--- description: Rare photographs of Gene Kelley in France in 1960, creating a ballet for the storied Paris Opera. title: Gene Kelly: Rare Photos of a Song and Dance Legend image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c725f23a83f6ea9/698847b106f2c11097339376/00887383_1.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gene Kelly: Rare Photos of a Song and Dance Legend in Paris by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 15, 2014 9:39 AM CUT  Director Gene Kelly (L) talking with ballerina Claude Bessy (center R) during rehearsal. Director Gene Kelly (L) talking with ballerina Claude Bessy (center R) during rehearsal.Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 15, 2014 9:39 AM CUT Talented song and dance men have hoofed it across the silver screen almost since movies were born, but of those who earned fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood, only three stand out as genuine legends: Fred Astaire, James Cagney and Gene Kelly. Astaire, of course, is the paragon of onscreen elegance; Cagney, meanwhile, perfected a style of quintessentially American acting, singing and dancing so winningly explosive that it’s been celebrated — and lovingly parodied — ever since. And then there’s Gene Kelly. In movies like _On the Town_ (with good friend Frank Sinatra), _An American in Paris_ and, of course, 1952’s _Singin’ in the Rain_ — for most movie fans, the greatest Hollywood musical of all time — Eugene Curran Kelly created an utterly inimitable onscreen persona: optimistic, playful, knowing and yet, deep down, hopelessly romantic. That he could dance, it seemed, from morning til night without breaking a sweat only added to his visceral charm. (There’s an old saying to the effect that the women who swarmed to movie musicals in the middle part of the 20th century dreamed of dancing the night away with Fred Astaire — and of going home with Gene Kelly.) Here, LIFE.com offers rare photographs of the protean dancer, singer, actor, producer, director and choreographer in France in 1960, as he enjoys a prestigious off-screen career highlight: creating a ballet for the storied Paris Opera. As LIFE noted in August 1960, in an article about Kelly’s Parisian triumph: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly on the steps of the grand staircase of the Paris Opera, 1960. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly rehearses with ballerina Claude Bessy, Paris, 1960. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly rehearses with ballerina Claude Bessy and other dancers, Paris, 1960. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly rehearses with ballerina Claude Bessy and other dancers, Paris, 1960. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly rehearses with dancers at the Paris Opera, 1960. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly rehearses with dancers at the Paris Opera, 1960. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly in rehearsal with dancers at the Paris Opera, 1960. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly in rehearsal at the Paris Opera, 1960. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly talks with ballerina Claude Bessy during rehearsal at the Paris Opera, 1960. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly and ballerina Claude Bessy take a curtain call (one of 23 that night) at the premiere of his ballet for the the Paris Opera, 1960. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly dines in Paris at the time of his triumph at the Paris Opera, 1960\. At his left, her chin on her hands, is prima ballerina Claude Bessy. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not originally published in LIFE. Gene Kelly enjoys himself at a party following the triumphant premiere of his ballet, Pas de Dieux (Dance of the Gods), at the Paris Opera, 1960. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3880408/gene-kelly-rare-photos-of-a-song-and-dance-legend/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3880408/gene-kelly-rare-photos-of-a-song-and-dance-legend/"},"headline":"Gene Kelly: Rare Photos of a Song and Dance Legend in Paris","datePublished":"2014-07-15T09:39:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:39.406Z","description":"Rare photographs of Gene Kelley in France in 1960, creating a ballet for the storied Paris Opera.","url":"https://time.com/3880408/gene-kelly-rare-photos-of-a-song-and-dance-legend/","keywords":["movies","photography","Actors","Actor","paris","dancing","Opera","LIFE Magazine","Icons","1960"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c725f23a83f6ea9/698847b106f2c11097339376/00887383_1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ben Cosgrove","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6c725f23a83f6ea9/698847b106f2c11097339376/00887383_1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Gene Kelly Paris 1960 (feat.)","caption":"Gene Kelly in Paris 1960","creditText":"Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3880408/gene-kelly-rare-photos-of-a-song-and-dance-legend/","name":"Gene Kelly: Rare Photos of a Song and Dance Legend in Paris"}}]}] ```