Eugene Curran Kelly aka Gene Kelly is, with Fred Astaire, the greatest dancer and
choreographer in the history of musicals. Born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania on August 23, 1912, he was
introduced to dance by his mother Harriet Curran Kelly at the age of eight. Gene is then much more
attracted by sports of any kind. His dream is to become a professional baseball player. Harriet does
not stop, Eugene and his four brothers will be dancers. She forces her offspring to perform in public
under the name The Kelly Brothers. She will eventually run her own dance school where Gene became
a teacher in 1932. In 1938, he left for Broadway and landed a small role in `Leave it to me`. The following
year it will be much more prominent in `One for the money`. He gets his first real success with `The Time
of Your Life`, which he toured for 22 weeks. In 1940, he is the star of Pal Joey during 270 performances!
This piece will earn him to be spotted by the producer David Selznick who proposes him to start a
career in Hollywood. He was signed to MGM. His first film will be `For me and my Gal` staring Judy
Garland. It will then be used in B-series musicals and wartime films. In 1944, Columbia recruited him for
Cover Girl a musical with Rita Hayworth, which will be a great success. The MGM then offers `Anchors
Aweigh` where he shares the lead with Frank Sinatra. Gene is then nominated at the Academy Awards
in the Best Actor category. In 1945, he made an extraordinary appearance in `Ziegfeld Follies` as a
duet with Fred Astaire. Their `comedy song` The Babbitt And The Bromide, written by George and
Ira Gershwin, is the occasion of a breathtaking choreography of which the two accomplices shared
the creation. In 1946, he joined the Navy. On his return, he will successively perform in `Living in a Big
Way` (1947), `The Pirate` (1948) again with Judy Garland, and `Take Me Out To The Ball Game` (1949),
where he meets Frank Sinatra. The same year, he shared with Stanley Donen the realization of an
adaptation for the musical `On The Town` He teamed up again with Sinatra. He now masters the art
of adapting for the screen a discipline originally intended for the stage. He took on a role as Judith
Garland`s stooge in `Summer Stock` (1950), before embarking on Vincente Minnelli`s `An American in
Paris` adventure, alongside a fantastic newbie, Leslie Caron. This great production is the occasion of a
dreamlike ballet loan of 20 minutes that will remain etched in all memories. Best film of the year 1951,
it will get 6 Oscars. Gene Kelly continues with `Singin` in The Rain`, which will be voted"Best Musical
of all Time". His partner was Cyd Charisse, whose first major role since his debut in 1943. MGM will
refuse to give him the means to fully achieve his most ambitious project `Invitation to The Dance`. A
film without spoken dialogue where everything is only dance and mime, which will end up going off
with five years behind. Too much absorbed in his choreographic creations, Gene Kelly will put in the
background, a promising career of actor and a singing career that would inevitably make