Frank Kelly
| Frank Kelly | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Frank Kelly 28 December 1938 Ireland |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse(s) | Bairbre Neldon (m. 1964) |
| Parents | Charles E. Kelly (father) |
Frank Kelly (born 28 December 1938) is an Irish actor, singer and writer, whose career has covered television, radio, theatre, music, screenwriting and film. He is best known for his role as Father Jack Hackett in the sitcom Father Ted. He is the son of the cartoonist Charles E. Kelly.
Early career
Kelly's first film role was as an uncredited prison officer in The Italian Job (1969), escorting Charlie Croker (Michael Caine) out of prison in the film's opening sequence.
He starred in the popular RTÉ children's programme Wanderly Wagon alongside Eugene Lambert and Nora O'Mahoney from 1968–1982, playing a number of different characters and writing many of the scripts. It was Kelly's work on Hall's Pictorial Weekly (1970–1982) which established him as one of Ireland's most recognisable faces. He memorably portrayed councillor Parnell Mooney, a send-up of a backwoods Local Authority figure in rural Ireland. Kelly won a Jacob's Award in 1974 for his work on the series.
In the early 1980s, he featured in the RTÉ TV show for Learning Irish Anois is Aris at the end of the programme speaking in a telephone, gradually putting in phrases in Irish.[1] In 1988, he appeared in the film Taffin.
Father Ted
Kelly is best known outside Ireland for playing Father Jack Hackett in the comedy series Father Ted, which aired originally in the United Kingdom in April 1995 and ran through until May 1998. Father Jack is an old and somewhat perverse priest who usually says only "feck!", "arse!", "drink!" and "girls!" In one episode, when three Bishops come for a visit, Father Ted Crilly teaches him how to say "yes" and "that would be an ecumenical matter" in order to prevent him from insulting them with crude answers.
For his role in Father Ted, he wore contact lenses (to show Father Jack's blank eye) and people would not eat lunch with him during filming if he was in his Father Jack make-up.[2]
Later career
In 1999 to 2001 Kelly starred in Glenroe as Maurice and played Henry Doyle (father of Pierce Brosnan's Desmond Doyle) in Evelyn (2002). He appeared in the film Rat in 2000, a priest called Father Pickle in the TV series Lexx (2001), in series 4, episode 6 called The Rock and also in the short film, Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom, in 2003. That same year, he had a major role as John Smith, leader of the Labour Party, in the UK Television drama The Deal.
In 2007 he acted in the TG4 political drama Running Mate, about an election campaign.[3] He also appears in the TG4 series Paddywhackery.
On September 29, 2010, it was announced that Kelly has joined ITV1 soap Emmerdale, playing the role of Dermot, Declan Macey's father.[4] It was later announced that he was leaving the soap, after just five months of filming, because he missed his family in Ireland too much.[5]
A regular Irish stage actor, Kelly has toured extensively in the U.S. and Canada. He regularly provides voice-overs and TV advertising work, and has appeared with Mr Tayto in the recent popular campaign for Tayto crisps.
Radio comedy
Many of his popular radio sketches originated from "The Glen Abbey Show" on RTÉ Radio 1 in the 1970s-1990s. With Kelly playing the part of a culchie called "Gobnait O'Lúnasa", they typically started with the sound of him putting coins in an old freckle coin box, and when the phone rang and was answered, his words were, "Hello! Guess who? Is that you Nuala?" Kelly would act the part of an English BBC reporter interviewing rural inhabitants about local customs, such as watching bacon being sliced, or "ha-hooing" (shouting a Rebel yell) competitions. Typically the village was called Ballykilferret and described by the BBC man as being in "the Republic of Eer-ah" (a mispronunciation of Éire, designed to annoy purists). A compilation of his sketches was released on a CD in about 2000.
Tracks included the Ayatollah Ceili Band (a pun on The Tulla Céilí Band), Magnum Farce, Incoming Call, Festive Spirit, Hymn Of Praise, Call Of The Wild, Festive Note and Siege Mentality.
Music career
Kelly released a single, "Christmas Countdown", a comedy song based on the "12 Days of Christmas" carol (penned by Hugh Leonard), which reached number 8 in the Irish Singles Chart in 1982 and peaked at 26 in the UK Singles Chart in 1984.[6] He also released an album, Comedy Countdown, which featured a sketch taken from his weekday RTE radio show, The Glen Abbey Show.
References
- ↑ Learning Irish with "Anois is Aris." CLCS Occasional Paper No. 6, Winter 1982-3. A Report on the Background, Attitudes, Expectations, and Learning Experience of a Volunteer Group of Course Participants.
- ↑ Linehan, Graham; Mathews, Arthur (1999). Father Ted: the complete scripts. London: Boxtree. p. 120. ISBN 0752218506.
- ↑ October Start For TG4’s ‘Running Mate’ IFTN, 25 Sep 2006
- ↑ 'Emmerdale' reveals new Home Farm dynasty Digital Spy, 30 Sep 2010
- ↑ Father Ted's Frank Kelly has quit Emmerdale Unreality Tv, 30 April 2011
- ↑ "Frank Kelly - Christmas Countdown". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2012-03-26.
External links
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