Barry Kelley

Barry Kelley was a character actor with a tremendously active career in film and television from the late 1940s through the late 1960s. Kelley was a large man whose characters tended towards judges, detectives, and cops. After earning his first film role in 1947, a small part in Elia Kazan's film noir "Boomerang!," Kelley appeared in no less than eight films in 1949, and 11 more in 1950. Among the highlights were his roles as Judge Drake in "Knock on Any Door" with Humphrey Bogart, Lt. Breach in "Too Late for Tears," and Lt. Ditrich in John Huston's "The Asphalt Jungle," all in the film noir genre. Kelley continued appearing in numerous films through the '50s, and simultaneously began a stretch of acting on live television dramas, including three episodes as 'Fat Man' on "G.E. True Theater" from 1955 to '57, and four episodes as Tenny on "Schlitz Playhouse." By the 1960s, Kelley brought his character acting to comedy, including a recurring role as Mr. Slocum on the comedy series "Pete and Gladys" in 1961 and his longest TV stint, 11 episodes as Carol's Dad on the classic family comedy "Mister Ed" between 1962 and '66. Appropriately enough, Kelley rounded out his career back on the big screen, as Police Sgt. in 1968's "Love Bug," and then as Adm. Barnwell in the 1969 comedy "The Extraordinary Seaman." Kelley passed away at the age of 82.