Timothy David Donnelly (September 3, 1944 – September 17, 2021) was an American film and television actor. He was perhaps best known for playing the role of fireman Chet Kelly in

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's ''

Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American Action fiction, action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing two situatio ...

''.

Life and career

Donnelly was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on September 3, 1944, as the son of Eileen, a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American English, American and Canadian English, Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational ...

and Paul, an

assistant director The role of an assistant director (AD) on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have ...

. He began his career in 1957, appearing in the film '' Baby Face Nelson''. Later in his career, Donnelly appeared in films and television programs, as his credits include '' Hawaii Five-O'', ''

The Secret of Santa Vittoria ''The Secret of Santa Vittoria'' is a 1969 American war film distributed by United Artists. It was produced and directed by Stanley Kramer and co-produced by George Glass from a screenplay by Ben Maddow and William Rose. It was based on the ...

'', ''

Adam-12 ''Adam-12'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb and produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pe ...

'', ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...

'', '' The Legend of Jesse James'' and '' The Virginian''. He also appeared in '' Dragnet'' for five episodes, in which he was mentored by

Jack Webb John Randolph Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, Television director, director, and screenwriter, most famous for his role as Joe Friday in the Dragnet (franchise), ''Dragnet'' franchise ...

. Donnelly later won the role of fireman Chet Kelly in ''

'', when he auditioned in casting. After he won the role, Donnelly had to cut some of his hair and shave his beard. After the series ended in 1977, he played starring roles in films '' Parts: The Clonus Horror'' and his brother's Dennis Donnelly 1978 film '' The Toolbox Murders''. Donnelly retired from acting in 1984, last appearing in the

action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...

television series ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American Action television, action television series that ran on NBC from January 23, 1983, to March 8, 1987, about a fictional team of former United States Army Special Forces who work as mercenaries while on the run from ...

''.

Death

Donnelly died from complications of surgery at his home in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

, on September 17, 2021, at the age of 77.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donnelly, Tim 1944 births 2021 deaths Male actors from Los Angeles American male film actors American male television actors 20th-century American male actors