David Kelly (actor)

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David Kelly
Waking Ned Devine, The Jigsaw Man, Stardust, Into the West
TelevisionRobin's Nest , Fawlty Towers, Strumpet City, Emmerdale Farm, Glenroe
Spouse
Laurie Morton
​
(m. 1961)​
Children2
AwardsHelen Hayes Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Lifetime Achievement Award

David Kelly (11 July 1929 – 12 February 2012) was an Irish actor who had regular roles in several film and television works from the 1950s onwards. One of the most recognisable voices and faces of Irish stage and screen,

Waking Ned Devine.[2]

Early life and career

Kelly was born 11 July 1929 in the

The Abbey School of Acting.[6]

As a backup career, he additionally trained as a

watercolour art.[4] He appeared onstage in the original production of Brendan Behan's The Quare Fellow, and gained his first major career attention in Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape at the Dublin's Abbey Theatre in 1959.[8] By then he had made his screen debut in a small part in director John Pomeroy's 1958 film noir Dublin Nightmare.[6]

One of his first television appearances was on RTÉ in O'Dea's your Man (1964) in which he played the part of Ignatius opposite Jimmy O'Dea. He went on to become a familiar face on British television with the BBC comedy Me Mammy, opposite Milo O'Shea and Anna Manahan. He went on to often-memorable guest roles on such series as Oh Father! and Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width, and particularly during the 1970s with a long-running role as the one-armed dishwasher Albert Riddle in the Man About the House spin-off Robin's Nest.[8] He also had a regular long running role alongside Bruce Forsyth in both series of the comedy Slinger's Day from 1986 to 1987, and, in 1991, he appeared in the first series of the BBC sitcom 2point4 Children as the cafe-owner Paddy.

He gained some of his greatest recognition in 1975, playing inept builder Mr O'Reilly on the second episode of

The Builders").[4]

Kelly was in the voice cast of The Light Princess, a partly animated, hour-long family fantasy that aired on the BBC in 1978.[9]

In Ireland, he may be most famous for his portrayal of the character "Rashers" Tierney in the 1980 RTÉ miniseries

Emmerdale Farm in the 1980s and Glenroe in the 1990s, as well as playing the grandfather in Mike Newell's film Into the West
(1992).

Following his appearance as Michael O'Sullivan in the 1998 film

Baldi[10]

Later life and death

Kelly was married to actress Laurie Morton, who survived him, along with children David and Miriam.[11] He died after a short illness on 12 February 2012[4][12] at age 82. The Irish Times referred to him as the "grand old man of Irish acting".[4] A Catholic funeral mass took place on 16 February 2012, at the Church of the Miraculous Medal, in the actor's home town of Dublin. Kelly was cremated at Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium.[13]

Awards and honours

Kelly won a 1991

Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for the 1998 film Waking Ned.[15]

In 2005, Kelly won the

Lifetime Achievement Award, in addition to earning a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.[16]

Filmography and television

References

  1. ^ "Actor David Kelly Dies Aged 82". Irish Examiner. Cork. 13 February 2012. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  2. ^ "Irish Actor David Kelly Dies Aged 92". BBC News. 13 February 2012. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  3. ^ https://www.dib.ie/index.php/biography/kelly-david-a10008
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Healy, Alison (13 February 2012). "Grand Old Man of Irish Acting Dies, Aged 82". The Irish Times. Dublin. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012. Kelly was born in Dublin on July 11th, 1929 and educated at Synge Street Catholic Boys School.
  5. ^ One source, which interviewed him, gives 1928: "Why Life's Sweet for Oscar-Hopeful David". Irish Independent. Dublin. 30 July 2005. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  6. ^ a b c d Irish Independent, 2005
  7. ^ "Profile: David Kelly: At long last the world wakes up to Grandpa Joe". The Sunday Times. London. 6 November 2005.
  8. ^ a b Quinn, Michael (14 February 2012). "Leading Irish Actor David Kelly Dies". The Stage. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  9. ^ Anderson, Paul (13 February 2012). "Irish actor David Kelly, "Grandpa Joe," Dies at 82". Big Cartoon News. Archived from the original on 8 December 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  10. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00whw3t
  11. ^ "David Kelly Dies Aged 82". RTÉ News. 12 February 2012. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  12. ^ "David Kelly, Irish Film Actor, Dies at 82". The New York Times. Associated Press. 18 February 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  13. ^ "Funeral takes place of acting legend Kelly". RTÉ Ten. 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  14. ^ "Kelly, David – 1991". TheatreWashington.org. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012.
  15. ^ "The 5th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012.
  16. Irish Film & Television Academy. Archived
    from the original on 21 July 2011.
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