Gene Kelly

Dancer / Filmmaker

Name at birth: Eugene Curran Kelly

Gene Kelly's euphoric, puddle-splashing dance from Singin' In the Rain is one of the iconic moments of 20th-century Hollywood. Kelly was a dance instructor who made it to Broadway and then to Hollywood in time to become a top musical star during the 1940s and '50s. His athleticism and inventive choreography made him a kind of working-man's Fred Astaire, and Kelly starred in some of the era's biggest MGM's movies, including On the Town (1949). An American in Paris (1951), Singin' in the Rain (1952) and Brigadoon (1954). Kelly designed and choreographed elaborate set pieces for many of his films, and in 1951 he was given a special Oscar for his contribution to the movies. When the popularity of movie musicals waned in the 1960s, Kelly made television appearances and directed films including Hello, Dolly! (1969) and The Cheyenne Social Club (1970).

Other popular dancers of stage and screen: Ben Vereen, Gwen Verdon and Josephine Baker.