Actor: Gene Kelly

Gene Kelly built a physical, athletic dance style deliberately in contrast to Astaire’s elegance, and he co-directed several of his own films, including Singin’ in the Rain and On the Town.

The title sequence of Singin’ in the Rain was shot with him running a high fever, and the water was mixed with milk so it would register on camera.

An American in Paris won Best Picture and closes with a seventeen-minute ballet sequence with no dialogue, which is an extraordinary thing for a studio to have funded. He received an honorary Academy Award for choreography.