Gene Kelly

“Hess and Dabholkar’s Gene Kelly: The Making of a Creative Legend is the most complete biography of Gene Kelly to date. It offers a substantial addition to what we know about Gene Kelly’s career and enriches our appreciation for the depth and range of his accomplishments, thanks to extraordinary and far-reaching research into materials never studied by Kelly’s previous biographer. Gene Kelly is a delightful read and a true page-turner.”—Rick Altman, author of Film/Genre

“This meticulously researched biography not only is an important addition to film musical scholarship and to our understanding of Kelly’s transformative contribution to the film musical genre but also gives us a rounded portrait of him as a human being. We follow him from his youth in Depression-era Pittsburgh to his early years on Broadway to his career in Hollywood not only during film musical’s ‘Golden Age’ but also during his work with the Navy and for the first time his not inconsiderable accomplishments in television, in film, and on stage in his later years. Perhaps most important, this biography throws important new light on the Kelly-Donen working relationship by providing deeply researched evidence on the primacy of Kelly’s role. Also examined is Kelly’s role as an active supporter of progressive causes during the New Deal and the McCarthy era and its underlying connection to the ‘common man’ roles he developed with great sympathy. The authors illuminate Kelly’s role as artist and innovator not only in his championship of dance as an art form but also in his role as an educator who effectively promoted the value of male dancing at a time when those who practiced the profession in the United States were stigmatized and stereotyped.”—Beth Genné, professor of dance history, University of Michigan

“The authors have written the book they have always wanted to write: the story of Gene Kelly’s entire life and career. They have watched all his movies and assembled the published facts, adding in their own research and analysis; this is the ultimate bible of Kelly appreciation and information.”—Jeanine Basinger, Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies, Emerita, Wesleyan University