Paul Kelly (actor)
| Paul Kelly | |
|---|---|
 Kelly in The High and the Mighty |
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| Born | Paul Michael Kelly August 9, 1899 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | November 6, 1956 (aged 57) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1906–1956 |
| Spouse | Mardelle Zwicker (Claire Owen) (1941-1956) (his death) Dorothy MacKaye (1931-1940) (her death) |
Paul Michael Kelly (August 9, 1899 – November 6, 1956) was an American child actor who later as an adult became a stage, film, and television actor.
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[edit] Child actor
Born in Brooklyn, New York, the ninth of ten children,[1] Kelly began his career as a child actor at age 7 and was appearing on the stage.
In 1911 Kelly began making silent films at age 12 with the Vitagraph Studios, which was based in Brooklyn, and where he was billed as Master Paul Kelly. Kelly was possibly the first male child actor to be given any starring roles in American films predating better known child stars such as Bobby Connelly and Jackie Coogan.
Kelly made his talking film debut in 1933's Broadway Through a Keyhole.
In the course of his long career, and relatively short life, it's estimated that Kelly worked on stage, screen, and television in over four hundred roles.[2]
Later in his film career, as an adult, Kelly appeared in films mostly as a tough guy character actor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.
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[edit] Career
Kelly alternated between stage and screen as an actor. He was a handsome and popular male lead or costar in Broadway plays from the late 1910s and throughout the 1920s.
In 1948, Kelly won a Best Actor Tony Award his role in Command Decision.[3] The award was shared with Henry Fonda for Mister Roberts and Basil Rathbone for The Heiress.[4]
[edit] Personal life
His career momentum was briefly halted with a two-year (1927–1929) forced hiatus when he served 25 months for manslaughter in California's San Quentin prison for the death of actor Ray Raymond, a few days after their fistfight.[5]
Kelly later played the part of San Quentin Warden Clinton Duffy in the film Duffy of San Quentin.[6]
Raymond's widow, Dorothy MacKaye, later married Kelly. She was briefly imprisoned for being an accomplice in the killing; and, wrote about her experiences, titled, "Women in Prison," that became a 1933 film, Ladies They Talk About, with Barbara Stanwyck.
He married a bit player, he met on the set of Flight Command (1940), Claire Owen (née Zona Mardelle Zwicker), on January of 1941. She retired from acting, and went on to survive him.
He died of a heart attack in 1956, aged 57, after voting for Adlai Stevenson[7].
[edit] Selected Filmography
Working in all manner of films from the silent era, talkies, television, and beyond.[8] Many of his his films are available on Home Media, or are in the Public Domain. Sadly, some have not survived, and are no longer extant.[9]
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1919 | Anne of Green Gables | Gilbert Blythe | |
| 1927 | Slide, Kelly, Slide | Dillon | |
| Special Delivery | Tuck, another detective | ||
| 1934 | Death on the Diamond | Jimmie Downey | |
| 1937 | Navy Blue and Gold | Tommy Milton (varsity coach) | |
| 1938 | Island in the Sky | Gloria Stuart, Michael Whalen, Paul Kelly | |
| 1939 | 6,000 Enemies | Dr. Malcolm Scott | |
| The Roaring Twenties | Nick Brown | ||
| 1940 | The Howards of Virginia | Captain Jabez Allen | Alternative title: The Tree of Liberty |
| Flight Command | Lieutenant Commander "Dusty" Rhodes | ||
| 1941 | Ziegfeld Girl | John Slayton | |
| 1942 | Flying Tigers | Hap Smith - Pilot | |
| Tarzan's New York Adventure | Jimmy Shields - Pilot | ||
| The Secret Code | Dan Barton | 15-chapter serial; leading role | |
| 1945 | Allotment Wives | Major Pete Martin | |
| 1947 | Fear in the Night | Cliff Herlihy | |
| Crossfire | The Man | ||
| 1950 | The File on Thelma Jordon | Miles Scott | |
| The Secret Fury | District Attorney Eric Lowell | ||
| 1951 | The Painted Hills | Jonathan Harvey | Alternative titles: Lassie's Adventures in the Goldrush Lassie's Christmas Story |
| 1953 | Gunsmoke | Dan Saxon | Alternative titles: A Man's Country Roughshod |
| 1954 | The High and the Mighty | Donald Flaherty | |
| 1956 | Storm Center | Judge Robert Ellerbe | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1950 | The Ford Theatre Hour | 1 episode | |
| 1952 | Robert Montgomery Presents | 1 episode | |
| 1954–1955 | Fireside Theater | 2 episodes | |
| Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | 3 episodes | ||
| 1955 | Cavalcade of America | 1 episode | |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446769/bio
- ^ http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=47785
- ^ http://www.ibdb.com/awardperson.asp?id=47785
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446769/bio
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446769/bio
- ^ http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=47785
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446769/bio
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446769/
- ^ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/555756%7C121997/Paul-Kelly/filmography.html
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paul Kelly (actor) |
- Paul Kelly at the Internet Broadway Database
- Paul Kelly at the Internet Movie Database
- Paul Kelly at Find a Grave
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This article about an American theatre actor is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
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This article about a United States film actor or actress born in the 1890s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1899 births
- 1956 deaths
- Actors from New York
- American people convicted of murder
- American film actors
- American silent film actors
- American stage actors
- American television actors
- American child actors
- Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
- Deaths from myocardial infarction
- People from Brooklyn
- People convicted of murder by California
- American theatre actor stubs
- American film actor, 1890s birth stubs
