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Kelly, Jack

Born
September 16, 1927;
Astoria, New York, USA

Died
November 7, 1992;
Huntington Beach, California, USA

Maverick Star[1]

Jack Kelly was born into show business. His mother, Mary Ann "Nan" Kelly (née Walsh) got her start as a model for famed illustrator James Montgomery Flagg and  agency entrepreneur John Robert Powers, and some experience as a stage actress before her marriage to Jack's father. Jack Kelly, Sr. was an vaudeville performer, stage actor, song-and-dance man, stage manager. The couple's first child, Nancy Kelly, became a child model and actress, and grew up to be a leading lady in feature films in the 1930s and '40s.[2]

Kelly himself got his start in show business when only two weeks old, as a model for a soap advertisement. As a young man, in addition to modeling, he got into stage and radio performance, and broke into film shortly after his family moved to Hollywood in 1939. In the early 1950s, through Universal International, he continued to land minor roles in a growing number of films with major stars, which ultimately led to his name becoming more and more noticed.[2]

By 1955, five major studios were bidding for him to sign with them. Warner Brothers was looking for contract actors to support their new television interests and offered Kelly $900 a week plus residuals for reruns. These were nearly unprecedented terms in those early days of television, so Kelly took the deal with Warner Brothers. After a few unimpressive television projects, Kelly landed a prominent role in the MGM science fiction film classic "Forbidden Planet."[2]

When Maverick began shooting in 1957, the new weekly hour-long television format became to drive the production behind schedule. With its only recurring star, James Garner, it was taking over a week to shoot a weekly series, forcing the show to eventually quickly fall short of episodes. Series creator Roy Huggins had the answer: a second Maverick. By inventing a brother for Bret, intended to be interchangeable with Garner's character, two episodes could be filmed simultaneously, getting the production back on schedule.[3]

Kelly was given the role as Bart Maverick and the system worked. Not only could the studio produce two episodes at once, but the chemistry between the two Maverick Brothers gave the show an even higher potential. Some of the most popular episodes were those featuring both Bret and Bart together and against each other.[3]

James Garner left the series after its third season, but the format pf a second Maverick had proven so successful, the studio needed a replacement. Roger Moore was brought in to play Cousin Beau Maverick. Just returning from a five-year exile in England provided the excuse for Moore's British accent and lent an additional spin to the proven "brother" format. The studio also experimented with adding a third Maverick brother, Brent, played by Robert Colbert. Viewers did not respond well to such a contrivance and Brent was dropped after only two episodes, paving the way for Happy Days' Chuck Cunningham as the brother never to be mentioned again.[3]

After Maverick, Kelly continued to star in television and film, but never again to the notoriety he enjoyed as Bart Maverick. In the 1970s, he became active in real estate and local politics, even serving for a time as mayor of Huntington Beach, California. He remained friends with James Garner over the years, and occasionally appeared in other Garner vehicles.[4]

Kelly reprised his role as Bart in 1978's "The New Maverick," which served as a pilot for a reboot of the Maverick franchise, Young Maverick, featuring Ben, Cousin Beau's son. The show was canceled before the end of its first season, but if the show had continued, future scripts were already calling for Ben to partner up with Cousin Bart. Similarly, the final episode of the 1981-1982 Bret Maverick, Kelly appeared again as Brother Bart, setting the stage for the never-produced second season, which would have included Bart as a regular character.[3]

Bart Maverick was to make one more appearance. Kenny Rogers had been starring in a series of TV movies based on his hit song The Gambler. In 1991, the fourth installment of the movie series, "The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw," viewers were treated to seeing a number of classic TV Western characters played by their original stars in cameo roles, such as Chuck Connors' Rifleman, Gene Barry's Bat Masterson, Hugh O'Brien's Wyatt Earp, Clint Walker's Cheyenne, David Carradine's Caine and of course, Jack Kelly's Bart Maverick. Fans were happy to see so many of their favorite Western characters return, and even surviving into the early years of the 20th century.[1]

Jack Kelly suffered a heart attack in early 1992 and died of a stroke on November 7 of that year. He was survived by his sister Nancy, his second wife Jo and their daughter Nicole.