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

• 2024The Royal Rascal Talkie — Writer
• 2024True Blue — (Archive Footage)
• 2021Starstruck: Gene Kelly's Love Letter to Ballet — Choreographer
• 2018La La La — Various Roles (archive footage)
• 2009Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1940s: Stars, Stripes and Singing — (archive footage)
• 2006Happy Again — Don Lockwood (archive footage)
• 2006Summer Stock: Get Happy! — Joe D. Ross (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 2004AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs: America's Greatest Music in the Movies — Don Lockwood
• 1997Cats Don't Dance — Thanks
• Sins — Eric Hovland
• North and South — Sen. Charles Edwards
• 1984Olympic Gala
• 1982Showbiz Goes to War — (archive footage)
• 1980Xanadu — Danny McGuire
• 1978Cinderella at the Palace — Host
• 1978Ersatz — Don Lockwood (voice) (archive sound)
• 1977Viva Knievel! — Will Atkins
• 1976That's Entertainment, Part II — Self - Host, Director
• 197340 Carats — Billy Boylan
• 1970The Cheyenne Social Club — Director, Producer
• 1969Hello, Dolly! — Director
• 1967A Guide for the Married Man — Director
• 1967Jack and the Beanstalk — Jeremy Keen, the Peddler, Director, Choreographer, Producer
• 1967The Young Girls of Rochefort — Andy Miller
• 1964American in Paris — Director
• 1964What a Way to Go! — Pinky Benson, Choreographer
• Vacation Playhouse — Director
• 1962Gigot — Director
• Going My Way — Father Chuck O'Malley
• 1960Inherit the Wind — E.K. Hornbeck
• 1960Let's Make Love — Gene Kelly (uncredited)
• 1958Badman's Country — Art Direction
• 1958Dancing, a Man's Game - Gene Kelly — Self, Director
• 1958Marjorie Morningstar — Noel Airman
• 1958The Tunnel of Love — Director
• 1957Les Girls — Barry Nichols
• 1957The Happy Road — Michael J. Andrews, Producer, Director
• 1957The Life You Save May Be Your Own — Tom T. Triplett
• 1956Invitation to the Dance — Host / Pierrot / The Marine / Sinbad, Writer, Director, Choreographer
• 1955It's Always Fair Weather — Ted Riley, Choreographer, Director
• MGM Parade — Performer in 'Ziegfeld Follies' (archive footage), Self - Actor, self
• 1954Brigadoon — Tommy Albright, Choreographer
• 1954Deep in My Heart — Performer (segment "Dancing Around")
• 1954Seagulls Over Sorrento — Lieutenant Bradville
• 1952Love Is Better Than Ever — Gene Kelly (uncredited)
• Omnibus — Self (segment), Choreographer
• 1952Singin' in the Rain — Don Lockwood, Choreographer, Director
• 1952The Devil Makes Three — Jeff Eliot
• 1951An American in Paris — Jerry Mulligan, Choreographer
• 1951It's a Big Country — Icarus Xenophon
• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars — Tom T. Triplett
• 1950Black Hand — Giovanni E. 'Johnny' Columbo
• 1950Summer Stock — Joe D. Ross
• 1949On the Town — Gabey, Director
• 1949Take Me Out to the Ball Game — Eddie O'Brien, Choreographer, Story
• 1948The Pirate — Serafin, Choreographer
• 1948The Three Musketeers — D'Artagnan
• 1948Words and Music — Gene Kelly
• 1947Living in a Big Way — Leo Gogarty, Choreographer
• 1945Anchors Aweigh — Joseph Brady, Choreographer
• 1945Combat Fatigue Irritability — Seaman Bob Lucas, Director
• 1945The Story of Submarine Warfare in the Pacific — Narrator (voice)
• 1945Ziegfeld Follies — Gentleman (segment "The Babbit and the Bromide")
• 1944Christmas Holiday — Robert Manette
• 1944Cover Girl — Danny McGuire
• 1944Twenty Years After — (archive footage)
• 1943Du Barry Was a Lady — Alec Howe / Black Arrow
• 1943Pilot #5 — Vito S. Alessandro
• 1943The Cross of Lorraine — Victor
• 1943Thousands Cheer — Eddie Marsh
• 1942For Me and My Gal — Harry Palmer

Appearances as themselves (73)

• 2025Gene Kelly: An American in Hollywood — Self - Portrait Subject & Interviewee (archive footage)
• Il était une fois Champs-Élysées — Self (archive footage)
• 2019Sid & Judy — Self (archive footage)
• 2017JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala — Self
• 2013Directing Dolly: Gene Kelly Remembered — Self (archive footage)
• Talking Pictures — Self (archive footage)
• 2011Frank Sinatra: Around the World — Self - Guest
• 2009Hollywood Singing and Dancing: A Musical History - The 1950s: The Golden Era of the Musical — Self (archive)
• 2005Easter Parade: On the Avenue — Self (Archive Footage)
• 2005Get Aboard! 'The Band Wagon' — Self (archive footage)
• 2005Reunited at MGM: Astaire and Rogers Together Again — Self (archive footage)
• 2004Judy Garland: By Myself — Self - Actor (archive sound)
• 2003Cole Porter in Hollywood: Ça c'est l'amour — Self (archive footage)
• 2002Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer — Self (archive footage)
• 2000Hollywood Musicals of the 40's — Self (archive footage)
• 1998A Bing Crosby Christmas — Self / Narrator (archive footage)
• 1995The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies — Self
• 1994That's Entertainment! III — Self - Host
• 1993The Young Girls Turn 25 — Self (archive footage)
• 1990Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash — Self
• 1990You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story — Self
• 1988Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues — Self
• 1988Roger Rabbit and the Secrets of Toon Town — Self – Interviewee
• 1987James Stewart: A Wonderful Life — Self
• 1987The Movie Palaces — Self
• 1986The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years — Self (archive footage)
• 1985That's Dancing! — Self - Host
• 1983James Bond: The First 21 Years — Self
• Champs-Elysées — Self
• 1982Night of 100 Stars — Self
• 1982Sylvie Vartan: Live in Las Vegas — Self
• 1982The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell — Self - Narrator (voice)
• 1981Reporters — Self
• 1980Lucy Moves to NBC — Self
• 1980Olivia Newton-John: Hollywood Nights — Self
• 1979Frank Sinatra: The First 40 Years — Self
• 1978Mickey's 50 — Self
• 1978The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait — Self
• The Kennedy Center Honors — Self
• 1977An Evening with Gene Kelly — Self
• 1977Yabba Dabba Doo! The Happy World of Hanna-Barbera — Self - Host
• Cérémonie des César — Self - President
• 1976It's Showtime — Self (archive footage)
• 1976NBC: The First Fifty Years — Self
• The Muppet Show — Self - Special Guest Star
• Doug Henning's World of Magic — Self
• Numéro un — Self
• 1975The Lion Roars Again — Self
• 1974That's Entertainment! — Self - Host / Narrator
• 1974The Sandy Duncan Special — Self
• 1973Frank Sinatra: Ol' Blue Eyes is Back — Self - Guest Performer
• The American Film Institute Salute to ... — Self
• The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts — Self
• 1973The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli — Self (archive footage)
• 1972Hollywood: The Dream Factory — Self (archive footage)
• Film '72 — Self
• Great Performances — Self
• The Funny Side — Self - Host
• Omnibus — Self
• 1966Behind the screens : Les demoiselles de Rochefort — Self
• 1965The Julie Andrews Show — Self
• Hollywood and the Stars — Self (archive footage)
• The Danny Kaye Show — Self
• The Merv Griffin Show — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• 1961Hollywood: The Golden Years — Self - Host
• Musikalische Unterhaltung — Self
• The Mike Douglas Show — Self - Co-Host
• Reflets de Cannes — Self
• The Oscars — Self
• 1950The Costume Designer — Self (archive footage)
• What's My Line? — Self
• The Ed Sullivan Show — Self