Gene Kelly, born on August 23, 1912, was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and director whose innovative contributions to the world of dance and film have left an indelible mark on entertainment. Renowned for his athleticism, charm, and charisma, Kelly’s performances in classic films like “Singin’ in the Rain,” “An American in Paris,” and “On the Town” are celebrated as some of the finest examples of musical cinema. He seamlessly blended elements of ballet, tap, and modern dance, introducing a dynamic and energetic style that inspired generations of performers. Kelly’s innovative use of location shooting and his pioneering integration of dance into narrative storytelling set new standards for the genre. Beyond his on-screen achievements, he also directed and choreographed numerous successful Broadway productions. Gene Kelly’s influence continues to resonate in the worlds of dance and film, ensuring his legacy as a true icon of American entertainment.
Gene Kelly Quotes
1. “You dance love, and you dance joy, and you dance dreams.”
— Gene Kelly
2. “Dignity, always Dignity!”
— Gene Kelly
3. “I may be rancid butter, but I’m on your side of the bread.”
— Gene Kelly
4. “I wanted to do new things with dance, adapt it to the motion picture medium.”
— Gene Kelly
5. “I still find it almost impossible to relax for more than one day at a time.”
— Gene Kelly
6. “I didn’t want to move or act like a rich man. I wanted to dance in a pair of jeans. I wanted to dance like the man in the streets.”
— Gene Kelly
7. “You dance love, and you dance joy, and you dance dreams. And I know if I can make you smile by jumping over a couple of couches or running through a rainstorm, then I’ll be very glad to be a song and dance man.”
— Gene Kelly
8. “At 14, I discovered girls. At that time, dancing was the only way you could put your arm around the girl. Dancing was courtship. Only later did I discover that you dance joy. You dance love. You dance dreams.”
— Gene Kelly
9. “When Ginger Rogers danced with Astaire, it was the only time in the movies when you looked at the man, not the woman.”
— Gene Kelly
10. “If Fred Astaire is the Cary Grant of dance, I’m the Marlon Brando.”
— Gene Kelly
11. “The finest all-around performer we ever had in America was Judy Garland. There was no limit to her talent. She was the quickest, brightest person I ever worked with.”
— Gene Kelly
12. “I arrived in Hollywood twenty pounds overweight and as strong as an ox. But if I put on a white tails and tux like Fred Astaire, I still looked like a truck driver.”
— Gene Kelly
13. “I think dancing is a man’s game and if he does it well he does it better than a woman.”
— Gene Kelly
14. “I never wanted to be a dancer. It’s true! I wanted to be a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates.”
— Gene Kelly
15. “Fred Astaire represented the aristocracy, I represented the proletariat.”
— Gene Kelly
16. “Any man who looks like a sissy while dancing is just a lousy dancer.”
— Gene Kelly
17. “There’s nothing revolutionary about Saturday Night Fever. You can see the same kind of movement at your local disco.”
— Gene Kelly
18. “Kids talk to me and say they want to do musicals again because they’ve studied the tapes of the old films. We didn’t have that. We thought once we had made it, even on film, it was gone except for the archives.”
— Gene Kelly
19. “I took it as it came and it happened to be very nice.”
— Gene Kelly
20. “The way I look at a musical, you are commenting on the human condition no matter what you do. A musical may be light and frivolous, but by its very nature, it makes some kind of social comment.”
— Gene Kelly
21. “My mother had gotten a job as a receptionist at a dancing school and had the idea that we should open our own dancing school; we did, and it prospered.”
— Gene Kelly
22. “Things danced on the screen do not look the way they do on the stage. On the stage, dancing is three-dimensional, but a motion picture is two-dimensional.”
— Gene Kelly
23. “I wanted to invent some kind of American dance that was danced to the music that I grew up on: Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart and Irving Berlin. So I evolved a style that certainly didn’t catch on right away – but I had some good mentors in New York who encouraged me.”
— Gene Kelly
24. “There is a strange sort of reasoning in Hollywood that musicals are less worthy of Academy consideration than dramas. It’s a form of snobbism, the same sort that perpetuates the idea that drama is more deserving of Awards than comedy.”
— Gene Kelly
