Ryan Kelly is a Scottish-born actor best known for playing the role of Jack "Jazzer" McCreary in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

soap ''

The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural settin ...

''. Kelly has played this role since 2000. Kelly was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, but moved to the

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at the age of three. Born without eyes and, as a result, blind from birth, he attended

Exhall Grange School Exhall Grange School is a special school located in Ash Green just outside Coventry in Warwickshire, England. The school meets the needs of children and young people age from 2 to 19 years with physical disability, visual impairment, complex me ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

and the

Royal National College for the Blind The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) is a co-educational specialist residential college of further education based in the English city of Hereford. Students who attend the college are aged 16 to 25 and blind or partially sighted. ...

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

, where he studied drama. In 1997, he became the first totally blind student in the history of the

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. I ...

gaining a place there over 3,000 other applicants. In 2000 he was selected for the part of Jazzer in an open audition with eight sighted actors. On 22 November 2011, Kelly was the inaugural recipient of the Tyzack Award at the Ability Media International awards. The award recognises writers, producers and performers who "transcend the stereotypical". Kelly married Sonia Blakemore in 2004. The couple first met while teenagers at school. The couple have one daughter.

References

External links

Ryan Kelly's profile
at

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All That Jazzer
Disability Now. Retrieved 10 March 2013. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Male actors from Glasgow Scottish male radio actors Scottish blind people Alumni of the Royal National College for the Blind Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School People educated at Exhall Grange School {{scotland-actor-stub