Biography
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" …
Career Milestones
| Collaborated on songs for "Three Sisters" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (also acted) | ||
| 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) | ||
| Debut as a recurring character on a TV series, played Jerry Horne on David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" | ||
| Performed at the seminal rock club CBGB's in its early days | ||
1974 | Appeared in "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band On the Road", an off-Broadway musical | |
1978 | Broadway debut in "Working", a musical version of Stud Turkel's book | |
1979 | Feature acting debut, Walter Hill's "The Warriors"; first film for producer Joel Silver | |
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 | |
1985 | Had a rare TV starring role in "Slippage", an episode of the fantasy anthology "Tales From the Darkside" | |
1988 | TV special debut, "Date Rape", an "ABC Afterschool Special" | |
1990 | Starred as "Woyzeck" in a Hartford Stage revival of Buchner's 19th century tragedy | |
2000 | Portrayed Salvador Dali in the Off-Broadway play "Lobster Alice" | |
2001 | Cast opposite Kevin Spacey in "K-PAX" | |
2005 | Played Unger in the remake of "The Longest Yard" with Adam Sandler | |