Gene Kelly, Creative Genius

This is the particular crown and triumph

of the artist  -

not to be true merely but to be lovable;

not simply to convince - but to enchant.

Robert Louis Stevenson

This was drawn by Gene at the end of a Valentine's Day letter to friends.

There is no shortage of information on the life and work of Gene Kelly.  His biography and filmography can be found in many and varied websites, books and articles written over the years.  So I will not waste web space repeating what you probably know or can easily discover.

All I want to do is to pay my respects to a very special man, who has brought much joy and comfort into my life and the lives of countless others.  I wish more than anything that I could have written to him to thank him for the legacy he has given to us, of making us believe we can do anything, if we only try hard enough, but I never knew his magic until it was too late to tell him.  So this is my ‘Thank you’ letter to Gene.

I make no apology that the quotes on the following pages focus only on the positive aspects of Gene and his work.  Much has been written about him, good and bad, and I am fully aware that he was no Irish saint.  He was a human being, with his fair share of accompanying imperfections.  But I figure that the positive things said about him are more likely to reflect the truth, whereas negative comments can sometimes come with their own agenda. I believe that the love, joy, and dreams, which filled his heart and overflowed to millions of others worldwide, far outweigh his shortcomings. There are other places where Gene’s ‘faults’ and ‘failings’ are mentioned.  I want to redress the balance a little.  So I make no claim to being impartial – after all, I am a fan!

During the last two years I have collected every movie he made, most of his music, and some radio and TV appearances, and have read and learned and talked as much about him, and the world in which he lived and worked, as I can. From this research I have deduced that he was warm, loving, highly intelligent, amazingly hard working, self-contained, sociable, strong, virile, charismatic, tactile, childlike, charitable, straightforward, pragmatic, unpretentious, fair, tenacious, happy in his own skin, other-worldly, unselfish, emotional, single-minded, generous, funny, honest, serious, home-loving, democratic, protective of those he cared for, self-critical, courageous in the face of personal tragedy, a man of integrity, a born leader and teacher. He was spectacularly good to look at from head to toe and from every angle and at almost any age. He was an excellent, natural actor; a singer who, although being no Caruso, could touch the heart; a highly competent inspirational director and producer; an incomparable dancer who could weave a story without words and move an audience to tears or laughter; and a truly great choreographer. He was a creative genius and a good human being.

Is it any wonder that every day, somewhere in the world, someone is still writing about, talking about, reading about, watching or falling in love with Gene Kelly?

I would like to thank those whose words I have used. If you want more information on the sources of the quotes please email me. auntsuzy@hotmail.co.uk

I hope you enjoy my small contribution to Gene-ology! I will add to the site whenever I am able to.

For any non-geeks, i.e. anyone who does not know every line of every movie Gene Kelly ever made, all the page titles etc are taken from An American In Paris, Gene's masterpiece and my favourite movie.

Sue Cadman

I have moved the fan section from this area to its own page, "Our Love Is Here". Thank you for all your contributions so far. You are doing him proud. Anyone who would like to contribute is very welcome. Email me or visit us on the genescene forum. You will find the link on the fan's page. Thank you.

I would like to thank with all my heart every one of my wonderful friends who have supplied me with items for the site. Without you it would be a much sparser place! Thank you for all the pictures, articles, DVDs, references, clippings etc. And thank you for all the loving support you have given to me as I have sought to honour Gene's memory. He is continuing his legacy as joybringer in the friendships forged through our shared interest, our love for him and his work.

If, after you have browsed the site, you are still asking for; "Anything More?" - here are links to my three albums on Photobox.

http://photos.orange.co.uk/album/3423886

http://photos.orange.co.uk/album/3440149

http://photos.orange.co.uk/album/3841665

Below are links to other Gene sites which have helped fuel my 'obsession' and given me lots of information, and lots of fun too.

  http://www.genekellyscene.com/ The Gene Scene, lots of great stuff here

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Studio/1731/intro.html The Gene Pool. Another fab site

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000037/  Lots of biographical information on Gene, and his filmography

http://www.genekelly.ru/ Yatanis' Russian site. don't worry if you can't speak Russian - the pictures paint a thousand words!

http://www.freewebs.com/genekelly/ A great Italian site

http://simplyclassics.net/coppermine/login.php you need to register with this site, but there are some fab pics so it's well worth it.

http://dancebarkprance.homestead.com/. This is Lynn's super British site, up again after a long absence.