Gene Kelly's widow to give personal insight into his life

Scottish fans of Hollywood movie legend Gene Kelly are to get a very personal insight into his life.

The star of the Oscar-winning Singin’ in the Rain and many other hit films is taking centre stage in a presentation by his widow and biographer Patricia Ward Kelly, who is touring the world to share the inside story of his glittering career.

She introduces a screening of Singin’ in the Rain at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness on Thursday night and then hosts a ‘Legacy’ show on stage at the theatre on Sunday evening.

In an interview with STV, she also spoke of her excitement about the opening of ‘Starstruck’ – Gene’s “love letter to ballet”.

The Scottish Ballet company’s reimagining of his joyful Pas de Dieux, which was created for the Paris Opera in 1960, premieres in Glasgow on September 23.

Set to Gershwin’s jazz-infused Concerto in F, it will be the first time the ballet has been performed in the UK.

Patricia was 31 when she married Gene, who was in his late 70s.

They met by chance while working on a documentary she was writing. It was to have been narrated by Gregory Peck but Gene ultimately stood in for his actor colleague.

Patricia had not heard of Gene prior to their meeting.

He called her six months later to invite her to his home on Rodeo Drive in Beverley Hills, where he asked her to work on a new project – writing his memoirs.

Their relationship bloomed and they married five years later, in 1990.

Gene had been married twice before. His first marriage ended in divorce. His second wife died in 1973.

Patricia is still working on his memoirs, as well as promoting his legacy on her global tour.

Gene died in 1996 at the age of 83.