Ralph Kellard

Ralph Kellard, born Thomas J. J. Kelly on June 16, 1883, in New York City, was an American actor whose career spanned both stage and screen. He died in 1955.

Kellard's Broadway career extended from 1907 to 1942 and encompassed a range of productions. His earliest credited stage appearances include The Warrens of Virginia in 1907, in which he played General Carr, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm that same year. Later Broadway credits include She Couldn't Say No, Easy Street, It Is the Law, and The Light of the World. In 1940 he appeared in The Second Tanqueray, starring Tallulah Bankhead, at the Amerhurst Drama Festival, and in 1942 he was part of the cast of The Skin of Our Teeth.

His film career produced a substantial body of work across the silent era and into the sound period. Among his screen credits are Her Mother's Secret (1915), The Precious Parcel (1916), and the 1916 serial The Shielding Shadow, in which he took a leading role. He also appeared in the serial Pearl of the Army (1916) as a captain, The Hillcrest Mystery (1918) as Gordon Brett, and A Scream in the Night (1919). In 1920 he appeared in three films: The Restless Sex, in which he played Jim Cleland; The Cost, in which he portrayed John Dumont; and The Master Mind, in which he played Wainwright. Additional film appearances include Veiled Marriage (1920), Love, Hate and a Woman (1921), Who's Cheating? (1924) as Larry Fields, Virtuous Liars (1924) as Jack Banton, and Women Everywhere (1930) as Michael Kopulos. When The Cost was screened in 1920, Kellard was described as a popular local matinee idol of the Auditorium Stock Company in Kansas. In 1915, Motion Picture Classic featured him in a photograph of prominent film stars of the month and ranked him second among the most handsome film stars of that year. He was also featured in the French-language publication Mon Ciné on June 28, 1923.

Kellard had two sons who pursued acting careers, Robert Kellard and Thomas Kellard. Thomas later became a Vice President at Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction in Seattle, Washington. Thomas's sons, Phil and Rick Kellard, both became television writers and producers, and Phil or Rick's son Matthew Kellard works as a screenwriter.

Photographic images of Kellard are held at Getty Images, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the Silent Film Still Archive.