Paul Michael Kelly was an American child actor

Child actor

The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...

 who later as an adult became a stage, film, and television actor.

Child actor

Born in Brooklyn, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Kelly began his career as a child actor at age 7 and was appearing on the stage. In 1911 Kelly began making silent film

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

s at age 12 with the Vitagraph Studios

Vitagraph Studios

American Vitagraph was a United States movie studio, founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York. By 1907 it was the most prolific American film production company, producing many famous silent films. It was bought by Warner Bros...

, 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

Bobby Connelly

Robert Joseph "Bobby" Connelly was an American child actor of silent films. He is one of the first male child stars of American motion pictures beginning his career in 1913 at the age of four.-Career:...

 and Jackie Coogan

Jackie Coogan

John Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...

. Kelly appeared in over one hundred movies including the films made during his boyhood career. Later as an adult Kelly appeared in films mostly as a tough guy character actor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

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. Kelly made his talking film debut in 1932's Broadway Through a Keyhole. In 1948, Kelly won a Best Actor Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

 his role in Command Decision. The award was shared with Henry Fonda

Henry Fonda

Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...

 for Mister Roberts

Mister Roberts (play)

Mister Roberts is a 1948 play based on the 1946 Thomas Heggen novel of the same name.The novel began as a collection of short stories about Heggen's experiences aboard the USS Virgo in the South Pacific during World War II...

and Basil Rathbone

Basil Rathbone

Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...

 for The Heiress

The Heiress

The Heiress is a 1949 American drama film. It was written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, adapted from their 1947 play of the same title that was based on the 1880 novel Washington Square by Henry James. The film was directed by William Wyler, with starring performances by Olivia de Havilland as...

.

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 beating to death actor Ray Raymond in a fistfight. Raymond's widow, Dorothy MacKaye, later married Kelly. She was briefly imprisoned for being an accomplice in the killing. Kelly later played the part of San Quentin Warden Clinton Duffy

Clinton Duffy

Clinton Duffy is a New Zealand marine scientist, who works in the Marine Conservation Unit of the Department of Conservation. Duffy is a shark expert, whose work includes the taxonomy and conservation status of New Zealand’s deepwater dogfishes, attaching GPS wildlife tracking devices to great...

 in the film Duffy of San Quentin.

He died of a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 in 1956, aged 57. His interment was located at Holy Cross Cemetery

Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City

Holy Cross Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery at 5835 West Slauson Avenue in Culver City, California, operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles....

 in Culver City, California

Culver City, California

Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...

.

Selected Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1919	Anne of Green Gables Anne of Green Gables (1919 film) Anne of Green Gables is a silent film directed by William Desmond Taylor based upon the novel, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. This version is notable for having been adapted by famed female screenwriter Frances Marion...	Gilbert Blythe
1927	Slide, Kelly, Slide Slide, Kelly, Slide Slide, Kelly, Slide is a 1927 comedy film, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Edward Sedgwick, and starring William Haines and Harry Carey.-Cast:* William Haines - Jim Kelly* Sally O'Neil - Mary Munson* Harry Carey - Tom Munson...	Dillon
	Special Delivery Special Delivery (1927 film) Special Delivery is a 1927 silent comedy film directed by Fatty Arbuckle.-Cast:* Eddie Cantor - Eddie, The Mail Carrier* Jobyna Ralston - Madge, The Girl* William Powell - Harold Jones* Donald Keith - Harrigan, The Fireman...	Tuck, another detective
1934	Death on the Diamond Death on the Diamond Death on the Diamond is a 1934 mystery film starring Robert Young as a baseball player who has to figure out who is trying to murder the members of his team, the Saint Louis Cardinals...	Jimmie Downey
1937	Navy Blue and Gold Navy Blue and Gold (film) Navy Blue and Gold is a 1937 American Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film starring Robert Young, James Stewart and Lionel Barrymore.-Cast:*Robert Young as Roger Ash*James Stewart as "Truck" Cross*Lionel Barrymore as Captain "Skinny" Dawes...	Tommy Milton (varsity coach)
1938	Island in the Sky		Gloria Stuart, Michael Whalen, Paul Kelly
1939	6,000 Enemies 6,000 Enemies 6,000 Enemies is a 1939 American drama film starring Walter Pidgeon as a successful District Attorney who is framed on charge of bribery. Although innocent, he is sent to prison where he fights to clear his name.- Cast :* Walter Pidgeon as Steve Donegan...	Dr. Malcolm Scott
	The Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties The Roaring Twenties is a 1939 crime thriller starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart and Gladys George. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh, and written by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay and Robert Rossen based on the story "The World Moves On" by Mark Hellinger...	Nick Brown
1940	The Howards of Virginia The Howards of Virginia The Howards of Virginia is a 1940 film released by Columbia Pictures and based on the book The Tree of Liberty written by Elizabeth Page...	Captain Jabez Allen	Alternative title: The Tree of Liberty
	Flight Command Flight Command Flight Command is a 1940 film about a cocky U.S. Navy pilot who has problems with his new squadron and falls for the wife of his commander...	Lieutenant Commander "Dusty" Rhodes
1941	Ziegfeld Girl Ziegfeld Girl (film) Ziegfeld Girl is a 1941 American film starring James Stewart, Judy Garland, Hedy Lamarr, and Lana Turner, and co-starring Tony Martin, Jackie Cooper, Eve Arden, and Philip Dorn. Released by MGM, it was directed by Robert Z...	John Slayton
1942	Flying Tigers Flying Tigers (film) Flying Tigers is a 1942 black-and-white war film, starring John Wayne and John Carroll as mercenary fighter pilots fighting the Japanese in China prior to the U.S. entry into World War II....	Hap Smith - Pilot
	Tarzan's New York Adventure Tarzan's New York Adventure Tarzan's New York Adventure is a 1942 film, the sixth Tarzan film to feature actors Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O'Sullivan. This film was the sixth and final film in MGM's Tarzan series and was the studio's last Tarzan film until their 1958 release, Tarzan's Fight for Life, directed by H. Bruce...	Jimmy Shields - Pilot
	The Secret Code The Secret Code (serial) The Secret Code was the 19th serial released by Columbia Pictures. It features the masked hero "The Black Commando" facing Nazi saboteurs, inspired by Republic Pictures' successful Spy Smasher serial of the same year...	Dan Barton	15-chapter serial; leading role
1945	Allotment Wives Allotment Wives Allotment Wives is a film noir starring Kay Francis in her final screen appearance. An army investigator tries to shut down a scam that preys on soldiers and unknowingly falls in love with the woman behind it.-Cast:*Kay Francis as Sheila Seymour...	Major Pete Martin
1947	Fear in the Night Fear in the Night (1947 film) Fear in the Night is a low budget black-and-white film noir directed by Maxwell Shane and starring Paul Kelly and DeForest Kelley . It is based on the Cornell Woolrich story "And So to Death" . Woolrich is credited under pen name William Irish...	Cliff Herlihy
	Crossfire Crossfire (film) -External links:* review at DVD Savant by Glenn Erickson* film trailer at YouTube...	The Man
1950	The File on Thelma Jordon The File on Thelma Jordon The File on Thelma Jordon is a 1950 film noir directed by Robert Siodmak from a screenplay by Ketti Frings. It stars Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey.-Plot:...	Miles Scott
	The Secret Fury The Secret Fury The Secret Fury is a 1950 American black-and-white drama film distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, directed by Mel Ferrer.-Plot:A wealthy classical pianist, Ellen, is accused of already being married when she attempts to take her wedding vows; the wedding guests are shocked...	District Attorney Eric Lowell
1951	The Painted Hills The Painted Hills The Painted Hills, also known as Lassie's Adventures in the Goldrush, is a 1951 action film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and directed by Harold F. Kress...	Jonathan Harvey	Alternative titles: Lassie's Adventures in the Goldrush Lassie's Christmas Story
1953	Gunsmoke Gunsmoke (film) Gunsmoke is a 1953 western film directed by Nathan Juran and starring Audie Murphy alongside Susan Cabot, Paul Kelly, Charles Drake. Gunsmoke is a Technicolor film for action star and war hero Audie Murphy.-Plot:...	Dan Saxon	Alternative titles: A Man's Country Roughshod
1954	The High and the Mighty The High and the Mighty (film) The High and the Mighty is a 1954 American "disaster" film directed by William A. Wellman and written by Ernest K. Gann who also wrote the novel on which his screenplay was based. The film's cast was headlined by John Wayne, who was also the project's co-producer...	Donald Flaherty
1956	Storm Center Storm Center Storm Center is an American drama film directed by Daniel Taradash. The screenplay by Taradash and Elick Moll focuses on what were at the time two very controversial subjects, Communism and book banning, and took a strong stance against censorship....	Judge Robert Ellerbe
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	The Ford Theatre Hour Ford Theatre Ford Theatre was a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. At various times the television series appeared on all three major television networks, while the radio version was broadcast on two separate networks and on two separate coasts...		1 episode
1952	Robert Montgomery Presents Robert Montgomery Presents Robert Montgomery Presents is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950 until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its seven-year run, and the title was altered to feature the sponsor, usually Lucky Strike cigarettes, for example,...		1 episode
1954–1955	Fireside Theater Fireside Theater Fireside Theater is an American anthology drama series that ran from on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. Stories were low budget and often based on public domain stories or written by freelance writers such as Rod Serling. While it was panned...		2 episodes
	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, is a weekly CBS anthology television series, was telecast on Friday nights from 1951 until 1959. Offering both comedies and drama, the series was sponsored by Schlitz beer...		3 episodes
1955	Cavalcade of America Cavalcade of America Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented a musical, such as an adaptation of Show Boat, and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on...		1 episode

External links