Frank Kelly

Francis Kelly (28 December 1938 – 28 February 2016) was an Irish actor, singer and writer, whose career covered television, radio, theatre, music, screenwriting and film. He is best remembered for playing Father Jack Hackett in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Father Ted''.

Early life and career

Kelly was born, in 1938, in Blackrock, south County Dublin, where he lived most of his life. His parents were Kathleen and Charles E. Kelly, cartoonist and founder of the satirical magazine '' Dublin Opinion''. He was educated at Blackrock College and went on to study law at University College Dublin and tried journalism, working for years as a subeditor at Irish newspapers, before moving on to acting. He worked at Dublin's Eblana Theatre with Cecil Sheridan and as a feed to Jack Cruise. Other work included pantomime and reviews.

Kelly's first film role, which was uncredited, was as a 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 to 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) that established him as one of Ireland's most recognisable faces. He memorably portrayed councillor Parnell Mooney, a send-up of a backward local authority figure in rural Ireland. In 1974, Kelly won a Jacob's Award for his work on the series.

In the early 1980s, he was featured in the RTÉ television 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''.

''Father Ted''

Kelly was best known outside Ireland for playing Father Jack Hackett in the comedy series ''Father Ted'', which aired in the United Kingdom from April 1995 to May 1998. Father Jack is an old, alcoholic and offensively rambunctious priest who usually shouts only "feck!", "arse!", "drink!" and "girls!" and the occasional scream of "what!" and "women's knickers".

For his role in ''Father Ted'', he wore contact lenses (to show Father Jack's cataract). People would not eat lunch with him during filming if he was in his Father Jack make-up because the false flaky skin he was wearing would fall off into the food.

Interviewing Kelly in 1997 for ''The Irish Times'', Deirdre Falvey said of him: "In person he could not be further from Father Jack. Urbane, articulate, thoughtful, fit (he swims and hikes), charming company, full of stories, and quite serious, though his conversation is punctuated by the occasional burst of laughter—he is reputably a great slagger with colleagues, and is very well liked." Kelly himself said:

I like humour—but I'm very suspicious of people who laugh all the time, because they never listen to what you're saying, they always—have another agenda and they generally have no sense of humour. The most untrustworthy body language I know is that of the person who laughs all the time. That terrifies me. People with no sense or a very limited sense of humour I am very wary of too, because it's not a sign of great intelligence to be without a sense of humour. If you've no sense of irony you haven't a great decision making capacity because you must see the possibilities of the downside of any decision. Without perspective you can't have any wisdom, so it frightens me when I meet captains of industry or whatever who have virtually no sense of humour. That's the kind of person I find dismaying.

Later career

From 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, as a priest called Father Pickle in the TV series ''Lexx'' (2001), and also in a 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. He also appeared in the TG4 series ''Paddywhackery''.

On 29 September 2010, it was announced that Kelly had joined ITV1 soap ''Emmerdale'', playing the role of Dermot, Declan Macey's father. Kelly left the soap after five months of filming because he missed his family in Ireland.

A regular stage actor, Kelly toured extensively in the United States and Canada. He provided voice-overs and in his television advertising work, appeared with "Mr Tayto" in an advertising campaign for Tayto crisps.

In 2014, he appeared as judge Justice Cannon in ''Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie''.

In September 2015, Kelly published an autobiography called ''The Next Gig''. His reminiscences include those of acting colleagues including Pierce Brosnan and Michael Caine.

Radio comedy

Many of his radio sketches originated from his weekday RTÉ radio show ''The Glen Abbey Show'' in the 1970s until the 1990s. Kelly played the part of a culchie, "Gobnait O'Lúnasa", the sketches 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 acted the part of an English BBC
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