Francis O'Kelly, better known by his stage name of Frank Kelly (28 December 1938–28 February 2016), was an Irish actor, singer and writer, whose career covered television, radio, theatre, music, screen writing and film. He played Father Jack Hackett in the Channel Four sitcom Father Ted, and was also the son of the cartoonist Charles E. Kelly.
Early life and career
Kelly was born, in 1938, in Blackrock, south County Dublin, where he lived most of his life. His parents were Cathleen and Charles Kelly, cartoonist and founder of the satirical magazine Dublin Opinion. He studied law and tried journalism, before moving on to acting. He worked at Dublin’s Eblana Theatre with Cecil Sheridan and as a feed to Cruise. Other work included pantomime and reviews.[1]
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.[2] It was Kelly's work on Hall's Pictorial Weekly (1970–1982) that 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 was featured in the RTÉ TV programme for those learning Irish Anois is Aris. At the end of the programme he spoke into a telephone, gradually introducing Irish phrases. In 1988 he appeared in the Irish thriller film Taffin.
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