Gene Kelly (1912–1996) was an American dancer, actor, singer, director, producer and choreographer whose work in motion pictures spans from 1942 to 1996. He is probably best known today for his performances in musicals, notably An American in Paris (1951) and Singin' in the Rain (1952).
Kelly made his Hollywood film debut in For Me and My Gal (1942), co-starring with Judy Garland.[1] Afterward, he went on to work as an actor, dancer and subsequently, choreographer, in a series of musical films. In these films, his choreography included experiments with a combination of dance and animation (Anchors Aweigh and Invitation to the Dance) and dance scenes involving special effects (including the "Alter Ego" number from Cover Girl and the split-screen dance number from It's Always Fair Weather). In addition to his work as an actor and choreographer, Kelly directed or co-directed several films, some of which did not feature him in an acting role. Kelly appeared in several non-musical dramatic and comedy films as well.
Kelly received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his performance in Anchors Aweigh (1945) and won an Honorary Academy Award for his work in An American in Paris (1951).[2] He was voted the 15th most popular film actor on the American Film Institute’s millennium list, while Singin' in the Rain was voted the most popular movie musical of all time.[3] This filmography below contains a chronological listing of Gene Kelly's feature films. His musicals are indicated with a beamed eighth note symbol (♫).
| Year | Title | Functioned as | Notes | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Actor | Choreographer | Role | |||||
| 1942 | For Me and My Gal ♫ | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| 1943 | Pilot #5 | |||||||
| DuBarry Was a Lady ♫ | / The Black Arrow | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| Thousands Cheer ♫ | Co-choreographer | |||||||
| Victor | ||||||||
| 1944 | Cover Girl ♫ | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| Christmas Holiday | ||||||||
| 1945 | Anchors Aweigh ♫ | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| Combat Fatigue Irritability | Short military training film | [4] | ||||||
| 1946 | Ziegfeld Follies ♫ | Himself | Co-choreographer | |||||
| 1947 | Living in a Big Way ♫ | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| 1948 | The Pirate ♫ | Serafin | Co-choreographer | |||||
| d'Artagnan | Co-choreographer of action sequences | |||||||
| Words and Music ♫ | Himself | |||||||
| 1949 | Take Me Out to the Ball Game ♫ | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| On the Town ♫ | Gabey | Co-choreographed and co-directed by Stanley Donen | ||||||
| 1950 | Black Hand | |||||||
| Summer Stock ♫ | Co-choreographer | |||||||
| 1951 | ♫ | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| It's a Big Country | ||||||||
| 1952 | Love Is Better Than Ever | Himself | ||||||
| Singin' in the Rain ♫ | Co-choreographed and co-directed by Stanley Donen | |||||||
| 1954 | Brigadoon ♫ | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| Seagulls Over Sorrento | Filmed in the United Kingdom | |||||||
| Deep in My Heart ♫ | Himself | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| 1955 | It's Always Fair Weather ♫ | Co-choreographed and co-directed by Stanley Donen | ||||||
| 1956 | Invitation to the Dance ♫ | / The Marine / Sinbad | ||||||
| 1957 | ||||||||
| Les Girls ♫ | Co-choreographer | |||||||
| 1958 | Marjorie Morningstar | |||||||
| 1960 | Inherit the Wind | |||||||
| Let's Make Love | Himself | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| Gigot | ||||||||
| 1964 | What a Way to Go! | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| 1967 | The Young Girls of Rochefort ♫ | Choreographer | ||||||
| 1969 | Hello, Dolly! ♫ | |||||||
| 1970 | ||||||||
| 1973 | ||||||||
| 1974 | ♫ | Himself | Co-choreographer | |||||
| 1976 | That's Entertainment, Part II ♫ | Co-choreographer and director of new sequences | ||||||
| 1977 | Viva Knievel! | |||||||
| 1980 | Xanadu ♫ | Co-choreographer | ||||||
| 1985 | That's Dancing! ♫ | Himself | ||||||
| 1994 | That's Entertainment! III ♫ | |||||||
| 1997 | Cats Don't Dance | "Dedicated to our friend and collaborator, Gene Kelly" | [5] | |||||