George Kelly
George Kelly was an American playwright and actor born on January 16, 1887, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the ninth of ten children from a family of Irish immigrants and faced economic hardship in his early life, particularly following the death of his father. Despite demonstrating talent in draftsmanship, he left school to help support his family and subsequently pursued a career in acting, inspired by his brother Walter, a successful vaudevillian. Kelly made his theater debut in 1908 and began writing plays, achieving notable success with works like "The Torch-Bearers" and "The Show-Off." His play "Craig's Wife" won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, highlighting his critical acclaim. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, he continued to write plays, though his later works were less successful. In addition to his stage work, he moved to Hollywood in the 1930s and served as a script consultant. Kelly lived a private life, maintaining a long-term relationship with William Weagly, and passed away on June 18, 1974, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, at the age of 87.
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George Kelly
Playwright
- Born: January 16, 1887
- Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Died: June 18, 1974
- Place of death: Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Biography
George Kelly was born on January 16, 1887, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the ninth of ten children born to poor Irish immigrants Mary Costello Kelly and John Henry Kelly, a bricklayer by trade. One of his brothers, John Brendan “Jack” Kelly, Sr., was the father of actress and future princess of MonacoGrace Kelly and the winner of three gold medals in sculling at the 1920 and 1924 Olympics; he would later build the family business into a successful contracting concern that allowed his children Peggy, Elizabeth, Grace, and Jack, Jr., (also a champion in sculling) to be well provided for and privately educated.
Prosperity, however, was far removed from George Kelly’s childhood. He demonstrated excellent draftsmanship at school, but he was forced to leave at an early age to work at a mill to help support the family after his father’s death. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he turned to acting, following the lead of his brother Walter C. “Judge” Kelly, a successful vaudevillian and film actor, onto the stage. George Kelly made his theater debut in 1908, and for the next several years toured widely, playing romantic leading roles. Dissatisfied with available material, he also tried his hand at writing comedy skits, sketches, and short plays. He completed One of Those Things (pr. 1913), Finders-Keepers (pr. 1916), and Mrs. Ritter Appears (pr. 1917), which were produced on tour but not published until the 1920’s.
In 1917, Kelly enlisted in the army and served in France during World War I. After his discharge, he returned to writing plays. His first success was The Torch-Bearers: A Satirical Comedy, an expanded form of Mrs. Ritter Appears, which was produced on Broadway in 1922. The play, the story of a woman who is a bad actor but who insists on performing in local theater, relied heavily on devices from vaudeville, including slapstick, burlesque, and broad character types, that would be present in much of Kelly’s work.
Kelly’s most acclaimed play, The Show-Off (pr. 1924), which served as the basis for three films and which remains popular today, is the story of a braggart who begins to believe his empty boasts. His next play, Craig’s Wife (pr. 1925), a misogynist’s portrait of a dominating, destructive woman, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama, and served as the vehicle for actress Rosalind Russell’s first major role in the 1936 film of the same name (later remade as Harriet Craig in 1950, starring Joan Crawford).
Kelly continued to write plays into the mid-1930’s, including Daisie Mayme (pr. 1926), Maggie the Magnificent (pr. 1929), Philip Goes Forth (pr. 1931), and Reflected Glory (pr. 1936). He was selected to direct plays to help out-of-work actors during the height of the Depression. However, these later plays did not recapture his earlier successes. He moved to Hollywood in the 1930’s, serving as a script consultant for five years. Kelly attempted a comeback in the mid-1940’s with the lackluster The Deep Mrs. Sykes (pr. 1945) and The Fatal Weakness (pr. 1946) before retiring to Sun City, California.
Never married, Kelly maintained an intimate relationship with William Weagly for almost fifty years. Late in life, he returned to his birthplace and died in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on June 18, 1974, the last of the ten Kelly siblings to die.