GENE KELLY - LOBBY CARD SIGNED - HFSID 252151

GENE KELLY
Gene Kelly signs a 14x11 lobby card for the promotion of the 1949 M-G-M musical, Take Me Out to the Ball Game.
Lobby Card signed: "Gene Kelly". Color, 14x11 overall, image 12¾x9 (one surface). Promotion for the 1949 M-G-M musical, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, which starred Kelly as Eddie O'Brien. The film, which grossed $4 million at the box office, was directed by Busby Berkeley and co-starred Frank Sinatra as Dennis Ryan and Esther Williams as K.C. Higgins. ©1949, Loew's Incorporated. Captioned: "The gay finale to the dancing, singing, Technicolorful all-star picture!" Kelly, who choreographed the film, also choreographed, co-directed and starred in On The Town in 1949. Actor, director and innovative dancer/choreographer Gene Kelly (1912-1996)was a major star in 1950s and 1960s MGM musicals, including Singin' in the Rain (1952). In 1951, he received a special Academy Award "in appreciation of his versatility as an actor, singer, director and dancer, and specially for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film". Although Kelly, along with Fred Astaire, was the most successful song-and-dance man in film history, his 1952 film marked the peak of his career, and Kelly moved to Europe to take advantage of tax exemptions. Shortly after he returned to Hollywood, Kelly starred in Brigadoon (1954). His other films include Anchors Aweigh (1945; Best Actor Academy Award nomination), Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949), An American in Paris (1951), Marjorie Morningstar (1958), Inherit the Wind (1960), What a Way to Go! (1964) and Xanadu (1980), and Kelly also hosted and starred in several TV series and miniseries and made guest appearances on a number of TV shows from 1954-1984. Slightly soiled at blank areas. Minor surface creases and striations (most not evident head on). Collector's stamp on verso (no show through). Overall, fine condition.