He didn’t sing, dance, act, direct, or compose (though he was a lyricist by trade; his old songs were the basis of Singin’ in the Rain), but producer Arthur Freed (1894-1973) and his legendary “Freed Unit” created the longest string of movie musical blockbusters in history. If the MGM musical of the 40s and 50s represents the peak of the genre, its biggest hits were Freed’s: dazzling Technicolor productions scored by some of the 20th century’s greatest songwriters and employing the studio’s top technical and creative talents, among them directors Vincente Minnelli, Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly, George Sidney, and Charles Walters; screenwriters Betty Comden & Adolph Green; choreographers Robert Alton, Kelly and Donen; and, perhaps the Unit’s unsung hero, associate producer and musical jack of all trades Roger Edens. And of course there was the on-screen talent, including the Big Three: Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, and Gene Kelly, the latter two nurtured to super-stardom by Freed. Claiming neither creativity or intellectuality himself, Freed had an unerring eye for these qualities in others, and gave his artists the freedom to ascend the heights... in a golden era not likely to be re-captured again soon.

Freed began his career in vaudeville, and he appeared with the Marx Brothers. He soon began to write songs, and was eventually hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. For years, he wrote lyrics for numerous films, many set to music by Nacio Herb Brown.

In 1939 he was promoted to the position of producer, and helped elevate MGM as the studio of the musical. Freed surrounded himself with film directors such as Vincente Minnelli and Busby Berkeley. He also helped shape the careers of stars including Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Red Skelton, Lena Horne, Jane Powell, Esther Williams, Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel, Cyd Charisse, Ann Miller, Mickey Rooney, Vera-Ellen, and many others. He brought Fred Astaire to MGM after Astaire's tenure at RKO and coaxed him out of semi-retirement to star opposite Garland in Easter Parade. His team of writers, directors, composers and stars came to be known as the Freed Unit and produced a steady stream of popular, critically acclaimed musicals until the late 1950s.

Freed served as associate producer of The Wizard of Oz (1939), though his name does not appear on the actual screen credits, nor on posters used to publicize the film. His first solo credit as producer was the film version of Rodgers and Hart's smash Broadway musical Babes in Arms (also 1939) starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, and was so successful that it ushered in a long series of "let's put on a show" "backyard" musicals, all starring Rooney and Garland. Freed brought talent from Broadway to MGM.

He allowed his directors and choreographers free rein, something unheard of in those days of committee-produced film musicals, and is credited for furthering the boundaries of film musicals by allowing such moments in films as the fifteen-minute ballet at the end of An American in Paris (1951), after which the film concludes moments later with no further dialogue or singing.

Take a look at Freed's film credits at IMDB to get an idea of the extent of his career and influence.