Eugene Curran Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, director and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessible to the general public, which he called "dance for the common man". He starred in, choreographed, and, with Stanley Donen, co-directed some of the most well-regarded musical films of the 1940s and 1950s.
Kelly is best known for his performances in An American in Paris, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Singin' in the Rain, which he and Donen directed and choreographed, and other musical films of that era such as Cover Girl and Anchors Aweigh, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. On the Town, which he co-directed with Donen, was his directorial debut. Later in the 1950s, as musicals waned in popularity, he starred in Brigadoon and It's Always Fair Weather, the last film he directed with Donen. His solo directorial debut was Invitation to the Dance, one of the last MGM musicals, which was a commercial failure.
Kelly made his film debut in For Me and My Gal with Judy Garland, with whom he also appeared in The Pirate and Summer Stock.