Gene Kelly's birthday: here the famous "Singin' In The Rain" dance and a top 10 compilation

August 23rd is the anniversary of the birth in 1912 of extraordinary American dancer (Eu)Gene Curran Kelly (wiki) (1912-1996) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Kelly worked his way through college as a dancer and teacher and joined a Broadway chorus line in 1938. Within two years, he had scored the dance lead in Pal Joey, and went on to Hollywood for his film debut in For Me and My Gal (1942). 

Kelly served in the Navy during World War II but soon resumed his career after the conflict in such films as On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), and Singin' in the Rain (1952) - each appearance marked by his spirited, athletic, and seemingly effortless dancing. Subsequently, he became a celebrated choreographer, played straight dramatic roles in such films as Inherit the Wind (1960), and directed the 1969 film version of Hello, Dolly! 

His performance in the title song of Singin' in the Rain is perhaps his most memorable. Watch full screen!

And here's a top 10 Gene Kelly dance scene compilation (via @LandryST)



Related posts:

It's Fred Astaire's birthday - here are clips of some of his best dancing.

Happy Birthday, Rita Hayworth: here's an excellent compilation of her dancing, set to Stayin' Alive.

Parody of "The Producers: “Trumped" Starring Matthew Broderick & Nathan Lane

From the Jimmy Kimmel show last week:

From the producers who brought you The Producers (wiki), #Trumped is a new musical starring Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Cloris Leachman and the unlikely candidate himself, Donald Trump.

DaTechGuy makes some excellent points:

Isn’t the “Plan” being listed pretty much what happened with Jeb Bush and to a lesser degree Rick Perry and Chris Christie? A candidate that wasn’t going to win that raised tens of millions dollars from a lot of suckers that made said consultants rich?

...But in the end compared to Mike Murphy Bialystok & Bloom are pikers.

...Given what we’ve seen this skit could have easily been made in 2008 about Obama, but the makers would never have the guts

via Instapundit.

Wednesday links

For Dr. Seuss's birthday, his little-known book of nudes: The Seven Lady Godivas (SFW), plus Private Snafu: The World War II Propaganda Cartoons Created by Dr. Seuss, Frank Capra, and Mel Blanc, and This is Ann... she drinks blood! Dr Seuss Does Malaria.

Why Is It 'Eleven, Twelve' Instead of 'Oneteen, Twoteen'?

Why Being a ‘Black Sheep’ Is a Bad Thing and Other Ag-Idioms Explained.

1970s-era Air Force Rescue Beacon Disguised As Dog Poop, plus lipstick guns and shoe transmitters.

Can't get tickets to Hamilton? Here it is re-enacted by Marshmallow Peeps.

The Moral Threat of Bicycles in the 1890s.

ICYMI, Monday's links are here, and include that time Columbus tricked Jamaicans using fore-knowledge of a lunar eclipse, Leap Day/Year links, bullet-proof sofas, vintage sexist ads, and historic mad scientists.