Kelly

Kelly, Ellsworth, 1923-, American painter, b. Newburgh, N.Y. He moved to New York City in 1941, studying at Pratt Institute, and later attended the Boston Museum Arts School. In Paris during the late 1940s, he studied at the Académie des Beaux-Arts and met many giants of modern art. He began to create relief sculptures and multipanel paintings, formats that remained features of his work. Returning (1954) to the United States, he became known in the 1950s and 60s for his hard-edge paintings, formal, impersonal compositions painted in flat areas of color, usually with sharp contours and geometric shapes. Increasingly large, some were conventional rectangular canvases, some made up of several single-color panels joined to make triangles, trapezoids, and other shape; Atlantic (1956) and Green Blue Red (1964) are in the Whitney Museum, New York City, and Blue Red Green (1962) in the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Kelly has also made large geometric sheet-metal sculptures, e.g., the work (1957) commissioned for Philadelphia's Transportation Building (now Penn Center), and is a collagist and printmaker.

Kelly, Gene, 1912-96, American dancer, choreographer, movie actor, and director, b. Pittsburgh. Kelly started dancing on Broadway in 1938 and first gained fame in the title role of the Broadway musical Pal Joey (1940). He moved to Hollywood in 1941 and soon starred in his first film, For Me and My Gal (1942). His best-known work was in motion pictures, where he excelled in an inventive combination of camera and dance techniques in such films as On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951; Academy Award), Singin' in the Rain (1952)—which contains his single most famous performance—and Invitation to the Dance (1956). Athletically graceful, a skillful and expressive dancer with a joyfully muscular yet lyrical style, he also sang in a thin yet appealing voice. Kelly appeared in such film musicals as Anchors Aweigh (1945), Take Me Out to the Ballgame (1949), Brigadoon (1954), and Les Girls (1957). He also played dramatic film roles, as in Inherit the Wind (1960), and directed several movies, including The Happy Road (1950) and Hello Dolly (1969).

Kelly, George, 1887-1974, American playwright, b. Philadelphia. He began his career as a vaudevillian, as both an actor and skit writer. His best-known plays, penetrating satires on American middle-class life, include The Torch-Bearers (1922), The Show-off (1924), Craig's Wife (1925; Pulitzer Prize), and The Deep Mrs. Sykes (1945).

Kelly, Grace: see Grace, princess consort of Monaco.

Kelly, Hugh, 1739-77, English dramatist, b. Killarney. His first and best-known play, the sentimental comedy False Delicacy, was produced by Garrick in 1768 and was extremely popular in its time.

Kelly, John, 1822-86, American politician, boss of Tammany Hall, b. New York City. He entered politics at an early age. At first he opposed Tammany Hall, but later (1853) joined the organization and became city alderman. He served (1855-58) in Congress and was (1859-61, 1865-67) sheriff of New York County. After the exposure of William M. Tweed, Kelly, by then popularly known as "Honest John," reorganized the Tammany machine. By 1874 he held control of the organization and carried on continuous warfare with the faction of Samuel J. Tilden, who originally had cooperated with him in reorganizing Tammany. Kelly's refusal to back Tilden's candidate for governor, Lucius Robinson, and his decision to run for governor himself as an independent helped bring about the election (1879) of Alonzo Cornell. While he was head of Tammany, Kelly was able to determine the course of New York City elections, and he himself was city comptroller from 1876 to 1880. Upon retirement (1884) he yielded his political control to one of his lieutenants, Richard Croker.

later Princess Grace of Monaco

(born Nov. 12, 1929, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died Sept. 14, 1982, Monte Carlo, Monaco) U.S. film actress. She studied acting and made her Broadway debut in 1949. Her movie debut came in Fourteen Hours (1951). She gained critical and popular praise with her performances in High Noon (1952), Mogambo (1953), and The Country Girl (1954, Academy Award). Alfred Hitchcock saw “sexual elegance” in her and put her in three of his films—Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955). She made her last movie, High Society (1956), before marrying Prince Rainier III of Monaco. She died in a car accident after suffering a stroke on a winding mountain road in the Côte d'Azur.

Learn more about Kelly, Grace with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Eugene Curran Kelly

(born Aug. 23, 1912, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.—died Feb. 2, 1996, Beverly Hills, Calif.) U.S. dancer, choreographer, actor, and movie director. After training at his mother's dance school in Pittsburgh, he moved to New York in 1938 and danced in Broadway musicals, creating the h1 role in Pal Joey in 1940. Beginning in 1942, his athletic style and carefree acting—exemplified in the popular Anchors Aweigh (1945), On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), and Singin' in the Rain (1952), which he also helped choreograph and direct—became hallmarks of the movie musical. His achievements earned him a special Academy Award in 1951. He later choreographed and directed numerous other movies and created a ballet for the Paris Opéra (1960).

Learn more about Kelly, Gene with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born May 31, 1923, Newburgh, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. painter and sculptor. In 1948 the G.I. bill allowed him to travel to Paris, where he was exposed to various avant-garde developments. By 1949 he made his first completely abstract painting; he would create abstract work throughout his career. Kelly moved back to the U.S. in 1954. By the end of the decade he became a leading exponent of the hard-edge style of painting, in which abstract contours and large areas of flat colour are sharply and precisely defined. Influenced by the biomorphic abstractions of Jean Arp and the paper cutouts of Henri Matisse, he used the clean geometric lines of his paintings in painted, cut-out sheet-metal sculptures. Kelly refined his pursuit of pure style throughout the late 20th century, eventually also pursuing printmaking and large-scale public sculpture.

Learn more about Kelly, Ellsworth with a free trial on Britannica.com.

later Princess Grace of Monaco

(born Nov. 12, 1929, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died Sept. 14, 1982, Monte Carlo, Monaco) U.S. film actress. She studied acting and made her Broadway debut in 1949. Her movie debut came in Fourteen Hours (1951). She gained critical and popular praise with her performances in High Noon (1952), Mogambo (1953), and The Country Girl (1954, Academy Award). Alfred Hitchcock saw “sexual elegance” in her and put her in three of his films—Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955). She made her last movie, High Society (1956), before marrying Prince Rainier III of Monaco. She died in a car accident after suffering a stroke on a winding mountain road in the Côte d'Azur.

Learn more about Kelly, Grace with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Eugene Curran Kelly

(born Aug. 23, 1912, Pittsburgh, Pa., U.S.—died Feb. 2, 1996, Beverly Hills, Calif.) U.S. dancer, choreographer, actor, and movie director. After training at his mother's dance school in Pittsburgh, he moved to New York in 1938 and danced in Broadway musicals, creating the h1 role in Pal Joey in 1940. Beginning in 1942, his athletic style and carefree acting—exemplified in the popular Anchors Aweigh (1945), On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), and Singin' in the Rain (1952), which he also helped choreograph and direct—became hallmarks of the movie musical. His achievements earned him a special Academy Award in 1951. He later choreographed and directed numerous other movies and created a ballet for the Paris Opéra (1960).

Learn more about Kelly, Gene with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born May 31, 1923, Newburgh, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. painter and sculptor. In 1948 the G.I. bill allowed him to travel to Paris, where he was exposed to various avant-garde developments. By 1949 he made his first completely abstract painting; he would create abstract work throughout his career. Kelly moved back to the U.S. in 1954. By the end of the decade he became a leading exponent of the hard-edge style of painting, in which abstract contours and large areas of flat colour are sharply and precisely defined. Influenced by the biomorphic abstractions of Jean Arp and the paper cutouts of Henri Matisse, he used the clean geometric lines of his paintings in painted, cut-out sheet-metal sculptures. Kelly refined his pursuit of pure style throughout the late 20th century, eventually also pursuing printmaking and large-scale public sculpture.

Learn more about Kelly, Ellsworth with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Kelly is a census-designated place (CDP) in Bladen County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 454 at the 2000 census.

Geography

Kelly is located at (34.459585, -78.304794).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 11.6 square miles (30.0 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 454 people, 205 households, and 138 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 39.2 people per square mile (15.1/km²). There were 244 housing units at an average density of 21.1/sq mi (8.1/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 50.66% White, 46.92% African American, 0.44% Native American, 0.22% Pacific Islander, 1.76% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.76% of the population.

There were 205 households out of which 21.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.8% were married couples living together, 17.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% were non-families. 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.73.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 17.2% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 30.4% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.1 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $27,143, and the median income for a family was $52,857. Males had a median income of $26,310 versus $21,563 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $21,900. About 5.8% of families and 11.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.0% of those under age 18 and 28.0% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links