Ian Kelly (actor)

{{Other uses|Ian Kelly (disambiguation){{!}}Ian Kelly}}

Ian Francis Kelly (born 16 January 1966)[http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U258307 KELLY, Ian Francis], Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 is a British writer and actor. His works include historical biographies, stage and screenplays.

Early life

Born in Cambridge, England, in 1966, Kelly is the second son of Professor Donald Kelly and Patricia Ann Kelly. He was brought up in Philadelphia, Bristol, and the Wirral. Kelly studied at the University of Cambridge and UCLA Film School.

Playwright

Kelly's play Mr Foote's Other Leg, directed by Sir Richard Eyre and starring Simon Russell Beale, opened at Hampstead Theatre in 2015 before transferring directly into the West End, Theatre Royal Haymarket, playing 2015–2016.{{cite news|work=The Guardian|title=Gusto and Sorrow at the dawn of celebrity|last1=Clapp|first=Susannah|author-link=Susannah Clapp |date=27 September 2015 |url=https://theguardian.com/stage/2015/sep/27/mr-footes-other-leg-hampstead-review-simon-russell-beale-gusto-and-sorrow}}

Acting

On film, Kelly played Hermione Granger's father in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.{{Cite news |title=Ian Kelly Interview |work=Suffolk Norfolk Life Magazine |url=https://www.suffolknorfolklifemagazine.com/feature-item/ian-kelly-interview/ |date=February 2017 |access-date=2024-01-09 |language=en-GB}} On stage, he appeared in The Pitmen Painters at the National Theatre, on Broadway{{cite news|work=The New York Times |title=Stoking a Fiery Passion for Art Miners Wielding Paintbrushes in Lee Hall Drama|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/theater/reviews/01pitmen.html |date=2010-10-01}} and in the West End, and in A Busy Day, also in the West End. He acted on London's West End and in New York in his own one-man plays and also in the title role in the US premiere of Ron Hutchinson's Beau Brummell. He was nominated for Best Actor for his work in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (Manchester Drama Awards). For his work in Alexei Balabanov's Voyna (War) he was nominated for Best Actor at the Montreal World Film Festival.{{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph|title=A dance to the music of death|last1=Kelly|first1=Ian|date=8 November 2002|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3585463/A-dance-to-the-music-of-death.html}}

In 2015 he played George III in the premiere production of his own play Mr Foote’s Other Leg.

Historian and Biographer

Kelly has published biographies of Antonin Careme (2004),{{cite news|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Careme de la Careme|date=14 July 2004|last1=Schrambling|first1=Regina|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-14-fo-watch14-story,amp.html}} Beau Brummell (2005),{{cite news|work=The Observer|title=Fine and Dandy|last1=Stevenson|first1=Jane |date=31 December 2005|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jan/01/biography.features}} Casanova (2008),{{cite news|work=The Guardian|title=Naughty nuns and peeping Toms|date=16 August 2008|last1=Hughes|first1=Kathryn|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/aug/16/biography}}{{cite news|work=The Times|title=Ian Kelly, Casanova Book Review|date=19 June 2008|last1=Scurr|first1=Ruth|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/casanova-by-ian-kelly}}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite web|work=The New York Times|title=Editor's Choice|date=14 December 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/books/review/EdChoice-t.html}} and Samuel Foote (Mr. Foote's Other Leg, 2012).{{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph|title=Mr Foote's Other Leg|last1=Stockley|first1=Philippa|date=10 October 2012|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/biographyandmemoirreviews/9589894/Mr-Footes-Other-Leg-by-Ian-Kelly-review.html}}{{cite news|work=Daily Express|title=Mr Foote's Other Leg|last1=Sylvester|first1=Christopher|url=https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/books/354532/Book-review-Mr-Foote-s-Other-Leg-by-Ian-Kelly}} His biography of Vivienne Westwood, written with Dame Vivienne, was published in October 2014.{{cite news|work=The Daily Telegraph |title=Fabulously, fetishistically, brilliant|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/11182744/Vivienne-Westwood-by-Vivienne-Westwood-and-Ian-Kelly.html}}

Adaptations

The BBC Television drama Beau Brummell: This Charming Man with Hugh Bonneville and Phil Davis was based on Ian Kelly's biography.

His biography of Giacomo Casanova was read by Benedict Cumberbatch on BBC Radio 4 in 2008 as a Book of the Week abridged by Amber Barnfather,[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00c6rpl Casanova – BBC Radio 4 – Book of the Week] repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra,[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qsc98 Ian Kelly – Casanova – BBC Radio 4 Extra] then published by BBC Worldwide as an audio book in May 2015. He wrote the scenario of Casanova for a 2017 ballet choreographed by Kenneth Tindall for Northern Ballet which was also performed at Sadler's Wells Theatre.{{cite web|work=Northern Ballet|title=Ian Kelly|url=https://northernballet.com/biography/ian-kelly}}{{cite news|work=The Independent|title=Casanova, Saddler's Wells London review|date=11 May 2017|last1=Anderson|first1=Zoe|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/casanova-review-sadler-s-wells-northern-ballet-kenneth-tindall-a7729556.html}}

An adaptation of Carěme was made for Apple TV+ in 2025.{{cite web|website=Variety|url=https://variety.com/2023/film/news/apple-tv-french-original-antonin-careme-1235640895/|accessdate=20 February 2025|date= Jun 12, 2023|title=

Apple TV+ Sets French Original About Chef-Turned-Spy Antonin Carême With Director Martin Bourboulon (EXCLUSIVE)|first=Elsa|last=Keslassy}}{{cite web|website=Deadline Hollywood|url= https://deadline.com/2025/02/careme-apple-tv-plus-first-looks-premiere-date-1236278663/|title= ‘Carême’: Apple TV+ Serves Up First Look At French Celebrity Chef Series|first= Max |last=Goldbart|accessdate=20 February 2025|date= February 5, 2025}}

Awards

The Society for Theatre Research awarded Mr. Foote's Other Leg the STR Theatre Book Prize in 2013.{{Cite web |title=Theatre Book Prize |url=https://www.str.org.uk/grants-prizes/theatre-book-prize/ |access-date=2024-01-09 |publisher=Society for Theatre Research |language=en-GB}} His biography of Beau Brummell was shortlisted for the Marsh Biography Award. His biography of Casanova was the Sunday Times biography of the year in 2008.{{Cite news |date=2008-12-07 |title=The Sunday Times biography of the year |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/england/london-travel/the-sunday-times-biography-of-the-year-7mgzxqj6n05 |work=The Times |access-date=2024-01-09 |language=en |issn=0140-0460}}

Journalism

Kelly has written for most of the British broadsheets and The New York Times. He is a contributing editor of Food Arts Magazine.

Television

As an actor his TV work includes Dennis Potter's Cold Lazarus{{cite news|work=Variety|title=Cold Lazarus|date=19 June 1996|last1=Elley|first1=Derek|url=https://variety.com/1996/film/reviews/cold-lazarus-1200445991}} Drop the Dead Donkey, Silent Witness, Just William, Catherine Cookson's The Moth, Sensitive Skin, and Time Trumpet.

Film

Kelly has acted in many films including The Children Act, Closed, Creation, Merchant-Ivory's Howards End, Richard Attenborough's In Love and War, The Mission, The King's Man and the Russian films Admiral and Aleksei Balabanov's War.{{cite web|work=Academia, Kinokultura|title=Interview with Ian Kelly from Aleksei Balabanov's War|date=2015|last1=White|first1=Frederick H.|url=https://www.academia.edu/11191706}}