 don o'kelly, (march 17, 1924 - october 2, 1966) was an american actor prominent in the 1950s and 1960s. though credited as "don kelly" in earlier performances, his billing was changed to "don o'kelly" in 1960. ==background== don o'kelly born donald patrick kelly at sheepshead bay, new york, the son of an irish-american father robert j. kelly and norwegian-american mother rachel knudtsen was an american actor in the 1950s and 1960s. he did mostly television work. don o'kelly began his career starring in "tank battalion" with marjorie helen (later leslie parrish-bach). don kelly enlisted in the united states navy on june 17, 1941 just prior to world war ii and saw active duty aboard the uss stanton and uss palmer. he saw convoy duty at san juan, puerto rico; iceland; england; scotland; africa (invasion), then a brief leave in the us and back on convoy to the european theater; africa; italy (all phases of the european campaign); convoy duty then to scotland; africa; iceland; southern france (invasion) through channel into pacific and then on to the carolinas; siapan; tinian; marshalls; gilbert; iwo jima; okinawa, and the sea of japan(when world war ii ended). mr. kelly saw active duty four years, three months, and 17 days and then went home, alive. don kelly received an honorable discharge after the war and upon separation joined his cousin's ice skating show. o'kelly nÃ©e kelly used his gi bill of rights to study acting with the strasberg company in hollywood, ca. he was a prolific painter. some of his art work is at the u.s.s. elizabeth c. stanton, ap69 museum (affectionally known as "the lucky lizzie.") ==career== don o'kelly was a familiar face to series television fans during the 1950s and 1960s. as a character and lead actor with starring film role in tank battalion with marjorie helen (later leslie parrish-bach). his last starring role was in "the hostage", made in 1966 and released in 1967, in which he received very favorable reviews. "the film owes its vitality primarily to the dynamic forces of the murderer, bull, played by don o'kelly (citing hollywood reporter's film review 8/23/66 "hostage an exciting film"). ==tv and film credits== * the hostage (1967) ... bull * shoot out at big sag (1962) ... fargo * frontier uprising (1961) ... kilpatrick * tank battalion (1958) ... sgt brad dunne aka korean attack * the notorious mr. monks (1958) ... dan flynn * bombers b-52 (1957) ... master sergent darren mckind aka no sleep till dawn (uk) * the crooked circle (1957) ... joe kelly * the big land (1957)... billy tyler aka stampeded (uk) * the wild wild west (1965) episode the night of a thousand eyes ... peavey * gunsmoke (1965) episode eliab's aim ... dealer * ben casey (1964) episode one nation indivisible ...
1924_births 1966_deaths 20th-century_American_male_actors American_male_actors American_male_film_actors American_male_television_actors American_people_of_Norwegian_descent Male_actors_from_New_York_City People_from_Brooklyn