Gene Kelly’s widow ‘never thought’ about 47-year age difference with star: ‘He was so young at heart’
nypost.comPatricia Ward Kelly met Gene Kelly in 1985 when she was writing for a television special about the Smithsonian Museum, which he happened to be hosting. “I did not know who Gene Kelly was when I first met him.
That always surprises people,” Patricia Ward Kelly told Fox News Digital from her home office where memories overflow from their relationship. “In fact, some people think I’m making it up.”Ward Kelly was in her mid-20s at the time, and the inimitable star of classics like “Singin’ in the Rain,” “On the Town” and “An American in Paris,” was 47 years her senior. “The age issue was not an issue for me,” she explained. “And the funny thing is, I never really even thought about it because he was so young at heart.”She said she did not think about their age difference “until the tabloids started making such a big deal about it.
And then I didn’t even add up the difference until they made a big deal.”The age difference also did not matter to her parents. “My parents understood and didn’t see it as any problem.
They knew I’d always kind of colored outside the lines a little bit. And so it seemed perfectly natural to them. There wasn’t anything strange about it.” However, as a self-described “nerdy Herman Melville scholar,” being “suddenly thrust into this spotlight and to have people around you passing judgment on you and your life” was an issue. “That was harder to take, if you go from anonymity to being the poster child at the checkout counter at the grocery store,” she said.
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