Kellye Nakahara Watson (January 16, 1948 – February 16, 2020) was an American actress, best known for playing
Nurse Kellye
This is a list of characters from the ''M*A*S*H'' franchise, covering the various fictional characters appearing in the novel '' MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'' and its sequels, the 1970 film adaptation of the novel, and the televisio ...
in 167 episodes of the television comedy series ''
M*A*S*H
''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker.
The ...
''.
Life and career
Nakahara was born in
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
. Before becoming an actress, Nakahara moved to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
to pursue a career in art. In 1967, she married David Wallett and moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
where she began a career as an actress. Halfway through the first season of ''M*A*S*H'', she landed the part of Nurse Kellye; she appeared in 167 episodes of the long-running series. Following the series finale of ''M*A*S*H'', Nakahara appeared in television commercials as a spokesperson for IBM. Additionally, she appeared in several other
television shows
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
, had a small part in the films ''
Clue
Clue may refer to:
People with the name
* DJ Clue (born 1975), mixtape DJ
* Arthur Clues (1924–1998), Australian rugby league footballer
* Ivan Clues
* Tim Cluess
Arts, entertainment, and media ''Clue'' entertainment franchise
* ''Cluedo'' ...
'' (1985) as Mrs. Ho, the domestic
cook
Cook or The Cook may refer to:
Food preparation
* Cooking, the preparation of food
* Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food
* Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry
* ...
, and in 1995's ''
Black Day Blue Night
''Black Day Blue Night'' is a 1995 American crime thriller film directed by J. S. Cardone and starring Gil Bellows, Michelle Forbes, Mia Sara, J. T. Walsh, Tim Guinee, and John Beck.
Premise
A wife's husband is cheating on her. She decides t ...
''. She also played a labor and delivery nurse in the 1988 John Hughes film ''
She's Having a Baby
''She's Having a Baby'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed and written by John Hughes and starring Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern. It tells the story of a young newlywed couple who try to cope with married life and their parents ...
''.
Nakahara was also a
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
artist, who painted and exhibited under her
married name
When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also used ...
, Kellye Wallett.
Death
Nakahara died from cancer at her home in
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...