Gene Kelly Biography

Fast Facts

• Ranked No․ 15 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years․․․ 100 Stars" list for Male Legends
• Honored by the Kennedy Center in 1982 alongside George Abbott, Lillian Gish, Benny Goodman and Eugene Ormandy
• Often organized weekly game nights at his Hollywood home where friends would gather to play a more intense and physical version of charades
• Forcibly enrolled in dance class by his mother at the age of eight and it wasn't until he voluntarily took it up again at the age of 15 that he considered a career on stage
• Quote: "I never wanted to be a dancer․ It's true! I wanted to be a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates․"
• Quote: "There was no model for what I tried to do with dance․ The thing Fred [Astaire] and I used to [complain] about was that critics didn't know how to categorize us․ They called us tap dancers because that was considered the American style․"
• After years of stage work in New York, his movie career took off in 1941 after signing a contract with MGM which would feature him in dozens of musical film throughout the next two decades
• Dropped out of law school after two months to become a professional dance teacher at his family's newly opened dance studio in Pittsburgh where he would work for more than 7 years before moving to New York City
• Reportedly endured a 103 degree fever while filming his iconic rain-soaked "Singin' in the Rain" routine
• Forced Fred Astaire to come out of retirement after breaking his leg just before filming began on "Easter Parade" in 1948
• Sports a crescent-shaped scar on his left cheek from a bicycle accident during his childhood
• Was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in the original 1971 version of "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory․"