Yesterday I listed the notable actresses who appeared in Vincente Minnelli’s films, so today is reserved for the actors.

Fred Astaire and Kirk Douglas appeared in three Minnelli films apiece, but his most frequent collaborator was Gene Kelly, who starred in four. Douglas received Best Actor nominations for two Minnelli films (1952’s The Bad and the Beautiful and 1956’s Lust for Life) but went home empty-handed both times. You’d think a biopic about the life of Vincent Van Gogh would have made for an easy Oscar win.

Gene Kelly won an honorary Oscar the year An American in Paris won Best Picture, but he didn’t make the cut for an acting nomination. That honorary Oscar was the only one he ever got. Astaire’s only Oscar is also an honorary statue, given to him in 1949.

Anthony Quinn is the only male actor to win an Academy Award for a Minnelli film. He took home the statue for his boisterous portrayal of Paul Gauguin in Lust for Life. I neglected to mention it yesterday, but Gloria Grahame is the only Minnelli actress to win an Oscar for one of his films. She won Best Supporting Actress for The Bad and the Beautiful.

Apologies for that trip down Oscar lane.

Here’s a list of some notable actors who appeared in Minnelli’s musicals, comedies, and dramas:

Desi Arnaz
Fred Astaire
Richard Burton
Maurice Chevalier
Tony Curtis
Kirk Douglas
Glenn Ford
Rex Harrison
Gene Kelly
Oscar Levant
Dean Martin
Robert Mitchum
Yves Montand
Gregory Peck
Anthony Quinn
Edward G. Robinson
Frank Sinatra
Red Skelton
Spencer Tracy
Robert Walker

I know I said the women were the standouts, but that’s a pretty impressive list as well.

Today’s clip is from 1945’s Ziegfeld Follies, a collection of comic sketches and musical numbers inspired by the Broadway revues staged by Florenz Ziegfeld in the early 1900s. The segments are hit and miss, but today’s clip is definitely a hit.

This is the only time Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire danced together onscreen in their prime.