Robert Kellard

Robert Kellard, born Robert Dorsey Kellard on April 23, 1915, in Los Angeles, California, was an American actor who worked across stage, film, and television. He is also known by the screen name Robert Stevens, a name Columbia Pictures assigned him after he signed a contract with the studio in 1942. His father, Ralph Kellard (1884–1955), was an actor as well, and his older brother Thomas appeared briefly in films before pursuing a different career. Kellard attended Hollywood High School and spent a year at Santa Monica Junior College before entering the entertainment industry.

Kellard's Broadway career spanned 1934 to 1937, during which he appeared in Hitch Your Wagon and Mother Lode. His transition to film followed shortly after, with his Hollywood career beginning in 1937 in Annapolis Salute, directed by Christy Cabanne, though one source credits his film debut to A Connecticut Yankee in 1931. His early screen work alternated between starring roles in low-budget productions such as Island in the Sky, Time Out for Murder, and While New York Sleeps, and supporting parts in films including Boy Friend and Here I Am a Stranger.

He went on to appear in two serials for Republic Pictures. In the studio's adaptation of Sax Rohmer's Drums of Fu Manchu, Kellard received third billing but functioned as the central hero of the story. He subsequently appeared alongside Allan "Rocky" Lane in King of the Royal Mounted, a serial based on the Zane Grey comic strip, in which he played Lane's sidekick. Kellard then headlined two serials for Columbia Pictures, Perils of the Royal Mounted and Tex Granger.

In 1942, Kellard enlisted in the United States Navy. Following his discharge, he returned to Columbia in 1946 and took on supporting roles in Gilda and The Jolson Story. During this period he also appeared in several Three Stooges short films, among them Rhythm and Weep, They Stooge to Conga, and Squareheads of the Round Table. His most recognized role in that series was the pirate Black Louie in Three Little Pirates. His screen career concluded with a 1951 appearance in an episode of the ABC Western television series The Lone Ranger, making it his final on-screen credit across a body of work spanning more than 60 films.

In his personal life, Kellard's marriage to BeBe LaMonte ended in divorce in 1942. His nephews Rick and Phil Kellard both became television writers and producers. Kellard died of post-obstructive pneumonia at the Wadsworth V.A. Medical Center in Los Angeles on January 13, 1981, at the age of 65.