Patsy Kelly, 1910-1981

Patsy Kelly is the brunette on the left with Thelma Todd

While TCM is spending time with the late Luise Rainer this morning and afternoon, I thought I should mention the other actress who was born on January 12, 1910: Patsy Kelly. Kelly was a vivacious comedic actress who starred in a whole series of shorts with Thelma Todd at the Hal Roach studio. The series was cut short, however, when Thelma Todd died at an early age, and Patsy Kelly never became anything more than a supporting actress in comedies. Not that that last clause should be read as demeaning to Kelly; it's just that for whatever reason, she never really hit the big time. Kelly's career petered out in the 1940s, until television came along.

For the last 20 years of her life, Patsy Kelly did guest-starring roles on TV, sprinking in a few movies, such as The Crowded Sky, or Rosemary's Baby. One of these days, I should do a full-length post on The Naked Kiss, a sleazy melodrama by Sam Fuller in which Kelly had a supporting role.