Gene Kelly

American dancer, actor, director and choreographer. A legendary song and dance man, one of the most innovative talents in the history of movie musicals, Gene Kelly revolutionized Hollywood musicals with his fresh, imaginative dance routines in the '40s and '50s. He was the first choreographer to use dance to advance the story and to reveal the emotions, personalities and psychological make-up of characters.

As the third of five children of a gramophone salesman and homemaker, Kelly grudgingly began tap dancing lessons at age seven at the insistence of his mother. Gene, his older brother Jim and younger brother Fred formed a dancing trio that performed at local shows. Despite his talent, he was not an apt pupil and instead gained kudos for his outstanding athletic prowess. Passionate about sports, he excelled at hockey, football, baseball and gymnastics. As his dancing talent became popular with girls during adolescence, he took more interest, but no thought of serious pursuit. A good student and avid reader, Kelly graduated the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in economics with an eye toward law school. To help supplement his income he performed, staged and choreographed local shows and taught dance in a school owned by his mother. When he began his legal studies, he knew he was wasting his time; dance was where his talent lay. By 1935 the Kelly family ran two successful schools in Pittsburgh entitled the Gene Kelly School of Dance, where 20-year-old tap dance instructor Gene began to study ballet in his spare time, working long hours to make up for lost time.

At age 26 Kelly moved to New York to establish himself as a choreographer. No work was available upon his first casting calls yet within one week Kelly was dancing in the chorus of a Cole Porter musical, "Leave It To Me," his Broadway debut.