Tulare Advance-Register from Tulare, California • 10

tp i yrrim us -if 'Hip i Gene Kelly: 1315-1996 8 Tulare Advance-Register Weekend, February 3-4, 1996 Ul ini 6 wora REMEMBRANCE A career that made a splash Associated Press Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly dance in Take Me Out to the Ball Game in 1949. He once told me dancing was a mans game, as much of a sport as baseball itself, Liza Minnelli said. He changed our minds and suddenly, all of America wanted to dance just like Gene Kelly." Kellys Credits $3y John Horn ssociated Press LOS ANGELES He was self-made and witty. Jut more than anything, the man rould dance. Gene Kelly, who splashed tfirough puddles with athletic exuberance in Singin in the Rain and kicked up his heels in On the Town and Anchors Aweigh, died Friday at 83.

A former ditch digger whose choreography grew so influential even Madonna and Michael Jack-son consulted him, Kelly died at his home of complications from strokes suffered over two years, publicist Warren Cowan said. Unlike his older contemporary Fred Astaire, whose black-tie dance steps were elegant and measured, Kelly was a muscular, regular-guy showman whose joyful dancing captured the postwar American mood. Boyishly handsome and possessed of Irish charm, he ran across the stage, jumped over furniture and did mad windmills with his arms, and usually did it in 'white socks, loafers, rolled-up short sleeves and khakis. He once told me dancing was a mans game, as much of a sport as baseball itself, Liza Minnelli said. And he made us believe that.

He changed our minds and suddenly, all of America wanted to dance just like Gene Kelly. His most enduring cinematic image was an exuberant, rain-drenched spin around a streetlight in 1952s Singin in the Rain, widely considered the greatest 'American musical ever made. 'Gene Kelly was a fine performer and a great example of American spirit, the White House said in a statement. The president wants to extend his condolences to his wife and family. Other memorable performances came in For Me and My Cal (his 1942 screen debut opposite Judy Garland), Anchors Aweigh in 1945, On the Town in 1949, and, in 1951 An American in 'Paris, which won eight Oscars, including best picture.

Gene Kelly was a dear friend to Ronnie and me for many years," former first lady Nancy Reagan ald. We go back a long way to our treasured days at MGM, where Gtene and I were privileged to be part of that special studio family. 1 Added Debbie Reynolds: He rmade me a star with Singin in the 'Rain. He taught me how to dance and how to work hard, to be dedicated and yet still loving as he was 10 his family and friends. Born in Pittsburgh in 1912, Eugene Curran Kelly started dancing as a child and worked briefly as a dance instructor, service station attendant and ditch digger.

Studying at the University of Pittsburgh, We took part in campus musicals entered talent contests in a dancing act with his brother Fred. After graduating in 1933 and dropping out of law school, he danced with his brother in theaters and nightclubs and helped but at his mothers dancing school. Appearing in a revue in Pittsburgh, he was spotted by a dance director who brought him to Broadway, where he made his debut in the 1938 Cole Porter musical Leave It to Me. Then it was on to Hollywood. serving in the Navys Phonographic Section during World War II, Kelly reigned at MGM in the postwar era, when the studio was the pre-eminent producer of "movie musicals.

Kelly gave a bravura performance in An American in Paris. He created the dances, climaxed by the 17-minute ballet with Leslie Laron to George Gershwins music. Ive always held that you shouldnt underestimate the intelligence of the movie audience, Kelly once said. Thats where Hollywood has made a mistake. I Temember how everybody thought 'we were nuts to put that big ballet Silunber in An American in Paris.

The film won the Academy Award as best picture of 1951, and 'Kelly was given a special award ip appreciation of his versatility as actor, singer, director and '(lancer, and especially for his brilliant achievements in the art of "choreography on film. As Astaires star faded, Kellys Ascended. Even though their careers overlapped, the two danced together only twice: in 1946s Ziegfeld Follies and at the end of their dancing careers in a light-looted duet for 1976s Thats Entertainment Part II. had more unusual dance partners in Anchors Aweigh, "sharing screen with cartoon characters such as Tqm and Jerxy. a By Bob Thomas i Associated Press had a smile that could warm an air-conditioned theater, a voice with thp tone and innocence of a choir boy.

And his gleeful splash in rain puddles became the perfect portrait of a man in love. That was Gene Kelly, whose long, uncommonly diverse career that left his stamp on American dance forever. Before Kelly there was Fred Astaire, who set the standard for manly grace on the screen. Kelly was mostly known as a hoofer until he started making musicals at MGM during and after World War II. His talent blossomed in films like Cover Girl, Anchors Aweigh and The Pirate.

His style was something new in films, muscular, gymnastic, overflowing with exuberance. Though Kelly and Astaire both worked at MGM during the great era of the film musical, they were never rivals. Each had his own dancing style, and no jealousy arose. They danced twice together, and enjoyed it each time. They were in their prime when they performed The Babbit and the Bromide for Ziegfeld Follies in 1946.

Thirty years later they did a few turns in Thats Entertainment Part II, with Kelly directing the new sequence. i Everybody expects Fred and me to compete with ourselves of 25 years ago, Kelly remarked. Not possible. Unlike Astaire, Gene Kelly sought to gain more control over his work by choreographing and directing. Even though he worked with dance directors, he devised many of the routines in his early films.

He codirected On the TownT with Stanley Donen and choreographed the dances. He again combined with Donen and co-di-rected the dances for Singin in the Rain, which many critics consider the all-time best film musical. Kelly staged the dances for Vincente Minnellis An American in Paris, Oscar winner as best picture of 1951. Kelly the director sometimes presented a different picture from the ebullient entertainer on the screen. His Irish temper could erupt in rages at what he considered incompetence.

But the storm soon passed, and he returned to business. Kelly had the wisdom to stop dancing at the right time. They still expect me to jump over tables and hang from wires, he said qt 64. Dancing is for kids. His only return came with the mishmash Xanadu with Olivia Newton-John in 1980.

Kelly at 68 performed on roller skates, something he and brother Fred had done in vaudeville. Even when his dancing days ended. Gene Kelly never abandoned his feeling for dance and dancers. In some ways its a cruel life, he said in 1976. Dancers are just about the last apprentices who are left in todays society.

They have tp start learning their trade at an early age. Then as soon as they master it, theyre obsolete. But we all go into it with our eyes open. We all know the time will come when we have to go on to something else. It can be great while it lasts! Thomas has covered Hollywood for more than 50 years.

Tributes We lost a giant, one of the-most multi-faceted friends I knew. He had all the ingredient of an icon. He performed, he acted, he sang, he danced, pro- 1 duced, directed. He did every- thing. Milton Berle I know one thing.

For the rest of my life, whenever it rains I will think of him and Liza Minnelli Im sad for us, happy for heaven." Shirley MacLaine That crooked smile. He leaves his legacy of great talent for us to enjoy forever. Bar-; bra Streisand Hes irreplaceable. Hes i what the word legend means. I His dancing style, his direction, his choreography, left a memory that can just best be described as Gene Kelly." Dally Variety! columnist Army Archerd I '-Ym Vr.

He in mu- to last movie role came in 1980s Films As actor, sometimes also serving as director or choreographer: "For Me and My Gal, 1942 "Pilot No. 5, 1943 Du Barry Was a Lady, 1943 Thousands Cheer, 1943 The Cross of Lorraine, 1943 Cover Girl," 1944 Christmas Holiday, 1 944 Anchors Aweigh, 1945 Ziegfeld Follies," 1946 Living in a Big Way, 1947 The Pirate, 1948 The Three Musketeers, 1948 Words and Music," 1948 "Take Me Out to the Ball Game, 1949 On the Town, 1 949 Black Hand, "1950 Summer Stock, 1950 An American in Paris, 1951 Its a Big Country, 1952 Singin in the Rain, 1952 "The Devil Makes Three, 1952 Brigadoon, 1954 Seagulls Over Sorrento, or "Crest of the Wave, 1954 Deep in My Heart," 1954 Its Always Fair Weather, 1955 Invitation to the Dance, 1956 The Happy Road, 1 957 Les Girls, 1957 Marjorie Morningstar, 1958 Lets Make Love, 1960 Inherit the Wind, 1960 What a Way To Go, 1964 The Young Girls of Rochefort, 1967 40 Carats," 1973 Thats Entertainment, 1974 "Thats Entertainment Part II, 1976 Viva Knievel! 1977 Xanadu," 1980 Thats Entertainment III, 1994 As director or producer: Tunnel of Love, 1958 Gigot, 1962 A Guide for the Married Man, 1967 Hello Dolly! 1969 The Cheyenne Social Club, 1970 Theater Leave It to Me, 1938 One for the Money," 1939 The Time of Your Life," 1 939 Pal Joey, 1940 Best Foot Forward, 1941 Television Going My Way, 1962-63 Jack and the Beanstalk, 1967 The Funny Side, 1971 Betsy Blair, and they had a daughter, Keny. The marriage ended in divorce in 1957. In 1960 he married his dance assistant, Jeanne Coyne, and they had a daughter, Bridget, and son, Timothy. Kelly raised the children after his wifes death in 1973.

When he was 77 in 1990, he married writer Patricia Ward, 36, who was collaborating with Kelly on a book. Other survivors include three grandchildren. There will be no funeral. Gene Kelly in his triumphant dance in Singin in the Rain in 1952, The film, which also starred Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson, won him a 1945 Oscar nomination as best actor. Kelly choreographed many of his films and began taking more control by co-directing On the Town with Stanley Donen.

He said it was his favorite film because it was my first directing job and I loved it for the ground it broke. The story of sailors on leave in New York broke the movie musical mold by being shot on location. Kelly and Donen combined again on Singin in the Rain. Over the years, he directed Rogers and Hammersteins Flower Drum Song on Broadway and wrote and choreographed a Gershwin ballet with the Paris Opera Ballet. Watching Kellys dance routines today, the entertainer Ben Vereen said Friday, is like going to school with a great teacher.

But Mr. Kelly showed other things: that you could take charge of every facet of your career. He was consummate entertainer and Gene Kelly and Shirley MacLaine After the big-budget studio sical started to fade in the late 1950s and Kellys knees started weaken, Kelly branched out to dramatic roles. His good-guy persona was so well established that some of the dramatic roles fizzled. His Associated Press appeared in 39 films.

A'. Associated Press What a Way to Go from 1963. Xanadu. In addition to influencing Jack-son and Madonna, Kellys work was imitated by Paula Abdul. Jackson said in a statement: He is, and will always remain, an inspiration.

In 1940 Kelly married actress li i I.