DesmondKelly
- Actor
After leaving his job as a teacher in 1978, actor Desmond Kelly appeared on screen in more than 40 roles. Often playing the straight-talking working class Kiwi bloke, Kelly contributed memorable performances to Smash Palace (as Bruno's co-mechanic), The Scarecrow (as the hero's Dad), and Springbok Tour telefeature Rage (as rugby union boss Ces Blazey). He co-starred as a swagman in 1980s TV series Jocko.
Screenography
Biography
Desmond Kelly brought his distinctive voice and understated acting style to many character roles. Along the way he played many a straight-talking Kiwi: fathers, mechanics, doctors and swagmen among them.
Kelly worked initially as a geologist, then a teacher, a job which took him to Fiji. While lecturing at Wellington Teachers College in the mid 1970s, he made his stage debut. He argued later that theatre is "the place where an actor learns his craft". He was 48. Soon after, Kelly won the first of many professional roles at Downstage Theatre. In 1979 he made his screen debut in movie Sons for the Return Home, directed by Paul Maunder — the only man Kelly knew who could "recite the whole script of Hamlet from memory". Kelly played a man at a dump. His first few hours on a film set were spent helping the crew empty a sea of blue plastic garbage bags.
Awards
1982 Feltex Television Awards (New Zealand)
Nominated for Best Actor: for Jocko
“Actually the thing I hate the most is being cold. My whole body seizes up in the cold and trying to act while half frozen is tough because nobody watching a screen feels the temperature — but they will see if your performance is inadequate.”