly was born August 23, 1912 to an Irish family in Pittsburgh.
His mother, hoping to instill a love of the arts in her children, sent
all five to dance and music lessons as soon as they could walk. When
the kids were a bit older, she put an act together and called the group
The Five Kellys. Gene, as it turned out, showed more interest in dance
than his siblings, and soon his mother began setting up gigs for him
all over Pittsburgh at $10 a show. Not that Gene Kelly always loved
dancing. He did take some teasing as a boy, was self-conscious about
his small frame and took up sports to prove himself. But when Gene's
father lost his job in the depression, the family opened a dance
school, hoping to utilize the family's natural talent as a
moneymaker.
Kelly was a good dance instructor and enjoyed the work. Eventually, he
moved to New York, hoping to get work as a choreographer but found the
only work he could get was as a dancer. His first job was in Cole
Porter's Leave it to Me starring Mary Martin. It was an exciting
time to be in New York, as a new American style of dance, that moved
away from European culture, was beginning to emerge. And Kelly would
discover that he could create characters through physical movements, a
sort of "dance-acting", which he learned during his first featured role
in The Time of Your Life. Kelly's first starring role, and big
break, however, came with Pal Joey which opened on Christmas day
1940. In two years, Kelly had gone from dance teacher to Broadway
star.
And Hollywood was watching. MGM chief Louis B. Mayer caught a
performance of Pal Joey and offered Kelly a contract, saying
there was no need for a screen test. But when Mayer went back on his
promise regarding the screen test, Kelly refused the contract. It was a
move that set up strained future relations between the two. David O.
Selznick came calling next, and signed Gene Kelly to a seven-year
contract. There was only one hitch - Selznick never made musicals.
Luckily Arthur Freed wanted Kelly for the Judy Garland-Busby Berkeley
picture For Me and My Gal (1942). During Kelly's adjustment from
stage to screen, Judy Garland was a very supportive ally. He would
repay the kindness later in his career, working patiently with an
ailing Garland on her last MGM picture Summer Stock (1950).
After For Me and My Gal, Selznick sold Kelly's contract to MGM
(at the insistence of MGM musical producer Freed). And Kelly would end
up working for Louis B. Mayer after all.
His first official film at MGM was Thousands Cheer (1943), where
Kelly showed off his working class style, dancing with a mop and broom.
When he wasn't playing the song-and-dance man, MGM kept Kelly busy in
dramatic roles like Pilot No. Five (1943). The studio loaned
Kelly out to Columbia in 1944 for the film Cover Girl with Rita
Hayworth, and Kelly took along assistant Stanley Donen to help with
choreography. The film showed off the combined talents of Kelly and
Donen, which were especially noticeable in the special effects number
where Kelly dances counterpoint with his own alter ego. The scene had
to be shot twice and meticulously synched up. After Cover Girl,
MGM realized what it had in Kelly and refused to loan him out again -
even for the screen adaptation of Pal Joey.
Kelly's Broadway role would eventually go to Frank Sinatra for the film
version in 1957. But Kelly and Sinatra would meet up before that, in
1945's Anchors Aweigh. Sinatra, who was still fairly new to the
movie business, needed a little help with his steps, and Kelly was
there to give him some dance lessons. Even so, one dance scene
reportedly required 73 takes. Anchors Aweigh also broke new
ground combining live action with animation in Kelly's dance with Jerry
(the mouse of Tom and Jerry fame). Even Walt Disney, who refused
MGM permission to use Mickey Mouse for the sequence, had to admit that
the animation was more advanced than anything Disney could pull off at
that time. Anchors Aweigh received five Oscar® nominations,
including one for Gene Kelly.
WWII found Kelly in the Navy, directing training films. Soon after the
war, a broken ankle forced the actor to drop out of Easter
Parade (1948). So he called up Fred Astaire, who had basically
retired, and asked him to play the part. It was a come back for Astaire
who had teamed with Kelly the previous year for Ziegfeld
Follies. The film was made in 1944 but released two years later in
1946. Ziegfeld Follies was the only feature Kelly and Astaire
would make together. The Pirate (1948) would pair Kelly once
again with Judy Garland and with the Nicholas Brothers for some
acrobatics that were some of the most demanding scenes of Kelly's
career. And for Take Me Out to the Ballgame (1949) Kelly took
one more turn with director Busby Berkeley. Kelly and Donen were,
however, given virtual control over the dance numbers.
For the next film, they would have complete control. Kelly and Donen
made their directorial debuts with On the Town (1949). Kelly's
favorite of his films, On the Town took the musical off the back
lot (requiring much convincing of the MGM bosses) and on location in
New York. Another Kelly favorite came with Summer Stock's dance
number that centered on a squeaky board and a newspaper. For An
American in Paris (1951), Kelly took on the studio again, insisting
they go to Paris to find a co-star (Leslie Caron) and by inserting a
seventeen minute ballet near the end of the film. The ballet would win
Kelly an Honorary Oscar®, on top of An American in Paris picking
up six more Oscars®, including Best Original Screenplay and Best
Picture.
While An American in Paris might have been Kelly's most honored
work, he's probably best remembered for Singin' in the Rain
(1952) which he co-directed with Stanley Donen. Kelly's umbrella scene,
where he's literally singing and dancing in the rain, has become an
iconic moment in American cinema, and the film is often considered the
best musical ever made. But it wasn't all fun and games, as then
newcomer Debbie Reynolds recalls, "the hardest two things I ever did -
childbirth and Singin' in the Rain."
Kelly's subsequent projects never quite lived up to the luster of
Singin' in the Rain. The experimental, non-traditional musical,
Invitation to the Dance (1956), which was made in England,
flopped, though it did receive high honors at the Berlin Film Festival.
For Brigadoon (1954) Kelly, and director Minnelli, hoped to take
the movie on location to Scotland, but MGM wouldn't allow it. Nor was
Kelly allowed any creative control on the project. And It's Always
Fair Weather (1955), would mark the end of the Kelly-Donen
partnership. Working as co-directors for the last time, Kelly and Donen
set out to make an unofficial sequel to On the Town, only with a
more satirical, serious edge. But in the end, the most memorable
sequence is probably Kelly dancing on roller skates.
Even after his age limited his dancing, Kelly still kept active in
film, starring in dramas like Inherit the Wind (1960), where he
played journalist E.K. Hornbeck, a character based on real-life Scopes
Monkey trial journalist H.L. Mencken. He appeared as an on-screen
narrator in That's Entertainment! (1974) and turned director for
the screen adaptation of Hello, Dolly! (1969). The movie won
three Oscars7reg; and received four more nominations including Best Picture.
While Kelly's direction wasn't Oscar® nominated, he did receive a
Golden Globe nomination and was named Best Director by the Director's
Guild.
Other lifetime honors for Gene Kelly included an AFI award in 1985, the
National Medal of Freedom presented by President Clinton in 1994 and
the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press in 1980.
But perhaps the most fitting tribute came after his death in February
of 1996 at age 83 when the lights of Broadway were dimmed in his honor.
Not bad for a boy from Pittsburgh who, as one critic put it, simply
wanted to "democratize dance."
by Stephanie Thames
 
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