Singin’ the reality.
Gene Kelly’s widow, Patricia Ward Kelly, debunked a rumor about how the late actor handled Debbie Reynolds on the set of “Singin’ in the Rain.”
“It’s been circulated for decades that he worked Debbie so hard in ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ that her feet bled all over the floor — it is just not true,” Patricia mentioned in an interview with Remind journal printed final week.
Gene’s third spouse added that Reynolds “actually thanked him many times for giving her her career.”
The famed choreographer directed Reynolds and starred alongside her within the beloved 1952 musical comedy.
Gene died at 83 in 1996, whereas Reynolds died at 84 in 2016.
Patricia informed the journal that lots of Kelly’s different previous co-stars cherished working with him.
“George Chakiris, Leslie Caron and many other dancers have shared with me how Gene was thoughtful with people,” she mentioned.
“He was always worried about performers getting shin splints dancing on the hard surfaces,” Patricia added of the “Hello, Dolly!” director. “He certainly had high expectations of himself and of others, but performers, grips, camera operators and cinematographers have all let me know how professional and kind he was.”
Patricia additionally debunked one other rumor associated to “Singin’ in the Rain.”
“I don’t know why it keeps resurfacing, but there is no milk in the water for the iconic ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ number in the film,” she shared. “It is simply phenomenal lighting and cinematography backlighting the rain.”
Within the romantic comedy, Reynolds performs aspiring actress Kathy Selden, who falls in love with Kelly’s getting older silent-era star Don Lockwood.
Reynolds informed the Sunday Specific in 2013 how her “feet were bleeding from all that dancing” throughout filming. “If I wasn’t smiling, Gene would yell at me to smile more. During filming, I thought my cheeks were going to crack from all that smiling,” she claimed.
However Patricia informed Yahoo! Leisure in 2022, “Most of what [Debbie] said about it was fabricated and would change over the years.”
“Gene said he didn’t see blood all over the floor the way it was described,” Patricia mentioned. She additionally pushed again on Reynolds’ tales of docs therapeutic her as a result of her ft have been busted up from rehearsing late at night time.
“Again, if you look at the production notes, you know exactly when she checked in and out and when she had lunch. And if doctors are called to set, it’s always noted. They just weren’t,” mentioned Patricia.
Patricia married Gene in 1990. She was his third spouse; the director and actor was beforehand married to Betsy Blair from 1941 to 1957 and Jeanne Coyne from 1960 till Coyne’s demise in 1973.
