Frank Kelly

Character actor Frank Kelly was particularly well known for his comedic roles, and it's no surprise. Kelly's father Charles Kelly was a cartoonist and the founder of the satirical magazine Dublin Opinion. Kelly would enroll at University College Dublin where he studied law, but he never practiced in that field. Instead, he began participating in the theater, even working at Dublin's Eblana Theatre with Cecil Sheridan. Eventually, he landed an uncredited role as a prison guard in the film "The Italian Job" (1969), thus beginning his career on screen.

Kelly played several characters on satirical series "Pictorial Weekly" (RTE, 1970-1982) and later appeared on the series "Teems of Times" (RTE, 1978). He would appear on an episode of the series "Remington Steele" (NBC, 1982-87) in 1984, which would prove to be the first in a series of collaborations with actor Pierce Brosnan, including the movies "Taffin" (1988) and "Evelyn" (2002). In 1995, Kelly took on the role he would become most well known for, of the alcoholic priest Father Jack Hackett on the comedy series "Father Ted" (Channel 4, 1995-1998). The role required extensive makeup and prosthetics to make him appear completely degenerate. Kelly would also appear memorably on the soap opera "Emmerdale" (YTV, 1972-). He would also appear in the slapstick movie "Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie" (2014). Frank Kelly died in 2016 at the age of 77.