Gene Kelly
Acting • Born 1912-08-23 – Died 1996-02-02
Biography
Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks, and the likable characters that he played on screen. He starred in, choreographed, or co-directed some of the most well-regarded musical films of the 1940s and 1950s, until they fell out of fashion in the late 1950s. Kelly is best known today for his performances in films such as Cover Girl (1944), Anchors Aweigh (1945), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, On the Town (1949), which was his directorial debut, An American in Paris (1951), Singin' in the Rain (1952), Brigadoon (1954), and It's Always Fair Weather (1955). Kelly made his film debut with Judy Garland in For Me and My Gal (1942), and followed by Du Barry Was a Lady (1943), Thousands Cheer (1943), The Pirate (1948), Summer Stock (1950), and Les Girls (1957) among others. After musicals he starred in two films outside the musical genre: Inherit the Wind (1960) and What a Way to Go! (1964). In 1967, he appeared in French director Jacques Demy's musical comedy The Young Girls of Rochefort opposite Catherine Deneuve. Kelly solo directed the comedy A Guide for the Married Man (1967) starring Walter Matthau, and later the extravagant musical Hello, Dolly! (1969) starring Barbra Streisand, recognized with an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Kelly co-hosted and appeared in Ziegfeld Follies (1946), That's Entertainment! (1974), That's Entertainment, Part II (1976), That's Dancing! (1985), and That's Entertainment, Part III (1994). His many innovations transformed the Hollywood musical, and he is credited with almost single-handedly making the ballet form commercially acceptable to film audiences. Kelly received an Academy Honorary Award in 1952 for his career achievements; the same year, An American in Paris won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. He later received lifetime achievement awards in the Kennedy Center Honors (1982) and from the Screen Actors Guild and American Film Institute. In 1999, the American Film Institute also ranked him as the 15th greatest male screen legend of Classic Hollywood Cinema.
Filmography
134 credits
Singin' in the Rain
Movie • 1952
Don Lockwood
Inherit the Wind
Movie • 1960
E.K. Hornbeck
An American in Paris
Movie • 1951
Jerry Mulligan
Cover Girl
Movie • 1944
Danny McGuire
On the Town
Movie • 1949
Gabey
What a Way to Go!
Movie • 1964
Pinky Benson
For Me and My Gal
Movie • 1942
Harry Palmer
Christmas Holiday
Movie • 1944
Robert Manette
Marjorie Morningstar
Movie • 1958
Noel Airman
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Movie • 1949
Eddie O'Brien
The Pirate
Movie • 1948
Serafin
Black Hand
Movie • 1950
Giovanni E. 'Johnny' Columbo
The Three Musketeers
Movie • 1948
D'Artagnan
40 Carats
Movie • 1973
Billy Boylan
That's Dancing!
Movie • 1985
Self - Host
The Life You Save May Be Your Own
Movie • 1957
Tom T. Triplett
Summer Stock
Movie • 1950
Joe D. Ross
Ziegfeld Follies
Movie • 1945
Gentleman (segment "The Babbit and the Bromide")
Les Girls
Movie • 1957
Barry Nichols
Du Barry Was a Lady
Movie • 1943
Alec Howe / Black Arrow
Thousands Cheer
Movie • 1943
Private Eddie Marsh
Xanadu
Movie • 1980
Danny McGuire
The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait
Movie • 1978
Self
Invitation to the Dance
Movie • 1956
Host / Pierrot / The Marine / Sinbad
Anchors Aweigh
Movie • 1945
Joseph Brady
It's Always Fair Weather
Movie • 1955
Ted Riley
Brigadoon
Movie • 1954
Tommy Albright
Yabba Dabba Doo! The Happy World of Hanna-Barbera
Movie • 1977
Self - Host
Showbiz Goes to War
Movie • 1982
(archive footage)
Jack and the Beanstalk
Movie • 1967
Jeremy Keen, the Peddler
It's a Big Country
Movie • 1951
Icarus Xenophon
That's Entertainment, Part II
Movie • 1976
Self - Co-Host / Narrator
Viva Knievel!
Movie • 1977
Will Atkins
The Cross of Lorraine
Movie • 1943
Victor
The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell
Movie • 1982
Self - Narrator (voice)
Pilot #5
Movie • 1943
Vito S. Alessandro
The Devil Makes Three
Movie • 1952
Jeff Eliot
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Movie • 1972
Self (archive footage)
Living in a Big Way
Movie • 1947
Leo Gogarty
The Happy Road
Movie • 1957
Michael J. Andrews
Seagulls Over Sorrento
Movie • 1954
Lieutenant Bradville
The Young Girls Turn 25
Movie • 1993
Self (archive footage)
Ersatz
Movie • 1978
Don Lockwood (voice) (archive sound)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Movie • 1995
Self
Words and Music
Movie • 1948
Gene Kelly
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
Movie • 1990
Self
The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli
Movie • 1973
Self (archive footage)
Easter Parade: On the Avenue
Movie • 2005
Self (Archive Footage)
Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon'
Movie • 2005
Self (archive footage)
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
Movie • 1986
Self (archive footage)
Cole Porter in Hollywood: Ça c'est l'amour
Movie • 2003
Self (archive footage)
Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues
Movie • 1988
Self
Hollywood: The Golden Years
Movie • 1961
Self - Host
That's Entertainment!
Movie • 1974
Self - Host / Narrator
Frank Sinatra: Ol' Blue Eyes is Back
Movie • 1973
Self - Guest Performer
Directing Dolly: Gene Kelly Remembered
Movie • 2013
Self (archive footage)
Deep in My Heart
Movie • 1954
Performer in Dancing Around
Sylvie Vartan: Live in Las Vegas
Movie • 1982
Self
A Bing Crosby Christmas
Movie • 1998
Self / Narrator (archive footage)
Reporters
Movie • 1981
Self
An Evening with Gene Kelly
Movie • 1977
Self
Dancing, a Man's Game - Gene Kelly
Movie • 1958
Self
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment! III
Movie • 1994
Self - Co-Host / Narrator
Judy Garland: By Myself
Movie • 2004
Self - Actor (archive sound)
Hollywood Musicals of the 40's
Movie • 2000
Self (archive footage)
Olivia Newton-John: Hollywood Nights
Movie • 1980
Self
The Movie Palaces
Movie • 1987
Self
Let's Make Love
Movie • 1960
Gene Kelly (uncredited)
Combat Fatigue Irritability
Movie • 1945
Seaman Bob Lucas
Lucy Moves to NBC
Movie • 1980
Self
James Bond: The First 21 Years
Movie • 1983
Self
Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash
Movie • 1990
Self
Twenty Years After
Movie • 1944
(archive footage)
The Sandy Duncan Special
Movie • 1974
Self
The Julie Andrews Show
Movie • 1965
Self
Happy Again
Movie • 2006
Don Lockwood (archive footage)
The Costume Designer
Movie • 1950
Self (archive footage)
Love Is Better Than Ever
Movie • 1952
Gene Kelly (uncredited)
Roger Rabbit and the Secrets of Toon Town
Movie • 1988
Self (archive footage)
La La La
Movie • 2018
Various Roles (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Movie • 1987
Self
It's Showtime
Movie • 1976
Self (archive footage)
Mickey's 50
Movie • 1978
Self
The Story of Submarine Warfare in the Pacific
Movie • 1945
Narrator (voice)
Sid & Judy
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage)
Frank Sinatra: Around the World
Movie • 2011
Self - Guest
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Movie • 1967
Andy Miller
Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years
Movie • 1979
Self
Reunited at MGM: Astaire and Rogers Together Again
Movie • 2005
Self (archive footage)
The Lion Roars Again
Movie • 1975
Self
Night of 100 Stars
Movie • 1982
Self
True Blue
Movie • 2025
(Archive Footage)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
Movie • 2009
(archive footage)
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical
Movie • 2009
Self (archive)
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies
Movie • 2004
Don Lockwood
Gene Kelly - An American in Hollywood
Movie • 2025
Self - Portrait Subject & Interviewee (archive footage)
Behind the screens : Les demoiselles de Rochefort
Movie • 1966
Self
Summer Stock: Get Happy!
Movie • 2006
Joe D. Ross (archive footage) (uncredited)
Cinderella at the Palace
Movie • 1978
Host
NBC: The First Fifty Years
Movie • 1976
Self
Omnibus
TV • 1952
Self (segment)
Musikalische Unterhaltung
TV • 1961
Self
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
The Muppet Show
TV • 1976
Self - Special Guest Star
Going My Way
TV • 1962
Father Chuck O'Malley
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Tom T. Triplett
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
The Kennedy Center Honors
TV • 1978
Self
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
TV • 1973
Self
Doug Henning's World of Magic
TV • 1975
Self
North and South
TV • 1985
Sen. Charles Edwards
Talking Pictures
TV • 2013
Self (archive footage)
Sins
TV • 1986
Eric Hovland
MGM Parade
TV • 1955
Performer in 'Ziegfeld Follies' (archive footage)
MGM Parade
TV • 1955
Self - Actor
The Funny Side
TV • 1971
Self - Host
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
TV • 1973
Self
Numéro un
TV • 1975
Self
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
TV • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood and the Stars
TV • 1963
Self (archive footage)
Champs-Elysées
TV • 1982
Self
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self - Co-Host
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self - Mystery Guest
The Danny Kaye Show
TV • 1963
Self
Great Performances
TV • 1971
Self
Reflets de Cannes
TV • 1954
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
Omnibus
TV • 1967
Self
MGM Parade
TV • 1955
MGM Parade
TV • 1955
Self
MGM Parade
TV • 1955
self
Cérémonie des César
TV • 1976
Self - President