Singin’ the truth.
Gene Kelly’s widow, Patricia Ward Kelly, debunked a rumor about how the late actor treated 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 said in an interview with Remind Magazine published last week.
Gene’s third wife added that Reynolds “actually thanked him many times for giving her her career.”
The famed choreographer directed Reynolds and starred alongside her in the beloved 1952 musical comedy.
Gene passed away at age 83 in 1996, while Reynolds died at age 84 in 2016.
Patricia told Remind Magazine that many of Gene’s other past 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 said.
“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 also debunked another rumor related 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.”
In the romantic comedy, Reynolds plays aspiring actress Kathy Selden, who falls in love with Kelly’s aging silent-era star Don Lockwood.
Reynolds told the Sunday Express in 2013 how her “feet were bleeding from all that dancing” during 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.
But Patricia told Yahoo! Entertainment 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 said. She also pushed back on Reynolds’ tales of doctors healing her because her feet were busted up from rehearsing late at night.
“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,” said Patricia.
Patricia married Gene in 1990. She was his third wife; the director and actor was previously married to Betsy Blair from 1941 to 1957 and Jeanne Coyne from 1960 until Coyne’s death in 1973.
