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, Kelly was known for his roles as Rashers Tierney in '' Strumpet City'', Cousin Enda in '' Me Mammy'', the builder Mr O'Reilly in ''

Fawlty Towers ''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, originally broadcast on BBC Two in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a dysfunctional fictional ...

'', Albert Riddle in '' Robin's Nest'', and Grandpa Joe in the film '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005). Another notable role was as Michael O'Sullivan in '' Waking Ned Devine''.

Early life and career

Kelly was born 11 July 1929 in the Rotunda Hospital,

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, Ireland, and educated at Dublin's

Synge Street CBS Synge Street CBS (colloquially Synger) is a boys' non-fee-paying state school, under the auspices of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust, located in the Dublin 8 area of Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1864 by Canon ...

Christian Brothers school.''Irish Independent'', 2005 He began acting at the age of eight at the city's Gaiety Theatre, encouraged by a teacher at school he also performed with the Rathmines and Rathgar Musical Society and went on to train at The Abbey School of Acting. As a backup career, he additionally trained as a draughtsman and calligrapher, and also learned

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour ( Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the ...

art. He appeared onstage in the original production of Brendan Behan's '' The Quare Fellow'', and gained his first major career attention in

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

's '' Krapp's Last Tape'' at the Dublin's Abbey Theatre in 1959. By then he had made his screen debut in a small part in director John Pomeroy's 1958

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

'' Dublin Nightmare''. One of his first television appearances was on

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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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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''. 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"). Kelly was in the voice cast of '' The Light Princess'', a partly animated, hour-long family fantasy that aired on the

in 1978. In Ireland, he may be most famous for his portrayal of the character "Rashers" Tierney in the 1980 RTÉ miniseries '' Strumpet City'', which starred Peter O'Toole, Cyril Cusack and

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...

. He went on to have starring roles in television shows such as '' 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 ''

Waking Ned ''Waking Ned'' (titled ''Waking Ned Devine'' in North America) is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Kirk Jones (director), Kirk Jones and starring Ian Bannen, David Kelly (actor), David Kelly, and Fionnula Flanagan. Kelly was nominated ...

'', he played roles in such films as

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

's '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005), in which he played Grandpa Joe, and '' Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London'' (2004). He played title character Frank Kovak in the mystery film '' The Kovak Box'', in a rare villainous role. In 2007, he appeared in '' Stardust'', which featured

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

and Michelle Pfeiffer, and which was also his final film. He also did extensive radio work, including a guest appearance on the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

series '' Baldi''

Later life and death

Kelly was married to actress Laurie Morton, who survived him, along with children David and Miriam. He died after a short illness on 12 February 2012 at age 82. ''

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'' referred to him as the "grand old man of Irish acting". 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.

Awards and honours

Kelly won a 1991 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Supporting Performer, Non-Resident Production, for a

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

revival of '' The Playboy of the Western World''. As well, he earned a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for the 1998 film ''

''. In 2005, Kelly won the Irish Film & Television Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award, in addition to earning a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''.

Filmography and television

*'' The Wrong Man'' (1956) – Policeman (uncredited) *'' Dublin Nightmare'' (1958) – 1st Customer *''The Quare Fellow'' (1962) – Reception Clerk *'' Girl with Green Eyes'' (1964) – ticket collector *'' Young Cassidy'' (1965) – O'Brien *'' Ulysses'' (1967) – Garrett Deasy *'' Me Mammy'' (1968–71) – Cousin Enda *'' The Italian Job'' (1969) – Vicar (funeral scene) *'' Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx'' (1970) – Tom Maguire *'' The McKenzie Break'' (1970) – Adjutant (uncredited) *''Tales From the Lazy Acre'' (1972) – Dead Man *'' Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width'' (1973) – Murphy *''Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow'' (1973) – Hugo Mooney *''

'' (1975) – O'Reilly (episode " The Builders") *''Philadelphia, Here I Come'' (1975) – Canon O'Byrne *'' The Next Man'' (1976) – Chauffeur in Ireland *'' The Purple Taxi'' (1977) – Little Person *'' A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'' (1977) – Dean of Studies *'' Citizen Smith'' (1978) – Paddy *'' Robin's Nest'' (1977–1981) – Albert Riddle *'' Cowboys'' (1980–1981) – Wobbly Ron *'' Strumpet City'' (1980) – Rashers Tierney *'' Whoops Apocalypse'' (1982) – Abdab *'' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (1982) – Tavernkeeper *'' The Jigsaw Man'' (1983) – Cameron *'' Red Monarch'' (1983) – Sergo *'' Glenroe'' (1983) – Sylvie Dolan *'' Anne Devlin'' (1984) – Dr. Trevor *'' Stryker's War'' (1985) *'' Slinger's Day'' (1986) – Fred *'' Pirates'' (1986) – Ship's Surgeon *''Joyriders'' (1988) – Daniel *'' Into the West'' (1992) – Grandfather Reilly *'' Tales of the Tooth Fairies'' (1992) – Arthur (voice) *'' A Man of No Importance'' (1994) – Christy Ward *'' Moondance'' (1994) – Mr Dunwoody *'' The Run of the Country'' (1995) – Father Gaynor *'' Upwardly Mobile'' (1995–1997) – Barman *'' The Matchmaker '' (1997) – O'Connor *'' Heartbeat'' (1997) – Pa Deighton *''

'' (1998) – Michael O'Sullivan *'' Ballykissangel'' (1998) – Mr O'Reilly *'' Ordinary Decent Criminal'' (2000) – Fr Grogan *'' Greenfingers'' (2000) – Fergus Wilks *'' Rough for Theatre I'' (2000) – A *'' Mean Machine'' (2001) – Doc *''Puckoon'' (2002) – O'Toole *''

Mystics A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult. Mystic may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Books and comics * Ms. Mystic, comic book superheroine * ''Mystic'' (c ...

'' (2003) – Dave *'' Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London'' (2004) – Trival *'' Laws of Attraction'' (2004) – Priest / Michael *'' The Calcium Kid'' (2004) – Paddy O'Flannagan *'' Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' (2005) – Grandpa Joe *'' The Kovak Box'' (2006) – Frank Kovak *''Conversations with God'' (2006) – Job Interviewer *'' Who's Your Caddy?'' (2007) – Robert "Bobby" Hawkins *'' Stardust'' (2007) – Guard at The Wall

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, David 1929 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Irish male actors 21st-century Irish male actors Burials at Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium Disease-related deaths in the Republic of Ireland Irish male film actors Irish male radio actors Irish male soap opera actors Irish male stage actors Irish male television actors Male actors from Dublin (city) People educated at Synge Street CBS