<P> "Make' Em Laugh" is a song first featured in the 1952 film Singin' in the Rain, frenetically performed by Donald O'Connor . Written by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, the song is closely based on Cole Porter's "Be a Clown". It finished at #49 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema . </P> <P> O'Connor's song - and - dance routine in Singin' in the Rain is noted for its extreme physical difficulty, featuring dozens of jumps, pratfalls, and two backflips . Hollywood legend states that O'Connor, a chain - smoker, was bedridden for several days after filming the sequence . This high degree of difficulty has made the original routine a tour de force in physical comedy . </P>

Who sang make em laugh in singin in the rain