June 29
Born Today:
Fred Kelly
Brother of Gene Kelly (1912-1996), Fred Kelly (1916-2000), pictured on the far left, and Gene, along with three other brothers, performed as the Five Dancing Kellys in vaudeville in the 1920s and Fred taught Gene how to tap dance. Fred replaced his brother in the stage show The Time of Your Life (1940) and also appeared in the Broadway version of This is the Army (1942). Fred was requested to teach Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret to ballroom dance while serving in WWII and he taught a young John Travolta (1954-) to dance at the family studio. He only performed on film with his brother once, in the movie Deep in My Heart (1954).
Also Born Today: Ballet Dancer Henning Kronstam (1934-1995) performed with the Royal Danish Ballet for over 20 years and he became the ballet master in 1978, producing Bournonville ballets into the 1990s. Ballerina Leslie Browne (1957-) danced with ABT from 1976-1993 and is perhaps best known for her role in The Turning Pointe (1977) opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948-).
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Dance Event: Ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union in 1974.
Movie:The King and I released in 1956