The Last Dance: Gene Kelly Dies Peacefully In His Sleep

Gene Kelly, the exuberant, charismatic hoofer who danced, sang, smiled and splashed his way into the hearts of generations, died Friday after years of declining health. He was 83.

As respected as he was likable, Kelly “died peacefully in his sleep” in his Beverly Hills home with wife Patricia at his bedside, according to his publicist, Warren Cowan. Kelly had suffered strokes in 1994 and 1995 and had been in ill health since.

His life was the stuff of a Hollywood musical. Gene Kelly was a would-be baseball player and failed law student who once made money teaching basic dance steps in the basement of his parents’ Pennsylvania home.

After a few Depression-era amateur contests, he conquered Broadway and then Hollywood, starring in such films as “Singin’ in the Rain,” “On the Town” and “An American in Paris.” Along the way, he revolutionized motion picture choreography, and achieved success as a director and producer as well.

Debbie Reynolds, who co-starred in “Singin’ in the Rain,” remembered Kelly Friday as “a great dancer … a cinematic genius (whose) work will influence films forever.”

“He made me a star …,” she said. “He taught me how to dance and how to work hard, to be dedicated and yet still loving, as he was to his family and friends.”

Charles Champlin, former arts editor of the Los Angeles Times, called Kelly’s classic swing around the lamppost in “Singin’ in the Rain” “the high point of solo screen dancing … an absolute masterpiece of the dance form.”

Judy Garland, in 1942, was Kelly’s first dance partner on the big screen. Later came Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, Leslie Caron, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor, Shirley MacLaine and many others.

But of all Kelly’s dance partners, none was more memorable than an umbrella.

“Singin’ in the Rain,” the beloved, campy 1952 Hollywood spoof with Reynolds and O’Connor, provides the lasting image of Kelly’s winning screen persona: an affable, optimistic man with a fine Irish grin and soft spot in his heart.

Kelly’s most memorable credits show a pattern of American archetypes: Runyon-esque entertainers, sailors on leave, an expatriate artist in love with a French girl. Kelly also won praise for straight drama, such as his portrayal of a glib, cynical newspaperman based on the legendary H.L. Mencken in “Inherit the Wind,” the 1960 film with Spencer Tracy and Fredric March.

Unlike Astaire, the older friend with whom Kelly was frequently compared, top hat and tails were not his style. Rather, Kelly, who stood 5 foot, 9 inches and weighed 165 pounds, presented the dancer as the common man - a regular guy who looked good in a swabbie’s suit, or all wet, stomping in a puddle and splashing a beat cop.

In 1951, Kelly worked with director Vincente Minnelli on “An American in Paris,” co-starring Caron. The film won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Kelly was awarded a special Oscar “in appreciation of his versatility as an actor, singer, director, and dancer, and specifically for his achievements in the art of choreography on film.”

Born in Pittsburgh in 1912, Eugene Curran Kelly was one of five children of Irish Catholic parents.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: REACTIONS Liza Minnelli: “For the rest of my life, whenever it rains, I will think of him and smile.” Nancy Reagan: “He made you believe that Hollywood really was a magical place.” Milton Berle: “We lost a giant. He acted, he sang, he danced, produced, directed. He did everything.” Shirley MacLaine: “I’m sad for us, happy for heaven.”