by Hal Erickson
biography
A seasoned vaudeville and burlesque comedian, Lew Kelly came to films in 1929. The wizened, pop-eyed Kelly quickly became a comedy "regular," appearing in support of such star comics as Laurel & Hardy, W.C. Fields, and Wheeler and Woolsey. In dramatic films, Kelly could be found in bit parts as night watchmen, bartenders and doctors; one of his best roles of the 1940s was the derelict drunken doc in Bela Lugosi's Bowery at Midnight. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Lew Kelly worked steadily in two-reelers, appearing with the likes of Charley Chase, Andy Clyde, Harry Langdon and the Three Stooges.
