Stage-trained character player of film and TV whose beady-eyed intensity and small wiry physique made him perfect for playing ferret-like punks and psychos in Hollywood genre films. Kelly trained with Stella Adler, studied mime with Marcel Marceau, and racked up NYC stage credits in musicals, dramas, and experimental theater. But film producer Joel Silver looked at him and saw a rat and cast him accordingly in Walter Hill's "The Warriors" (1979) and "48 Hrs." (1982), "Commando" (1985), and "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" (1990). As Luther in "The Warriors" ("Warriors ... come out to play!" he crooned), Kelly committed the assassination for which the heroes are blamed and chased across the city. As Sully in "Commando", Arnold Schwarzenegger's character likes him so much that he promises to kill him last. (He lied.)
Kelly slimes impressively in the nifty sci-fi thriller "Dreamscape" as a would-be assassin who attacks the President through his dreams. More recently he turned up in two period films directed by Spike Lee: "Malcolm X" (1992) as a teacher who discourages the young Malcolm from further studies and "Crooklyn" (1994) as an eccentric neighbor of the young protagonist. In between, he played a more conventional baddie in "The Crow" (1994).
- Born:
January 19, 1952 in Detroit, Michigan, USA
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Job Titles:
Actor, Singer, Composer, Musician
Education
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University of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, BFA
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International Mime School, Paris, France
Milestones
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1974 Appeared in Sgt. Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club Band On the Road , an off-Broadway musical
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1978 Broadway debut in Working , a musical version of Stud Turkel s book
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1979 Feature acting debut, Walter Hill s The Warriors ; first film for producer Joel Silver
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1982 Portrayed the Younger John as well as Pierre Trudeau and Night Club Manager in Lennon , an off-Broadway play on the life of the artist
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1985 Had a rare TV starring role in Slippage , an episode of the fantasy anthology Tales From the Darkside
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1988 TV special debut, Date Rape , an ABC Afterschool Special
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1990 Starred as Woyzeck in a Hartford Stage revival of Buchner s 19th century tragedy
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2000 Portrayed Salvador Dali in the Off-Broadway play Lobster Alice
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2001 Cast opposite Kevin Spacey in K-PAX
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2005 Played Unger in the remake of The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler
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Collaborated on songs for Three Sisters at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (also acted)
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Created roles in two off-off-Broadway plays by acclaimed avant-garde theater artist Richard Foreman including Film is Evil: Radio is Good (date approximate)
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Debut as a recurring character on a TV series, played Jerry Horne on David Lynch s Twin Peaks
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Performed at the seminal rock club CBGB s in its early days