Kelly Family History & Genealogy

February 3, 1996 Gene Kelly, Dancer of Vigor and Grace, Dies By ALBIN KREBS Gene Kelly, the dancer, actor, director and choreographer who brought a vigorous athleticism, casual grace and an earthy masculinity to the high romance of lavish Hollywood musicals, died yesterday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 83. Mr. Kelly's highly developed sense of the possibilities of dance on film invigorated classic musicals like "Anchors Aweigh," "On the Town," "An American in Paris" and "Singin' in the Rain." A gifted dancer with his own vibrant style, he also flourished as an innovative choreographer and director in the 1940's and 50's, the heyday of the big, splashy Hollywood musical. Mr. Kelly, who could also put over a song in a high, thin voice, brought to his films an inventive technique that enabled him to create unusual and imaginative dance routines that usually arose directly out of a plot or script situation. Thus millions of moviegoers remember Mr. Kelly dancing merrily in a downpour in "Singin' in the Rain," hoofing with an animated mouse, Jerry, in "Anchors Aweigh," hopping over garbage cans in a sequence in "It's Always Fair Weather" and, with the aid of special process photography, dancing with himself in the "alter ego" number from "Cover Girl." In addition to his movies, which included "The Pirate," "Brigadoon" and the drama "Inherit the Wind," Mr. Kelly was also a star on Broadway, where he created the title role of the heel as hero in "Pal Joey," choreographed "Best Foot Forward" and directed Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Flower Drum Song." "I don't really know why I clicked," Mr. Kelly said many years later. "I didn't want to be a dancer. I just did it to work my way through college. But I was always an athlete and gymnast, so it came naturally. "In the 1930's, when I started, Martha Graham was the only dancer doing anything modern, but she did it all to classical music. I couldn't see myself doing 'Swan Lake' every night, and I wanted to develop a truly American style. The only dancer in the movies at that time with any success was Fred Astaire, but he did very small, elegant steps in a top hat, white tie and tails. I was too big physically for that kind of dancing, and I looked better in a sweatshirt and loafers anyway. It wasn't elegant, but it was me." Eugene Curran Kelly was born on Aug. 23, 1912, in Pittsburgh. His mother insisted that all five of the Kelly children take music and dance lessons, and in high school Mr. Kelly continued dance lessons while also playing on the football and hockey teams. His education at Pennsylvania State College was interrupted by the Depression, and his first job was teaching gymnastics at a summer camp for boys. He was later able to major in economics at the University of Pittsburgh and received a degree in 1933, but jobs were scarce and he went to work for a dancing school partly owned by his mother. Two years later, the school was renamed the Gene Kelly Studio of the Dance and soon a successful branch was opened in Johnstown. Meanwhile, Mr. Kelly directed plays produced locally and formed a dance act with his brother Fred, with whom he performed in a theater for children at the Chicago World's Fair in 1934. In the mid-1930's Mr. Kelly also redirected vaudeville acts that passed through Pittsburgh. Mr. Kelly did not decide to try his luck in New York until 1938, when he was 27 years old. His first job was as a Broadway chorus boy in 1938's "Leave It to Me," dancing while Mary Martin sang "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," but the next year he won critical acclaim for his featured role as the comic hoofer in William Saroyan's play "The Time of Your Life." That success led to his being cast in "Pal Joey," the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical, in which he played the unscrupulous central character so convincingly that John Martin, a critic for The New York Times, said, "He is not only glib-footed, but he has a feeling for comment and content that give his dancing personal distinction and raise it several notches as a dancing art." Mr. Kelly's ability to meld singing and dancing with characterization and the demands of the play's plot attracted so much notice that David O. Selznick signed him to an exclusive Hollywood contract. At the time, Mr. Kelly was appearing in "Pal Joey" at night and by day choreographing the Broadway musical hit "Best Foot Forward." In 1941, he left for Hollywood, where he was to bring a new vitality to dance on film and help change the whole concept of movie musicals. Mr. Selznick had no musicals planned, however, and lent Mr. Kelly to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the studio most noted for lavish musicals. His first film, in 1942, was "For Me and My Gal," in which he starred as a small-time vaudeville hoofer opposite Judy Garland. It was a huge success, but MGM, after buying the new star's contract from Mr. Selznick, relegated him to relatively minor parts in "DuBarry Was a Lady," "Thousands Cheer," and the wartime drama "Cross of Lorraine." In "Cover Girl," co-starring with Rita Hayworth in 1944 on loan to Columbia Pictures, Mr. Kelly's career took off. With the aid of Stanley Donen, with whom he was to direct and choreograph several movies in years to follow, Mr. Kelly developed the celebrated "alter ego" solo dance with his ectoplasmic self, the character's conscience. Photographed separately, then combined on a single strip of film, the two Kelly images seemed to pursue each other up and down flights of steps, to threaten each other and leap over each other's heads. "For once, a dance on the screen is not merely a specialty but actually develops character and advances plot," wrote a New York Times critic. Mr. Kelly's choreographic inventiveness was credited with the success of the trail-blazing live-dance-with-animation sequence in "Anchors Aweigh" in 1945. He had a hard time persuading MGM officials that they should spend $100,000 and two months shooting an eight-minute number, in which he would dance with Jerry the mouse from the "Tom and Jerry" cartoon series. Simple live action and animation went back to silent-film days, but Mr. Kelly's idea involved color and intricate dance steps for himself and the cartoon characters, and required complex laboratory and processing work. For the charming sequence, Mr. Kelly first danced against a plain blue background, then animators filmed the mouse song-and-dance portion. What audiences saw was a composite picture made from the two separate films, with man and mouse happily dancing and singing. The procedure is common now, even in television commercials, but in the mid-1940's it was hailed as a cinematic breakthrough. After the war, Mr. Kelly's first big picture was "The Pirate," a 1948 spoof of swashbuckling adventures in which he again starred with Judy Garland, with whom he sang the rousing "Be a Clown." James Agee, the critic, found Mr. Kelly's performance "very ambitious, painfully misguided, by John Barrymore out of the elder Douglas Fairbanks." In "The Three Musketeers" (1948), Mr. Kelly did not dance, but as D'Artagnan he used his balletic skills to burlesque some fencing scenes. One of Mr. Kelly's most memorable dance performances came in the seven-minute "Slaughter on 10th Avenue" ballet sequence in "Words and Music," a 1948 movie that was only subliminally based on the lives of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Most critics agreed that about the only thing to cheer about the film was the Rodgers ballet, in which Mr. Kelly was partnered with Vera-Ellen. In 1949, Mr. Kelly made two films with Frank Sinatra, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and one of his all-time hits, "On the Town," which he directed and choreographed with Mr. Donen and filmed mostly on location in New York City. Mr. Kelly, whose co-stars included Betty Garrett, Ann Miller and Vera-Ellen, turned the film into an exhilarating, joyful experience that began with the brassy "New York, New York (It's a Helluva Town)" opening number and never let up in its mood of pervasive effervescence. "This film was a milestone," he said in 1977. "It was the first musical to be shot on location. We took the musical off the sound stage and showed that it could be realistic. But some of Mr. Kelly's most popular and artistically successful films were yet to come. In 1951, "An American in Paris," in which he received sole star billing, won eight Academy Awards, including best picture of the year, and a special Oscar for Mr. Kelly for his contributions to screen choreography. An integral part of the film was a 17-minute ballet conceived by Mr. Kelly and the director, Vincente Minnelli, as a means of showing the impact Paris has on the hero. Costumes, sets and dance movements for the ballet were borrowed from the styles of such artists as Dufy, Renoir, Utrillo, Rousseau, van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec and the music danced to by Mr. Kelly and Leslie Caron was George Gershwin's "American in Paris" suite."Singin' in the Rain," released in 1952, was one of the last of the big MGM musicals and it was, said Vincent Canby, film critic of The New York Times, in a 1975 appraisal, "a movie masterpiece." Again teaming with Mr. Donen, Mr. Kelly helped to direct and choreograph the affectionate spoof of the start of the talkies era in movies. The movie made splendid use of such Arthur Freed-Nacio Herb Brown songs as "You Were Meant for Me," "You Are My Lucky Star" and "All I Do Is Dream of You." In the title number, a love-struck Mr. Kelly, with an umbrella as his principal prop, sang and splashed ecstatically and obliviously through a downpour on an all-but-deserted street. The sequence is widely regarded as a classic piece of cinematic choreography.

Grace Patricia Kelly was born on November 12, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA, and died at age 52 years old on September 14, 1982 at Princess Grace Hospital Center in Monaco Monaco. Grace Kelly was buried on September 18, 1982 at Grimaldi family vault; Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, Monte Carlo, Monaco. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Grace Patricia Kelly.

Loving, caring, mother of six children

She loved her children immensely. She had such a huge heart and would give you the coat off her back if you needed it. Well one time I remember, she gave her shoes off her feet to a struggling alcoholic after attending an AA meeting. No matter what has been said or assumed, the whole time she was in my life she was proud of her sobriety and one of the only times in my life I got to experience my father work hard to be as well. She was so sick, fought every day through the immense pain she was in, and still had her warm smile and "New York" accent that I'll never forget. I hope you are resting in peace watching over all of us Bern.

Patsy Kelly was born Bridget Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly on January 12, 1910, in Brooklyn, New York. She began performing in vaudeville when she was just twelve years old. Patsy worked with comedian Frank Fay and starred in several Broadway shows. She was discovered by producer Hal Roach who paired her with Thelma Todd in a series of comedy shorts. They became a popular onscreen team and made thirty-five films together including Top Flat and Done In Oil. Although Patsy never became an A-list star she continued to work throughout the 1930s. She had supporting roles in Pigskin Parade, Merrily We Live, and Topper Returns. Patsy was a lesbian and she was always open with the press about her sexuality. She had a long-term relationship with actress Wilma Cox. She started dating Tallulah Bankhead and worked as her secretary. Eventually Patsy continued acting and appeared on numerous television shows. She also had small roles in the films Rosemary's Baby and Freaky Friday. Patsy won a Tony award in 1971 for her performance in No No Nanette. After suffering a stroke she moved into a nursing home. She died from pneumonia on September 24, 1981. Patsy is buried at Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York.

Irene Lorna (Kelly) Taylor of Malv E Australia, was married to Leslie Taylor, and has a child June Loraine Taylor. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Irene Lorna (Kelly) Taylor.

Paulette Kelly was born on June 14, 1924, and died at age 61 years old in June 1985. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Paulette Kelly.

Nancy Kelly (March 25, 1921 – January 2, 1995) was an American actress. A child actress and model, she was a repertory cast member of CBS Radio's The March of Time and became a movie leading lady in the late 1930s, while still in her teens. She made 36 movies between 1926 and 1977, including portraying Tyrone Power's love interest in the classic Jesse James (1939), which also featured Henry Fonda, and playing opposite Spencer Tracy in Stanley and Livingstone later that same year. She had her greatest success in a character role, the distraught mother in The Bad Seed, receiving a Tony Award for the 1955 stage production and an Oscar nomination for the 1956 film adaptation. Biography Of Irish descent, Kelly was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, into a theatrical family. Her mother was silent film actress Nan Kelly, who coached her and managed her career. As a child actress, Kelly appeared in 52 films made on the East Coast by the age of 17. Her younger brother was actor Jack Kelly, most noted for playing the role of Bart Maverick, one of the two leads, alongside James Garner or Roger Moore from 1957 to 1962 in the ABC television series Maverick. Nancy Kelly and Jack Kelly bore an obvious family resemblance to each other but never worked together in film or television. As a child model, her image had appeared in so many different advertisements by the time she was nine years old that Film Daily commented, "Nancy has been referred to as 'the most photographed child in America,' largely because of her commercial posing." Kelly worked extensively in radio in her adolescent years. She played Dorothy Gale in a 1933–34 radio show, The Wizard of Oz, based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Kelly was the first ingenue on CBS Radio's The March of Time series, with a vocal versatility that made it possible for her to portray male parts as well as female. She also portrayed Eleanor Roosevelt. As an adult, she was a leading lady in 27 movies in the 1930s and '40s, including director John Ford's Submarine Patrol, the comedy He Married His Wife with Joel McCrea, Frontier Marshal with Randolph Scott as Wyatt Earp, and Tarzan's Desert Mystery with Johnny Weissmuller. Kelly was subsequently a two-time winner of the Sarah Siddons Award for her work in Chicago theatre as well as a Tony Award winner for her performance in The Bad Seed which she followed up by starring in the 1956 film version, receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also starred on television, including leading roles in "The Storm" (1961) episode of Thriller and "The Lonely Hours" (1963) episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. In 1957 she was nominated at the 9th Primetime Emmy Awards for an Emmy Award for Best Single Performance by an Actress for the episode "The Pilot" in Studio One. Kelly was a Republican who supported Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential election. Marriages[edit] Kelly was married to actor Edmond O'Brien briefly from 1941–1942, and then to Fred Jackman, Jr., son of silent Hollywood cameraman and director Fred Jackman, from 1946 to 1950. She was married to theater director Warren Caro from 1955 to 1968. She and Caro had a daughter, Kelly Caro, in 1957. Death Kelly died at her Bel Air, California, home on January 2, 1995, from complications of diabetes at the age of 73. She was survived by a daughter and three granddaughters. She was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Walk of Fame For her contribution to the motion picture industry, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. She was inducted on February 8, 1960.

Harvey W Kelly of Polk County, Minnesota United States was born on March 19, 1915 at Gentilly, Polk County, Minnesota, USA, and died at age 64 years old on February 19, 1980 in Gentilly. Harvey Kelly was buried in February 1980.

Mabel Clair (Coson) Kelly was born on March 28, 1887 in Winnebago, Faribault County, Minnesota United States, and died at age 77 years old on October 28, 1964 at 750 - 33rd Avenue, in San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA. Mabel Kelly was buried in October 1964 at Cypress Lawn Funeral Home & Memorial Park 1370 El Camino Real, in Colma, San Mateo County. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Mabel Clair (Coson) Kelly.

Vesta Mae (Proctor) Kelly was born to William Grant Proctor (1868 - 1941) and Mary Elizabeth Ferbrache (1873 - 1963). She had siblings Edna C., Hazel Marie Proctor (1908 - 1986) and Freda B. Proctor. Vesta Mae Proctor married Joseph Thomas Kelly (1898 - 1973) in August of 1935. Thomas was a mail carrier in the Canonsburg, Pennsylvania post office. They had a son, Thomas W. Kelly.

Mary Etta (Kelly) Taylor was born in 1852, and died at age 70 years old in 1922.

Sinclair Kelly was born in 1869, and died at age 81 years old in 1950 at belfast in Ireland. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Sinclair Kelly.

Georgia Ruth (Schilhab) Kelly was born on December 19, 1922, and died at age 91 years old on March 5, 2014 in Tomball, Harris County, Texas United States. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Georgia Ruth (Schilhab) Kelly.

Jacquline Marie Kelly was born on June 25, 1935 in San Francisco, California United States, and died at age 67 years old in September 2002. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember jacquline marie kelly.

Nadene Erika (Kelly) Mcleod was born in San Jose, Santa Clara County, California United States, and died in Antioch, Contra Costa County. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Nadene Erika (Kelly) Mcleod.

John Louis Kelly was born on April 4, 1877 in Knoxville, Knox County, Tennessee United States, and died at age 72 years old on April 28, 1949 in Sultana, Tulare County, CA. John Kelly was buried in April 1949 at Smith Mountain Cemetery in Dinuba. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember John Louis Kelly.

Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember Edna Kelly.

Hanna (Hanora, Honora, Hannora) Ryan Kelly. Drawing from census records, she was born between August 3rd and August 16th in Ireland. Considering the ages of her children, the census records indicate Hanora must have been born prior to September of 1820. Her death record (extracted from records made by the Works Progress Administration of the late 1930s) states that she was born in 1820: Hanora Kelly, wife of John Kelly, died September 4, 1888 at the age of 68 and was buried at Saint Mary’s Cemetery, located in Section 34 of Bloomington Township, Muscatine County, Iowa. Her maiden name “Hanora” has been confirmed by the marriage record of her daughters Maggie and Julia; however, her name is spelled “Hannora” on her gravestone. Considering her name, date of birth and the close proximity of the place of birth with that of our ancestor James Godfrey Butler – a distance of only 4 ½ miles – it is most likely that our Hanora Ryan was born November 6, 1819 in Clonross, Clonoulty civil parish, South Tipperary, and her parents were therefore Patrick and Mary Ryan.

Keith O Kelly of Asheville, Buncombe County, NC was born on September 30, 1971, and died at age 33 years old on March 21, 2005.