Gene Kelly

Home > ... > Literature and the Arts > Performing Arts > Dance: Biographies > ...

Essential
reading

Compare
side-by-side

World Encyclopedia

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition

Gene Kelly

Gene Kelly 1912-96, American dancer, choreographer, movie actor, and director, b. Pittsburgh. Kelly started dancing on Broadway in 1938 and first gained fame in the title role of the Broadway musical Pal Joey (1940). He moved to Hollywood in 1941 and soon starred in his first film, For Me and My Gal (1942). His best-known work was in motion pictures, where he excelled in an inventive combination of camera and dance techniques in such films as On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951; Academy Award), Singin' in the Rain (1952)—which contains his single most famous performance—and Invitation to the Dance (1956). Athletically graceful, a skillful and expressive dancer with a joyfully muscular yet lyrical style, he also sang in a thin yet appealing voice. Kelly appeared in such film musicals as Anchors Aweigh (1945), Take Me Out to the Ballgame (1949), Brigadoon (1954), and Les Girls (1957). He also played dramatic film roles, as in Inherit the Wind (1960), and directed several movies, including The Happy Road (1950) and Hello Dolly (1969).

Bibliography: See biographies by C. Hirschhorn (1975) and A. Yudkoff (1999).

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-KellyGen" title="Facts and informations about Gene Kelly">Gene Kelly</a>

Give this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"Gene Kelly." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Jul. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Gene Kelly." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (July 9, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-KellyGen.html

"Gene Kelly." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved July 09, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-KellyGen.html

Learn more about citation styles

Kelly, Gene

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Â© World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Kelly, Gene (1912–96) US dancer, choreographer, film actor, and director. His greatest films, co-directed with Stanley Donen, were On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), and the hugely popular Singin' in the Rain (1951).

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O142-KellyGene" title="Facts and informations about Gene Kelly">Gene Kelly</a>

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"Kelly, Gene." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Jul. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Kelly, Gene." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (July 9, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-KellyGene.html

"Kelly, Gene." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved July 09, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-KellyGene.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Gene Kelly: 1912-96. (dancer)(Obituary) Magazine article from: Dance Magazine; 4/1/1996
	Gene Kelly: cultural icon.(ARTS & CULTURE) Magazine article from: Catholic New Times; 6/5/2005
	Kelly tribute withstands stormy disagreements. (News).(Gene Kelly statue for Pittsburgh)(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Dance Magazine; 7/1/2002

Facts and information from other sites

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

	Gene Kelly: 1912-96. (dancer)(Obituary) Magazine article from: Dance Magazine; 4/1/1996; ; 700+ words ; Gene Kelly, who died in Los Angeles on...Columbia Gramophone Company. The Kelly home was filled with music and dance, and Mrs. Kelly, who had been a singer, decided...but as fate would have it, Gene, who loved and played baseball...Broadway touring shows, Mrs. Kelly serendipitously ... Read more
	Gene Kelly: cultural icon.(ARTS & CULTURE) Magazine article from: Catholic New Times; 6/5/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...Hollywood is that of the legendary Gene Kelly. Eclipsed by the longevity and star...stature were sinking all around him. Gene Kelly was, in many ways, more like Crosby...school in working class Pittsburgh, Gene Kelly was the middle son and brother to... Read more
	Kelly tribute withstands stormy disagreements. (News).(Gene Kelly statue for Pittsburgh)(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Dance Magazine; 7/1/2002; ; 483 words ; Groundbreaking dancer/choreographer Gene Kelly will be forever singing in the rain when a fourteen-foot...died in 1996, taught dance in Pittsburgh at his family's Gene Kelly Studio of Dance and at Beth Shalom before opting for... Read more
	Gene Kelly & Co.(Column) Magazine article from: Dance Magazine; 4/1/1996; ; 700+ words ; ...sadly devalued currency. Yet when Gene Kelly--the last of the red-hot movie hoofers...all, the time of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Great male dancers seem to come...Apollonian Astaire and the Dionysian Kelly. Since his early days as a Broadway... Read more
	And now, the real kicker... (interview with actor-dancer Gene Kelly) (Interview) Magazine article from: Interview; 5/1/1994; ; 700+ words ; ...19S5). Numbers from each of those Gene Kelly musicals appear in the new compilation...that you were no longer with us? GENE KELLY: The Gap people knew I was alive...calls from old fans who said, Is Gene Kelly not around anymore? because the ad... Read more
	Anniversary gallery hollywood covers.(Cyd Charisse, Rita Hayworth, Audrey Hepburn and Gene Kelly) Magazine article from: Dance Magazine; 5/1/2007; ; 448 words ; ...of dancer-choreographer-director Gene Kelly, to the filming of West Side Story...19-year-old Leslie Coron was chosen by Gene Kelly to partner him in An American in...Fever. He learned to tap dance from Gene Kelly's brother Fred, and studied jazz... Read more
	Gene Kelly: A Life of Dance and Dreams.(Review) Magazine article from: Dance Magazine; 3/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...choreography of Willam and Lew. At his best, Gene Kelly accomplished on stage and in film...remarkable integration of dance styles (Gene Kelly: A Life of Dance and Dreams by Alvin...not the character, of H.L. Mencken. Kelly's was not an easy life. Like many... Read more
	Gene therapy for cancer.(Brief Article)(Book Review) Magazine article from: SciTech Book News; 9/1/2007; 231 words ; 1588294722 Gene therapy for cancer. Ed. by Kelly K. Hunt et al. Humana Press...current ideas and technology of gene therapy and their clinical applications...chapters address vectors used in gene therapy against cancer, including...and apoptosis-inducing genes, gene silencing therapy, tumor ... Read more
	TRANSITIONS.(obituaries of Fred Kelly, Betty Orman)(Brief Article)(Obituary) Magazine article from: Dance Magazine; 8/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...with his brother, Gene, at the 1934 Chicago...tt's team mascot. The Kelly Brothers once replaced...Army (1942). When Gene Kelly left the New York...favorite story of Kelly's was that Bob Fosse...career when he saw Gene Kelly dance in The Time...played Chicago but Gene ... Read more
	Gene therapy.(Health and medical issues today )(Brief article)(Book review) Magazine article from: SciTech Book News; 12/1/2007; 118 words ; 9780313337604 Gene therapy. Kelly, Evelyn B. Greenwood Press 2007 198 pages $45.00 Hardcover Health and...accessible introduction to the history and continuing development of gene therapy (which really is many therapies), its applications, the regulatory... Read more