Gene Kelly

Trivia of Gene Kelly (23 August 1912 – 2 February 1996)

*His trademark scar on the left side of his face was the result of a bike accident when Gene was 5 years old, which required stitches.

*His film Anchors Aweigh (1945) was the first musical to mix live-action and animation. Kelly wanted to dance with Mickey Mouse, but Walt Disney wouldn’t allow it, so he danced with Jerry the Mouse instead.

*For his role in The Pirate (1948), he invented “the Ubangi” (now called a “camera offset”), a mechanism to get low-angle shots that were virtually impossible because of the large size of Technicolor cameras.

*Without a doubt, Gene Kelly’s most famous dance sequence is the one from the song “Singin’ in the Rain.” The scene, in which Kelly sings and dances in the rain, has become an iconic moment in film history.He was sick, and had a fever of 103 degrees while filming that famous rain scene.

*Most of his co-stars like Debbie Reynolds and Esther Williams describe him as perfectionist and a disciplinarian.They admitted they did not enjoy working with Gene Kelly, since Kelly was verbally belittling.Tony Martin, the husband of MGM star/dancer Cyd Charisse, said he could tell who she had been dancing with that day on an MGM set. If she came home covered with bruises on her, it was the very physically-demanding Gene Kelly, if not it was the smooth and agile Fred Astaire.

*He created an experimental film called Invitation to the Dance (1956). There is no dialogue in the film; all narratives are told through only dance and mime.

*Gene Kelly was known for blending different styles of dance in his performances, but he had a particular affinity for tap dancing. Kelly believed that tap dancing was a uniquely American art form and often incorporated it into his routines. He also admired other tap dancers, including Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and Fred Astaire.