Person
Gene Kelly
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
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 s…
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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
Movies and shows, newest first
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2025
Gene Kelly: An American in Hollywood
Movie Self - Portrait Subject & Interviewee (archive footage)
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2024
The Royal Rascal Talkie
Movie Writer
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2024
True Blue
Movie (Archive Footage)
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2022
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
TV show Self (archive footage)
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2021
Starstruck: Gene Kelly's Love Letter to Ballet
Movie Choreographer
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2019
Sid & Judy
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2018
La La La
Movie Various Roles (archive footage)
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2017
JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala
Movie Self
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2013
Talking Pictures
TV show Self (archive footage)
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2013
Directing Dolly: Gene Kelly Remembered
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2011
Frank Sinatra: Around the World
Movie Self - Guest
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2009
Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing
Movie (archive footage)
- 2009
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2006
Summer Stock: Get Happy!
Movie Joe D. Ross (archive footage) (uncredited)
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2006
Happy Again
Movie Don Lockwood (archive footage)
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2005
Reunited at MGM: Astaire and Rogers Together Again
Movie Self (archive footage)
More credits
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2005
Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon'
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2005
Easter Parade: On the Avenue
Movie Self (Archive Footage)
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2004
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies
Movie Don Lockwood
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2004
Judy Garland: By Myself
Movie Self - Actor (archive sound)
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2003
Cole Porter in Hollywood: Ça c'est l'amour
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2002
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2000
Hollywood Musicals of the 40's
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1998
A Bing Crosby Christmas
Movie Self / Narrator (archive footage)
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1997
Cats Don't Dance
Movie Thanks
- 1995
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1994
That's Entertainment! III
Movie Self - Host
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1993
The Young Girls Turn 25
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1990
Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash
Movie Self
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1990
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
Movie Self
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1988
Roger Rabbit and the Secrets of Toon Town
Movie Self – Interviewee
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1988
Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues
Movie Self
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1987
The Movie Palaces
Movie Self
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1987
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Movie Self
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1986
Sins
TV show Eric Hovland
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1986
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1985
North and South
TV show Sen. Charles Edwards
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1985
That's Dancing!
Movie Self - Host
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1984
Olympic Gala
Movie
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1983
James Bond: The First 21 Years
Movie Self
