The Flying Irishman: Gene Kelly
With the possible exception of Frank Sinatra, he is the only actor in Hollywood who is as popular with adult movie-goers as he is with bobby-soxers. In person, Gene is a plain and pleasant guy. His even disposition is ruffled only by occasional brooding over the hardly noticeable thinning of his black hair..
He is a serious artist and an extremely modest one. As a man who does not view himself as the sort of person whom teenagers get crushes on, he is still a little startled when the bobby-soxers approach and ask for his autograph. One afternoon a few weeks ago, he was besieged by a mob of young girls as he and a companion came out of the Algonquin Hotel in New York. After he signed his name for them, he turned to his companion and there was a look of honest bewilderment in his face. “See?” he said. “The bobby-soxers go for me. Please believe me, they don’t know what they’re doing. I’m a grown man!”
(Flying Irishman - Modern Screen June 1946)
