Acting

Fred Kelsey

Born August 20, 1884 · Sandusky, Ohio, USA

Died September 2, 1961 · aged 77

Frederick Alvin Kelsey (August 20, 1884 – September 2, 1961) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. Kelsey directed one- and two-reel films for Universal Film Manufacturing Company. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1911 and 1958, often playing policemen or detectives. He also directed 37 films between 1914 and 1920. Kelsey was caricatured as the detective in the 1943 MGM…

Known For

Strangers on a Train

Strangers on a Train · 1951

Strangers on a Train

MovieCrimeThriller

A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.

To Catch a Thief

To Catch a Thief · 1955

To Catch a Thief

MovieMysteryRomance

When a string of jewel robberies hits the French Riviera, suspicion falls on retired thief John “The Cat” Robie. To clear his name, he sets out to trap the copycat himself—entangling a wealthy widow and her beguiling daughter in a seductive game of pursuit, deception, and desire.

Mildred Pierce

Mildred Pierce · 1945

MovieCrimeDrama

A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.

Mr. Skeffington

Mr. Skeffington · 1944

Mr. Skeffington

MovieDramaRomance

A beautiful but vain woman who rejects the love of her older husband must face the loss of her youth and beauty.

Auntie Mame

Auntie Mame · 1958

MovieComedyDrama

Mame Dennis, a progressive and independent woman of the 1920s, is left to care for her nephew Patrick after his wealthy father dies. Conflict ensues when the executor of the father's estate objects to the aunt's lifestyle and tries to force her to send Patrick to prep school.

A Star Is Born

A Star Is Born · 1954

MovieDramaMusic

A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

The Enforcer

The Enforcer · 1951

MovieDramaThriller

After years of investigation, Assistant District Attorney Martin Ferguson has managed to build a solid case against an elusive gangster whose top lieutenant is about to testify.

The Fountainhead

The Fountainhead · 1949

The Fountainhead

MovieDramaRomance

An uncompromising, visionary architect struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism despite personal, professional and economic pressures to conform to popular standards.

Filmography

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Strangers on a Train

Strangers on a Train · 1951

Strangers on a Train

MovieCrimeThriller

A charming psychopath tries to coerce a tennis star into his theory that two strangers can commit the perfect crime by exchanging murders—each killing the other’s most-hated person.

Tennis Match Spectator / Carnival Attendee (uncredited)

To Catch a Thief

To Catch a Thief · 1955

To Catch a Thief

MovieMysteryRomance

When a string of jewel robberies hits the French Riviera, suspicion falls on retired thief John “The Cat” Robie. To clear his name, he sets out to trap the copycat himself—entangling a wealthy widow and her beguiling daughter in a seductive game of pursuit, deception, and desire.

Party Guest (uncredited)

Mildred Pierce

Mildred Pierce · 1945

MovieCrimeDrama

A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.

Bumped First Night Diner (uncredited)

Mr. Skeffington

Mr. Skeffington · 1944

Mr. Skeffington

MovieDramaRomance

A beautiful but vain woman who rejects the love of her older husband must face the loss of her youth and beauty.

Cop in Raid (uncredited)

Auntie Mame

Auntie Mame · 1958

MovieComedyDrama

Mame Dennis, a progressive and independent woman of the 1920s, is left to care for her nephew Patrick after his wealthy father dies. Conflict ensues when the executor of the father's estate objects to the aunt's lifestyle and tries to force her to send Patrick to prep school.

Front Row Audience at Play (uncredited)

A Star Is Born

A Star Is Born · 1954

MovieDramaMusic

A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

Audience Member (uncredited)

The Enforcer

The Enforcer · 1951

MovieDramaThriller

After years of investigation, Assistant District Attorney Martin Ferguson has managed to build a solid case against an elusive gangster whose top lieutenant is about to testify.

The Fountainhead

The Fountainhead · 1949

The Fountainhead

MovieDramaRomance

An uncompromising, visionary architect struggles to maintain his integrity and individualism despite personal, professional and economic pressures to conform to popular standards.

Old Watchman (uncredited)

They Died with Their Boots On

They Died with Their Boots On · 1941

They Died with Their Boots On

MovieWesternWar

The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his death. He defies orders during the Civil War, trains the 7th Cavalry, appeases Chief Crazy Horse and later engages in bloody battle with the Sioux nation.

Ft. Lincoln Bartender (uncredited)

Gold Diggers of 1933

Gold Diggers of 1933 · 1933

Gold Diggers of 1933

MovieComedyDrama

When all Broadway shows are shut down during the Depression, a trio of desperate showgirls scheme to bilk a repugnant high society man of his money to keep their show going.

Detective Jones (uncredited)

Night and Day

Night and Day · 1946

MovieDramaMusic

When his first stage show fails, songwriter Cole Porter goes off to fight in WWI until, injured, he lands in a hospital. He impresses nurse Linda Lee with his creativity, but their budding romance must wait as Cole heads home. Back in New York, he mounts a series of popular shows, and when his work brings him back to Europe, he eventually marries Linda. But success doesn't spare him from marital complications or bad news about a beloved relative.

First-Nighter (uncredited)

The Opposite Sex

The Opposite Sex · 1956

The Opposite Sex

MovieComedyMusic

Former radio singer Kay learns from her gossipy friends that her husband, Steve, has had an affair with chorus girl Crystal. Devastated, Kay tries to ignore the information, but when Crystal performs one of her musical numbers at a charity benefit, she breaks down and goes to Reno to file for divorce. However, when she hears that gold-digging Crystal is making Steve unhappy, Kay resolves to get her husband back. The Opposite Sex is a remake of the 1939 comedy The Women.

Club Patron (uncredited)

My Favorite Blonde

My Favorite Blonde · 1942

My Favorite Blonde

Larry Haines, a mediocre vaudeville entertainer, boards a train for Los Angeles. Aboard, he meets an attractive, blonde British agent carrying a coded message hidden in a brooch—and is being pursued by Nazi agents.

Sam - Policeman

Christmas in Connecticut

Christmas in Connecticut · 1945

Christmas in Connecticut

MovieComedyRomance

While recovering in a hospital, war hero Jefferson Jones grows familiar with the "Diary of a Housewife" column written by Elizabeth Lane. Jeff's nurse arranges with Elizabeth's publisher, Alexander Yardley, for Jeff to spend the holiday at Elizabeth's bucolic Connecticut farm with her husband and child. But the column is a sham, so Elizabeth and her editor, Dudley Beecham, in fear of losing their jobs, hasten to set up the single, childless and entirely nondomestic Elizabeth on a country farm.

Harper (uncredited)

O. Henry's Full House

O. Henry's Full House · 1952

O. Henry's Full House

MovieComedyDrama

Five O. Henry stories, each separate. The primary one from the critics' acclaim was "The Cop and the Anthem". Soapy tells fellow bum Horace that he is going to get arrested so he can spend the winter in a nice jail cell. He fails. He can't even accost a woman; she turns out to be a streetwalker. The other stories are "The Clarion Call", "The Last Leaf", "The Ransom of Red Chief", and "The Gift of the Magi".

Mr. Schultz (segment "The Gift of the Magi")

The Silver Chalice

The Silver Chalice · 1954

The Silver Chalice

MovieDramaRomance

A Greek artisan is commissioned to cast the cup of Christ in silver and sculpt around its rim the faces of the disciples and Jesus himself. He travels to Jerusalem and eventually to Rome to complete the task. Meanwhile, a nefarious interloper is trying to convince the crowds that he is the new Messiah by using nothing more than cheap parlor tricks.

Silversmith (uncredited)

Soft Cushions

Soft Cushions · 1927

MovieAdventureComedy

Douglas MacLean stars as The Young Thief, who falls in love with The Girl, played by Sue Carol. Alas, the Girl has been sold into the harem of The Wazir (Albert Prisco), forcing the Thief to sneak into the palace to rescue her.

The Police

Storm Warning

Storm Warning · 1951

MovieDramaThriller

A fashion model witnesses the brutal assassination of an investigative journalist by the Ku Klux Klan while traveling to a small town to visit her sister.

Townsman (uncredited)

The Flame and the Arrow

The Flame and the Arrow · 1950

The Flame and the Arrow

MovieAdventureHistory

Dardo, a Robin Hood-like figure, and his loyal followers use a Roman ruin in Medieval Lombardy as their headquarters as they conduct an insurgency against their Hessian conquerors.

Guard (uncredited)

The Man Who Came to Dinner

The Man Who Came to Dinner · 1941

The Man Who Came to Dinner

An acerbic critic wreaks havoc when a hip injury forces him to move in indefinitely with a Midwestern family.

Detective (uncredited)

In This Our Life

In This Our Life · 1942

In This Our Life

MovieDramaRomance

An unhappy, self-centered woman runs off with her sister's husband, wreaking havoc and ruining the lives of those around her.

Jailer (uncredited)

Phantom of the Rue Morgue

Phantom of the Rue Morgue · 1954

Phantom of the Rue Morgue

MovieThrillerCrime

When several women are found mutilated and murdered, the Paris police are baffled as to who the killer may be. All evidence points to Dupin, but soon it becomes apparent that it is someone (or something) stronger and deadlier than a human.

Crowd Spectator (uncredited)

Backfire

Backfire · 1950

MovieMysteryCrime

When he's discharged from a military hospital, ex-GI Bob Corey goes on a search for his army buddy Steve Connolly. A reformed crook, Connolly is on the lam from a trumped-up murder rap, and Corey hopes to clear his pal. Tagging along is Army nurse Julie Benson, who has fallen for Corey.

Fight Fan (uncredited)

Action in the North Atlantic

Action in the North Atlantic · 1943

Action in the North Atlantic

Merchant Marine sailors Joe Rossi (Humphrey Bogart) and Steve Jarvis (Raymond Massey) are charged with getting a supply vessel to Russian allies as part of a sea convoy. When the group of ships comes under attack from a German U-boat, Rossi and Jarvis navigate through dangerous waters to evade Nazi naval forces. Though their mission across the Atlantic is extremely treacherous, they are motivated by the opportunity to strike back at the Germans, who sank one of their earlier ships.

Joe (uncredited)

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok · 1951

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok is an American Western television series which ran for eight seasons from 1951 through 1958. The Screen Gems series began in syndication, but ran on CBS from 1955 through 1958, and, at the same time, on ABC from 1957 through 1958.

Doc Jones (uncredited)