Patsy Kelly
Patsy Kelly | |
---|---|
Calvary Cemetery, Queens, New York | |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1927–1979 |
Patsy Kelly (born Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly; January 12, 1910 – September 24, 1981) was an American actress. She is known for her role as the brash, wisecracking sidekick to Thelma Todd in a series of short comedy films produced by Hal Roach in the 1930s. Kelly's career continued in similar roles after Todd's death in 1935.
After her film career declined in the mid-1940s, Kelly returned to
Kelly returned to the stage in the 1971 revival of
Early life and early career
Youth and formative years
Kelly was born Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly in
Teenage years
In 1923, at age 13, she advanced from pupil to instructor, raking in $18 a week but coming home at nearly two or three in the morning. "So," Kelly once recalled, reminiscing about the years leading up to that, "Father Quinn, who knew about me and my tap, advised my mother to send me to dancing school. He thought perhaps that would get me interested in something besides
She performed in
Broadway
Kelly made her
Film career
The early 1930s
Kelly made her screen debut in a
Kelly, therefore, was quite reluctant to make the transition to films at first, but Thelma Todd encouraged her to remain in Hollywood, and so she did. Todd even drove to
Shortly after filming wrapped on Beauty and the Bus, in August 1933, Kelly was injured as a passenger in a car driven by Gene Malin, the prominent drag performer.[9] Malin apparently confused the gears and reversed off a pier into the water, after performing at the Ship Cafe, a club in Venice, Los Angeles. Malin was killed; Kelly and fellow passenger Jimmy Forlenza suffered serious injuries.[10][11] She was told by the doctors that she had only ten years left to live based on the amount of sandy water that got into her lungs, but actually survived for decades after the accident. Kelly once said that "I overheard a jury of grave-faced doctors nodding their heads over my supposedly unconscious body. They were giving me a maximum of ten years to live. Maybe they're right. When I heard that scientific verdict, I was plenty scared. But I pulled myself together and said, ‘Kelly, there’s only one way to beat this rap: don’t worry — and have fun out of the remaining years.’"[8]
The Todd-Kelly shorts cemented Kelly's image: a brash, freewheeling, fun-loving, wisecracking woman who frequently punctured the pomposity of other characters. Most were directed by
Todd was eventually replaced by the bubbly Pert Kelton for one short, Pan Handlers (1936), but Kelton was quickly replaced by Lyda Roberti, a Polish-born comedienne with a thick foreign accent. Together, they starred in the cute Hal Roach comedy Nobody's Baby (1937) just before Roberti's untimely death. According to Kelly, Roberti died of heart failure in 1938 while bending over to tie a shoelace.[13] It was incidents like these that further perpetuated Kelly's reputation as a jinx in Hollywood. And though some considered her bad luck, her performances were never hampered by this. "You see, something, darned if I know what it is, has happened to me since I came to this crazy town. Everyone I loved, turned to, needed, has gone, just like Thelma. It was Jean Malin, that swell New York actor and impersonator, first. I'd been a friend of Jean and his wife for years in New York. Then I went down to the Ship Café that night of Jean's disappearance. I glanced up at the flashing sign over the door that said, ‘Jean Malin’s last night,’ and as clearly as I'm hearing you, a voice said, ‘Be careful, it is his last night.’ He backed the car into the ocean off the end of the pier just one hour later. We were all submerged in the water. Adrenalin worked with me. It didn't with Jean."[14]
Her feature-length debut was playing the role of Jill Barker in
Kelly's various film roles in the 1930s ranged from the deadpan,
In 1935, before Todd's death, and after Stan Laurel had a falling out with Hal Roach over a contract disagreement, there was talk of Kelly joining Oliver Hardy to play his wife and Spanky McFarland’s mother in a series called The Hardy Family, but the project was jettisoned when Laurel returned to the fold. A pilot, entitled Their Night Out was announced, with James W. Horne slated to direct, but it never got past the talking stage. She was in the running to play Laurel's wife in Sons of the Desert (1933), but her part was eventually filled in by Dorothy Christy.
During the 1930s, Kelly also appeared in musicals like Going Hollywood (1933), the college football extravaganza
The later 1930s and early 1940s
In 1936, she told an interviewer: "Of course I was fortunate in having enjoyed a long and fairly successful stage career before going to Hollywood, but just the same, I had to start all over again as there is as much difference between stage and screen acting technique as there is between day and night... The average small-town girl who comes to Movieland without previous stage or screen experience will find the road ahead rough and heartbreaking at times."[15]
In 1937, she was sent to a sanitarium to go on a diet and she lost fifty pounds. Though the new, slimmer Kelly didn't last too long, she was quite proud of her accomplishment. "Look! I can almost hide behind Gary Cooper sideways!"[citation needed]
By the end of the decade, she appeared as shopgirl Peggy O' Brien in Hal Roach's
In her films, one could find her often playing a sassy maid or an assistant, as she did in features like Page Miss Glory, The Gorilla, Topper Returns, and Merrily We Live. Subsequently, these comic supporting roles were a harbinger of things to come for Kelly. She jested that she was often cast as a maid, "...because I had a maid's costume that fit. They didn’t have to get me a new outfit. They lent it from one studio to another."[8]
After appearing in a film or two for
Later career
Kelly's film career had stalled after being blackballed by the studios for outing herself as a lesbian.
Kelly returned to the screen in the 1950s with television and sporadic film roles. On television she appeared in guest roles on
She returned to Broadway in 1971 in the revival of
In 1976, she appeared as the housekeeper Mrs. Schmauss in the Walt Disney film Freaky Friday starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris. Her last role in a feature film was in another comedy for Disney, The North Avenue Irregulars (1979), also co-starring Harris, along with Cloris Leachman, Edward Herrmann and Karen Valentine. Kelly's final onscreen appearance was a guest spot in a two-part episode of The Love Boat in 1979.
Personal life
Kelly was gay, but her sexuality was unknown to the public. She told a biographer that she was a
"big dyke," but forbid him to publish that information until her career was over; it was published in 1994.
It was once reported that she was once temporarily engaged to a serviceman named Otto Malde in 1942, but the marriage never materialized. "It doesn't matter to me whether you are a private, sergeant, or lieutenant," she told the press, "but I guess we'll just have to wait."[21]
Kelly loved food and eventually learned how to cook well. She said, "I will go out of my way anytime to get a
A rabid film fan herself, she spent many a fun-filled evening going to the movies, sometimes seeing seven or eight a week. "What do you do on the two other nights?" she was asked. "Well... there's really nothing for me to do. I just sit around wishing there were more pictures to see. But, when you see eight or ten pictures a week, the supply really runs out." When not toddling off to go see a picture show, she spent her off time playing cards with friends or penny roulette on Redondo Beach.[23]
When asked if she went to go see any stage shows, she answered, "Well, when I go East and see some shows," she said, "the crowds and the overtures make me feel sort of tingly. But I wouldn't trade it for Hollywood. Actually, I’m probably the most rabid movie fan in town. I see a picture almost every night. This is a crazy place. If you go places and drink, people talk. If you don't drink and don't go places, they still talk. I don't care what they say because I don't do night clubs and big parties. People drop in here and we play badminton. I like to play at night. Sometimes we play a little poker. Ted Healy is my best customer, he and Jack Haley and a few others. I don't do much else. Once I took up golf, but I lost five balls on the first two holes, so I said to hell with that. When I'm trying to reduce I ride two bicycles and get beaten up by a masseuse. I'm generally trying to reduce because the thing I enjoy most is eating. The way I usually look before starting work on a picture, my stomach would get on the screen three seconds before I arrived. I still hoof around the house a little. But Eleanor Powell doesn't have to worry... All this time you've never had to ask for anything... a job or a new contract or more money or better parts. It seems too good to last. Things just happen."[24]
In January 1980, Kelly suffered a stroke while in San Francisco that caused her to lose the ability to speak. She was admitted to Englewood Nursing Home in Englewood, New Jersey, on the advice of her old friend Ruby Keeler, where she underwent therapy.[25]
Death
On September 24, 1981, Kelly died of cancer at the
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6669 Hollywood Boulevard, right near Musso & Frank Grill.
Credits
Stage
Year | Title | Role | Performance dates |
---|---|---|---|
1927 | Harry Delmar's Revels | various | (Nov 28, 1927 - Mar 1928) |
1928 | Three Cheers | Bobbie Bird | (Oct 15, 1928 - Apr 13, 1929) |
1929 | Earl Carroll's Sketch Book | various | (Jul 01, 1929 - Jun 07, 1930) |
1930 | Earl Carroll's Vanities
|
various | (Jul 01, 1930 - Jan 03, 1931) |
1931 | The Wonder Bar | Electra Pivonka | (Mar 17, 1931 - May 29, 1931) |
1932 | Flying Colors | Lessie Bevis/Mrs. McVitty | (Sep 15, 1932 - Jan 25, 1933) |
1955 | Dear Charles | Madame Bouchemin | (Sep 15, 1954 - Jan 29, 1955) |
1971 | No, No, Nanette | Pauline | (Jan 07, 1971 - Oct 28, 1972) |
1973 | Irene | Mrs. O'Dare | (Mar 13, 1973 - May 3, 1975) |
Short subjects
- The Grand Dame(1931)
- Beauty and the Bus (1933) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Backs to Nature(1933) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Air Fright(1933) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Babes in the Goods(1934) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Soup and Fish (1934) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Roamin' Vandals(1934)
- Maid in Hollywood(1934) teamed with Thelma Todd
- I'll Be Suing You(1934) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Three Chumps Ahead(1934) teamed with Thelma Todd
- One-Horse Farmers(1934) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Opened By Mistake(1934) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Done In Oil(1934) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Bum Voyage (1934) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Treasure Blues(1935) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Sing Sister Sing(1935) teamed with Thelma Todd
- The Tin Man (1935) teamed with Thelma Todd
- The Misses Stooge (1935) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Slightly Static (1935) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Twin Triplets (1935) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Hot Money(1935) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Top Flat(1935) teamed with Thelma Todd
- An All-American Toothache (1936) teamed with Thelma Todd
- Pan Handlers (1936) teamed with Pert Kelton
- At Sea Ashore (1936) teamed with Lyda Roberti
- Hill-Tillies (1936) teamed with Lyda Roberti
- Babies, They're Wonderful!(1947)
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1929 | A Single Man | uncredited/unknown/bit | silent film |
1933 | Going Hollywood | Jill Barker | |
1934 | The Countess of Monte Cristo | Mimi Schmidt | |
1934 | The Girl from Missouri | Kitty Lennihan | |
1934 | The Party's Over | Mabel | |
1934 | Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round | Patsy Clarke | |
1935 | Go into Your Dance | Irma 'Toledo' Knight | |
1935 | Every Night at Eight | Daphne O' Connor | |
1935 | Page Miss Glory | Betty | |
1935 | Thanks a Million | Phoebe Mason | |
1936 | Private Number | Gracie | |
1936 | Kelly the Second | Molly Patricia Kelly | First starring feature film |
1936 | Sing, Baby, Sing | Fitz | |
1936 | Pigskin Parade | Bessie Winters | Alternative title: Harmony Parade |
1937 | Nobody's Baby | Kitty Reilly | |
1937 | Pick a Star | Nellie Moore | |
1937 | Ever Since Eve | Sadie Day, aka Susie Wilson | |
1937 | Wake Up and Live | Patsy Kane | |
1938 | Merrily We Live | Etta | |
1938 | There Goes My Heart | Peggy O'Brien | |
1938 | The Cowboy and the Lady | Katie Callahan | |
1939 | The Gorilla | Kitty | |
1940 | Hit Parade of 1941 | Judy Abbott | Alternative title: Romance and Rhythm |
1941 | Road Show | Jinx | |
1941 | Topper Returns | Emily | |
1941 | Broadway Limited | Patsy Riley | |
1941 | Playmates | Lulu Monahan | |
1942 | Sing Your Worries Away | Bebe McGuire | |
1942 | In Old California | Helga | |
1943 | Ladies' Day | Hazel Jones | |
1943 | My Son, the Hero | Gertie Rosenthal | |
1943 | Danger! Women at Work | Terry Olsen | Last starring feature film |
1960 | Please Don't Eat the Daisies | Maggie | |
1960 | The Crowded Sky | Gertrude Ross | |
1964 | The Naked Kiss | Mac, the Head Nurse | |
1966 | The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini | Myrtle Forbush | |
1967 | C'mon, Let's Live a Little | Mrs. Fitts | |
1968 | Rosemary's Baby | Laura-Louise McBirney | |
1970 | The Phynx | Herself | |
1976 | Freaky Friday | Mrs. Schmauss | |
1979 | The North Avenue Irregulars | Mrs. Rose Rafferty / Blarney Stone, Irregular | Alternative title: Hill's Angels |
TV credits
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1952-53 | All Star Revue
|
Various | 6 episodes |
1955 | Lux Video Theatre | Episode: "One Foot in Heaven" | |
1957 | Kraft Television Theatre | Episode: "The Big Break" | |
1959 | 26 Men | Big Kate | Episode: "The Last Kill" |
1960 | Laramie | Bea | Episode: "The Legend of Lily" |
1960 | The Untouchables | Slapsie Sadie | Episode: "Head of Fire: Feet of Clay" |
1960 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Minnie Redwing | Season 6 Episode 7: "Outlaw in Town" |
1962 | The Dick Van Dyke Show | Juror | Episode: "One Angry Man" |
1962 | Pete and Gladys | Katy | Episode: "The Case of the Gossipy Maid" |
1963 | Arrest and Trial | Catalina | Episode: "Call It a Lifetime" |
1964 | Burke's Law | Big Mouth Annie / Agatha Beauregard | Episodes: "Who Killed Mr. Cartwheel" and "Who Killed WHO IV?" |
1966 | Vacation Playhouse | Miss Primrose | Episode: "My Son, The Doctor" |
1966 | The Wild Wild West | Mrs. Bancroft/Prudence Fortune | Episodes: "The Night of the Bogus Bandits" and "The Night of the Big Blast" |
1967 | The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Mama Sweet | Episode: "The Hula Doll Affair" |
1967 | Laredo | Abbie Heffernan | Episode: "A Question of Guilt" |
1968 | Bonanza | Mrs. Neeley | Episode: "A Girl Named George" |
1969 | Love, American Style | Mrs. Hennessy | Segment: "Love and the Watchdog" |
1969 | The Pigeon | Mrs. Macready, the Landlady | Television movie |
1970 | Barefoot in the Park | Old Lady | Episode: Pilot |
1975-1976 | The Cop and the Kid | Brigid Murphy | 11 episodes |
1979 | The Love Boat | Mabel Hopkins | Episode: The Love Lamp Is Lit/Critical Success/Rent a Family/Take My Boyfriend, Please/The Man in Her Life |
Recordings
"I'm Gonna Hang My Hat On The Tree That Grows in Brooklyn" (Shapiro/Pescal/Cherig) played by Al Goodman and His Orchestra. Sung by Patsy Kelly and Barry Wood; V-Disc, Nov. 1944
See also
References
- ^ a b "'Company' Takes 6 Honors At Tony Awards". Ocala Star-Banner. March 29, 1971. p. 5B. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- ^ Professional Children's School
- ^ Pleshette, M. (1971, May 11). “Comeback of Star’s Best Friend.” Reading Eagle, p. 13.
- ISBN 978-1-851-09614-5.
- ISBN 0-865-47958-5.
- ISBN 0-415-93853-8.
- ^ "Patsy Kelly". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Brideson, C., & Brideson, S. (2012). The High Priestess of The Bourgeoisies. In Also starring...: Forty biographical essays on the greatest character actors of Hollywood's Golden Era, 1930-1965. essay, Bear Manor Media.
- ^ "Backs Car Over Pier; Is Killed, Two Hurt". The Lewiston Daily Sun. August 11, 1933. p. 1. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ "Jean Malin Killed, Patsy Kelly Injured". The Norwalk Hour. August 11, 1933. p. 15. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ "Entertainer Dies In Auto Plunge". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 11, 1933. p. 7. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
- ^ Donati, W., 2012. The life and death of Thelma Todd. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland.
- ^ a b Thomas, Bob (November 25, 1959). "Patsy Kelly Goes Back To Films After 16 Years". Toledo Blade. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- ^ Parish, James Robert, and William T. Leonard. The Funsters, Arlington House, New Rochelle, 1979, p. 360.
- ^ Unknown. “Film Fame is Not a “Cinch’ Says Patsy Kelly, Movie Star.” The Victoria Advocate 11 November 1936. Page 3. Print.
- ^ "Patsy Kelly". masterworks broadway. Sony. 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
- ^ ISBN 1-557-83551-9.
- ^ Thompson, Howard (August 11, 1972). "Revival of 'Irene' to Open the Astor". The New York Times.
- ISBN 0-415-94480-5.
- ISBN 0-465-02288-X.
- ^ Associated Press. (1942, June 5). "Patsy Still Single." The Mercury, p. 8.
- ^ Heffernan, Harold. “‘Stop Worrying, Eat Anything,’ Is Patsy’s Creed.” The Milwaukee Journal 2 May 1937. Page 6. Print.
- ^ Lincoln Nebraska State Journal Archives, Aug 25, 1935, p. 26, 25 Aug. 1935, p. 26.
- ^ "The Pittsburgh Press - Google News Archive Search".
- ^ "Patsy Recovering From Loss Of Speech". Boca Raton News. May 4, 1980. p. 7B. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- ^ "Actress Patsy Kelly dies of cancer". Eugene Register-Guard. September 24, 1981. p. 3A.
- ^ Flints, Peter B. (September 26, 1981). "PATSY KELLY, ACTRESS IS DEAD: PLAYED COMIC ROLES IN FILMS". The New York Times. p. 28. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-4766-2599-7. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
External links
- Patsy Kelly at the Internet Broadway Database
- Patsy Kelly at IMDb
- Patsy Kelly at the TCM Movie Database
- Patsy Kelly at Find a Grave
Further reading
- Maltin, Leonard (2015) [First published 1969]. "Patsy Kelly". The Real Stars : Profiles and Interviews of Hollywood's Unsung Featured Players (softcover) (Sixth / eBook ed.). Great Britain: CreateSpace Independent. pp. 166–186. ISBN 978-1-5116-4485-3.
- Neibaur, J. L. (2018). The Hal Roach Comedy Shorts of Thelma Todd, ZaSu Pitts and Patsy Kelly. United States: McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4766-7255-7
- Hadleigh, Boze (2016). Hollywood Lesbians: From Garbo to Foster. United States: Riverdale Avenue Books. ISBN 978-1-6260-1299-8