Gene Kelly

Gene was placed on the list of the Greatest Male Lead Actors by the American Film Institute, on June 16, 1999, coming in at #15.

Gene was approached by author Ray Bradbury to produce a movie, supplying his 80-page draft of "The Black Ferris" short story he had written in 1948 as a script source. However, Gene was unable to obtain financial backing and had to cancel the project. Bradbury later expanded the draft into a novel, "Something Wicked This Way Comes," released in 1962, the movie version of which was done in 1982.

Gene was offered the chance to direct Cabaret (1972) but turned it down.

Gene was asked by Fred Astaire to play in Easter Parade (1948) after Fred broke his ankle playing touch football.

Gene was promised the lead part in Pal Joey (1957) by Columbia Studios head Harry Cohn in 1944 but so much time elapsed getting it to screen that Gene was contractually bound to MGM Studios at that point and was unable to do it, so Frank Sinatra received the role instead.

Gene campaigned to play the part of Sky Masterson for Guys And Dolls (1955) but lost out to Marlon Brando.

Gene's brother, Fred, was also an actor.

Gene was hired as a dance consultant by Madonna on her 1993 "Girlie Show" tour.

Gene only appeared on-screen once with his competitor/fellow dance great Fred Astaire, in Ziegfeld Follies. (1946)

Gene was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1959.

Gene was nominated twice for the Director's Guild award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement In Motion Pictures, for Singin' In The Rain (1952) which he shared with Stanley Donen, and Hello Dolly (1969).

Gene has a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame at 6161 Hollywood Boulevard.

Gene was married twice, with both his wives being dancers. His first wife, Betsy Blair, he met on the set of Diamond Horseshoe (1945), where she was a dancer and he was the choreographer. His second wife, Jeanne Coyne, was his dancing assistant before their marriage in 1960, and was a dancer in several films including Singin' In The Rain and Kiss Me Kate.

The scar on Gene's left cheek was from a bicycle accident he had as a boy.

Gene was inducted into the Theater Hall Of Fame in 1992.

Gene won the Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program for "Jack And The Beanstalk" in 1967.

Gene was nominated in 1946 for Best Actor Oscar for Anchors Aweigh (1945).

Gene appeared in one of the first combination live-action/animated sequences in Anchors Aweigh (1945) in a scene where he danced witn Jerry Mouse.(from Tom And Jerry) Originally the producers wanted him to dance with Mickey Mouse, but Walt Disney refused to have him featured in an MGM film.

Gene was given a special Oscar in 1951 "in appreciation of his versatility as an actor, singer, director and dancer, and specifically for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film." He was later re-awarded this Oscar in 1984 after his home had burned in a fire and he had lost the original.

The Gene Kelly awards given for high school musicals in Allegheny County, PA, are named in his honor.

Gene met Paula Abdul after noticing the style of an animated cat in the music video for her song "Opposites Attract" was very much like his own. Gene had been a personal idol of Paula and they met every week after that, for tea, until Gene died.

Ray Bradbury dedicated his novel, "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (1962) to Gene.

Gene is mentioned in Madonna's hit song, "Vogue".

Gene was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton in 1994, but he was too sick to attend the ceremony.

Gene was awarded the Legion D'Honneur by the French government in 1960.

Gene was the first American to choreogrpah and stage a ballet at the Paris Opera.

Gene filmed his famous rain-dancing sequence in Singin' In The Rain (1952) while sick with a 103-degree fever.

Not only was Gene Kally an actor he was also a director and directed a lot of his own films.

Gene directed the classic musical Hello, Dolly! (1969)