Barbara Kelly
| Barbara Kelly | |
|---|---|
| Born |
5 October 1924 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Died | 15 January 2007 (aged 82) Hampstead, London, England |
| Years active | 1949-1981 |
| Spouse(s) | Bernard Braden (1942-1993) (his death) (3 children) |
| Children |
Kim Braden Christopher Braden Kelly Bradon |
Barbara Kelly (5 October 1924 – 15 January 2007) was a Canadian-born actress, best known for her television roles in the United Kingdom opposite her husband Bernard Braden in the 1950s and 1960s, and for many appearances as a panelist on the British version of What's My Line?.
Barbara Kelly was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1924. As a child, she was given elocution lessons, and while Kelly hated the stage her mother was a frustrated actress. Kelly's first professional role was playing the Virgin Mary in a Nativity Play. Kelly's father, an Irishman, was a lorry driver in Vancouver. Her mother, who was from Manchester, forced ballet classes and elocution lessons on her.
Deeply unhappy at home, in 1942, she escaped at the age of 17 to marry the actor and broadcaster Bernard Braden, and she soon did much radio work and toured across Canada in a stage show. Kelly also made her television debut at this time, appearing in The Stage Show. In 1949, she and her husband moved to the United Kingdom with their two children. A third child Kim was born in 1949 in London.
Kelly made regular appearances on her husband's show, Bedtime with Braden, in 1950. The next year (1951) she got equal billing with Braden in An Evening at Home with Bernard Braden and Barbara Kelly. She continued to star in her husband's shows throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and in 1968 appeared in the sitcom B-And-B, along with her husband and daughter.
In the early 1950s, Kelly appeared in a few films including The Desert Hawk, A Tale of Five Cities, Castle in the Air, and Love in Pawn. She may have been best known for her frequent appearances as a panelist on the television show What's My Line? (1951–63), transmitted by the BBC on Sunday evenings, was very popular, although, as Kelly reflected in later years, it had no competition: "it was the only programme on the air!"
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