Gene Kelly was in the process of writing his autobiography, but sadly died at the age of 83, in 1996, before completing it. His widow Patricia Ward Kelly is said to be writing a book about her late husband’s life, but I’ve just about given up hope of it ever appearing. Until such time as it does however, there are a few biographies of Gene available, and this book by Clive Hirschhorn is widely regarded to be the best in its field. It is certainly the first place I would direct anyone wanting to know more about Gene Kelly.
There is a mistake right at the beginning of the book however; Hirschhorn gives Gene’s date of birth as 3rd August, when it was in fact 23rd August. This seems like such an easy thing to have checked that I cannot help but wonder if this was a typo that somehow escaped correction! I feel obliged to mention it however, because anyone starting the book may wonder if it is going to be filled with other errors – happily, it isn’t.
The book gives a good account of Gene’s childhood, with his strict but happy family life, including the dance lessons which his mother insisted all of her five children take, and the dance school which Gene started, together with other members of his family. It then describes his move to New York, where he found success on Broadway, and then his film career, starting in the early 40s, when he made his first film ‘For Me and My Gal’, starring opposite Judy Garland.
Overall, the description of Gene’s career is comprehensive, and mentions the high and low points of his career, which not only consisted of dancing, acting and singing, but also directing, producing and choreographing (yes, Gene Kelly was truly deserving of the description ‘multi-talented’).
The book also gives a detailed but respectful account of Gene’s personal life, including his first marriage to Betsy Blair with whom he had a daughter, Kerry, and which marriage ended in amicable divorce; and his second marriage to Jeanne Coyne, with whom he had a son and a daughter, Timothy and Bridget. This marriage ended in tragedy, when Jeanne died of leukemia in 1973.
Gene himself was interviewed for this book, and there are many, many quotes from him, as well as people he worked with, and members of his family (predominantly Kerry). The book is interesting, and well written; my interest was held throughout, and although I am a big fan of Gene Kelly, I found out a few things which were previously unknown to me. Hirschhorn seems to have great respect for his subject, but is still able to be objective. As well as the many films which Gene starred in, I also found the accounts of his work as a director to be very interesting (in particular, his work on the film Hello Dolly!, which must have been in difficult circumstances, considering that the two main stars, Barbra Streisand and Walter Matthau, could barely stand the sight of each other!) I would have liked to have seen more about Gene’s involvement with liberal politics, and his business relationship with Stanley Donen (which unfortunately ended in a falling out, but while the two men worked together, they certainly produced some amazing films).
Overall, Gene Kelly comes over as I have always imagined him to be; determined, hard-working (in the extreme), a perfectionist, but a very kind, unfailingly honest man, with a strong sense of right and wrong, and a very deep love for his family.
Sadly, as this book was written in the 1970s, it does not cover any of the last 20 years of it’s subject’s life, which is a shame. It is however, worth mentioning the lovely foreward, written by Gene’s friend Frank Sinatra. It is a lovely start to the book, and a nice tribute to Gene Kelly.
Overall, if you are interested in reading about Gene Kelly, or his work, I would certainly recommend this biography.
Between the Pages 
I don’t understand why a biography was not put out this summer to catch the wave of renewed interest as his 100th birthday approaches. We all know about striking while the iron is hot. What is the holdup? It has been 16 years since Gene died. Patricia Kelly would be the only one to add something new from 1990 on. I’m not even sure if his kids would have much from the time he remarried.
Hi Stephen, thanks for your comment. I totally agree; this would be the ideal time for a new biography. Patricia Kelly always said she was going to complete the autobiography he started, but after 16 years, I’ve more or less lost hope.
I need to add this information. The Kelly’s and my family were next door neighbors on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. We moved into our house in the summer of 1967. Jeannie and Gene invited us over to swim in there pool. Timmy and Bridget were the same age as me and my brother. I have many great stories to tell about Mr. Kelly. Lois, his secretary, was such a nice lady. We loved him and his family. We were so heartbroken when Jeannie passed away. After the fire that destroyed his house Mr. Kelly lived in our back house. He stored his valuables in my dad’s office. He rebuilt his house exactly the same as it was just a little bigger.
We barely knew Patricia, his second wife. I know that when Mr. Kelly was sick she completely took control over his finances and life, firing everyone including his doctor and close friend and across the street neighbor Dr. Schwartz. He tried to tell the frail and sick Mr. Kelly that he was making a mistake letting her have control over everything. Mr. Kelly was so scared of being left alone even though he did have his children and Lois who wanted to take care of him. He became very dependent on Patricia. When he died, no money was left to his kids. Recently, my brother ran into Tim, Gene’s son. My brother still lives in the rodeo Drive home i grew up in. Tim and his wife came to see his old house. Leon saw him and happily introduced him to the new owners of Tim’s childhood home. Tim took care of Lois when she was sick. Not having any children of her own she left him her house.
I personally would hate to see Patricia benefit from writing Gene Kelly’s biography. I’m sure his kids and close friends would hate to see that happen as well.
Thanks so much for sharing your memories of Gene and his family. I have heard others say similar things about Patricia; it’s very sad to think that she did that to him. I have the greatest admiration for Gene Kelly – he sounds like a wonderful man and a great father. It must be wonderful to have such memories of him.
Dear Ruth, Thanks for a great website and blog, and we also appreciate your nice review of our book on Singin’ in the Rain, linked on your blog. By the way, we have written a similar book on Kelly’s The Pirate which will come out this spring.
We are now working on a biography of Gene Kelly and were struck by Ruthie Levy’s comments posted last December and would like to be in touch with her as part of our research. Can you please make sure Ms. Levy gets the following message? Thanks so much! — Dr. Earl J. Hess & Dr. Pratibha A. Dabholkar
To Ms. Levy: We have written two books on Gene Kelly’s films and are now working on a biography of Kelly. We were struck by your comments posted on this blog and would love to hear more about your memories of growing up next door to Gene Kelly’s family. Our goal is to find all we can about Kelly’s career and life as part of our research, and we would appreciate it very much if you could contact us through the email option on our website http://www.love-and-learning.info. Thank you, and we look forward to hearing from you. — Dr. Earl J. Hess & Dr. Pratibha A. Dabholkar
Dear Ruth, Thanks for a great website and blog, and we also appreciate your nice review of our book on Singin’ in the Rain, linked on your blog. By the way, we have written a similar book on Kelly’s The Pirate which will come out this spring.
We are now working on a biography of Gene Kelly and were struck by Ruthie Levy’s comments posted last December and would like to be in touch with her as part of our research. Can you please make sure Ms. Levy gets the following message? Thanks so much! — Dr. Earl J. Hess & Dr. Pratibha A. Dabholkar
To Ms. Levy: We have written two books on Gene Kelly’s films and are now working on a biography of Kelly. We were struck by your comments posted on this blog and would love to hear more about your memories of growing up next door to Gene Kelly’s family. Our goal is to find all we can about Kelly’s career and life as part of our research, and we would appreciate it very much if you could contact us through the email option on our website http://www.love-and-learning.info. Thank you, and we look forward to hearing from you. — Dr. Earl J. Hess & Dr. Pratibha A. Dabholkar