Gene Kelly Research Paper

Eugene Curran Kelly, more commonly known as Gene Kelly, was born August 23, 1912 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was known for acting, dancing, singing, and his choreography. As a child, Gene Kelly played semiprofessional ice hockey, football, baseball, and was involved with gymnastics. He was into anything athletic thanks to his father, who was a huge sports fan and a traveling salesman. Gene Kelly’s major influence was his mother, who only wanted her children to understand and love the arts. She was in love with the theater and made Gene take dancing lessons. He wanted to quit because he was being bullied by the other students, but later decided not to once the ladies started paying more attention to him. When Gene left for college in 1929,

He started to experiment more with his dancing in films and later started to do his own choreography for films to help explain his characters. “Many people believe that he was the major influence in creating a new form of American dance, one that was different from the more formal and ballet styles of European dance. Kelly danced in a more energetic, athletic way.” (notablebiographies.com/Jo-Ki/Kelly-Gene.html). Gene was the first American-born to create and choreograph a ballet for the Opera Ballet in Paris. The ballet was titled, “Pas de Dieux”. After his 1944 movie with Rita, MGM became upset and refused to loan Gene Kelly out to other companies again. By MGM doing this, Gene Kelly lost the opportunity to star in the films, “Guys and Dolls”, “Pal Joey”, and “Sunset Boulevard”. However, after MGM saw Gene in the film “Cover Girl”, they decided to try a musical first with Gene Kelly. They wanted to mix a cartoon environment in with a human environment therefore leading to Gene’s next film, dancing next to Jerry the Mouse, “Anchor’s Aweigh”. When the year 1944 was getting close to its end, Gene was able to enroll in the US Military. He joined the Navy as a sailor and was instated as a Lieutenant into the photographic division. During World War II, he was stationed in Anacostia, D.C. While stationed there, Gene Kelly was a part of the documentary,

The last 2 films that Kelly and Donen did together, “Brigadoon” and “It’s Always Fair Weather”, did not appeal to critics or the public and brought a bitter ending to their relationship. It also did not help that Donen’s wife, Jeanne Coyne, fell in love with Gene, and he later divorced his current wife, Betsy Blair, to marry her in 1960. Jeanne died in 1973 from leukemia. Gene was now a single parent and rejected all work that would take him from his children. He wanted to be a better father to his 2 children with Jeanne, because he was not around for his child he had with Betsy. He would only accept work if it were in the Los Angeles area. Gene Kelly was acting for over 40 years. His very last film was “Xanadu” in 1980, but that did not stop him from acting. He then went on and did a few television series before retiring in 1986, 10 years before his death. Gene Kelly died February 2, 1996 in Beverly Hills, California from his second stroke. “At his death in 1996, it was said of Kelly, “Just as he confirmed his place as one of the most important talents ever to work in film, he went downhill so fast you hardly saw him go”