Yesterday would have been Gene Kelly's 100th birthday and I, like so many of his fans, spent the entire day watching his wonderful films on TCM. (Not that I don't own them all on DVD & before that on VHS.)
I enjoyed listening to his widow talk with Robert Osborne about her memories of Gene, although I was quite shocked to see that she almost 50 years younger than Mr. Kelly. Regardless, she was a treasure trove of wonderful memories and delightful trivia (which I guess only makes sense, since she met Gene while interviewing him for a biography back in the late 1980's.)
And speaking of the 80's, that was the only time I ever got to see my matinee idol on the big screen (in Xanadu)...until last month. What a thrill to finally watch "Singing In The Rain" in a movie theatre!
My life-long love affair with the star even led me to include four pages about him in my YA novel, ZIA. You're probably wondering how I could do that with a futuristic fantasy, but if you flip to Chapter 8, you'll find out.
Gene Kelly - what a perfomer! Whenever he smiled onscreen, I smiled!
