Eamon Kelly (actor)
{{Short description|Irish actor and playwright}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Eamon Kelly
| image = File:Eamon Kelly statue.jpg
| caption = A statue of Eamon Kelly in Gneevguilla, County Kerry
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1914|03|30|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Sliabh Luachra, Ireland
| death_date = {{death date and age|2001|10|24|1914|03|30|df=yes}}
| death_place = Dublin, Ireland
| education =
| occupation = Actor & Playwright
| years_active =
| spouse =
| children =
}}
Eamon Kelly (30 March 1914 – 24 October 2001) was an Irish actor and playwright. In 1966, he received a Tony Award nomination for his performance in the 1964 play Philadelphia, Here I Come!.
Childhood
Kelly was born in Gneeveguilla, Sliabh Luachra, County Kerry, Ireland. The son of Ned Kelly and Johanna Cashman, Kelly left school at age 14 to become an apprentice carpenter to his father, a wheelwright. He first became interested in acting after viewing a production of Juno and the Paycock.{{cite web| title=Éamon Kelly (1914-2001)| url=http://www.ricorso.net/rx/az-data/index.htm| website=Ricorso| access-date=9 March 2025}}
Career
Kelly was an actor and storyteller who became a member of the RTÉ actors group, the Radio Éireann Players, in 1952. He is best known for his performances of storytelling on stage, radio, and television. He was discovered as a story-teller by Mícheál Ó hAodha, then Director of Drama and Variety, following an informal performance at a Radio Éireann Players' party.{{cite news| title=Well-loved storyteller was 'a great actor and a great gentleman'| first=Belinda| last=Kelly| newspaper=The Irish Times| location=Dublin| url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/well-loved-storyteller-was-a-great-actor-and-a-great-gentleman-1.333900| date=25 October 2001| access-date=9 March 2025}}
As an actor, he worked extensively with both the Gate Theatre and Abbey Theatre in Dublin. He was nominated for a 1966 Tony Award in the category Actor, Supporting, or Featured (Dramatic) for his role in Brian Friel's Philadelphia, Here I Come.{{cite web| url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/eamon-kelly-100375#Awards|title=Eamon Kelly – Broadway Cast & Staff| website=Internet Broadway Database}} He appeared on film in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1977).
He recorded Legends of Ireland with Rosaleen Linehan in 1985.
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Young Cassidy | Feeney | |
| 1978 | On a Paving Stone Mounted | ||
| 1981 | Excalibur | Abbot | |
| 1999 | White Pony | Uafas | (final film role) |
Bibliography
Ireland's Master Storyteller: The Collected Stories of Eamon Kelly{{cite book |last1=Kelly |first1=Éamon |title=Ireland's Master Storyteller: The Collected Stories of Eamon Kelly |date=12 January 1998 |publisher=Mercier Press |isbn=978-1-8602-3080-6 |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4188957-ireland-s-master-storyteller |access-date=27 May 2024}}
In My Father's Time: An Evening of Storytelling{{cite book |last1=Kelly |first1=Éamon |title=In My Father's Time: An Evening of Storytelling |date=1 October 1998 |publisher=Irish Amer Book Co |isbn=978-0-8534-2928-9 |edition=3 |url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2713848-in-my-father-s-time}}
Autobiography
See also
- Seanchaí - Traditional Irish storyteller, which Kelly often portrayed
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|3100123|Eamon Kelly}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20131002204713/http://www.storytellersofireland.org/index.php/main_menu/documents/eamon_kelly_an_appreciation_by_jack_lynch/96109 Storytellers of Ireland]
- [http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/documentary-podcast-man-behind-the-stories-eamon-kelly-actor-storyteller-seanachai.html RTÉ Documentary]
- [http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/theatre-world-in-mourning-as-eamonn-kelly-actor-and-storyteller-dies-at-87-26072187.html Irish Independent Obituary]
- [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/jan/04/guardianobituaries.books The Guardian Obituary]
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Category:Irish male stage actors
Category:Irish male dramatists and playwrights
Category:Actors from County Kerry
Category:Irish male film actors
Category:Irish male radio actors
Category:20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights
Category:20th-century Irish male writers