Tim O'Kelly | |
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![]() O'Kelly in Targets (1968) | |
Born | Timothy Patrick Wright March 12, 1941 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Died | January 4, 1990 48) Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1965–1970 |
Tim O'Kelly (variously O'Kelley; born Timothy Patrick Wright, [1] March 12, 1941 – January 4, 1990) was an American actor best known for playing the sniper in Peter Bogdanovich's film Targets (1968).
O'Kelly first gained attention as a stage actor with the Santa Monica Group Theater. [2] [3] [4] He later served as a director and acting coach with the group. [5] [6] Among the stage productions he appeared in was Peter Shaffer's The Private Ear/The Public Eye. [7] Much of his television work was in Western series such as The Monroes , [8] Cimarron Strip , [9] The Big Valley , [10] and The Guns of Will Sonnett , [11] although he also made appearances in Batman . [12] [13] O'Kelly also played Detective Danny "Danno" Williams in the pilot episode of Hawaii Five-O , but was replaced by James MacArthur after a preview audience found O'Kelly "too young" for the part. [14] [15]
His one major film appearance was opposite Boris Karloff in Peter Bogdanovich's directorial debut Targets (1968), in which he played the spree killer Bobby Thompson, a character loosely based on Texas tower sniper Charles Whitman. [16] His final confirmed acting role was the 1970 film The Grasshopper (as the boyfriend of Jacqueline Bisset's character), [17] after which he faded from the public eye.
O'Kelly was the son of Maurice Wayne Wright and Billie Jo Chew. [1] [18] [19] He had a brief marriage to actress Evelyn Rudie, whom he married in 1968. [1] [20] Vital records indicate he died of cardiomyopathy in Los Angeles on January 4, 1990, aged 48. [19] [21] [22]
Timothy Patrick Wright ... known professionally as Tim O'Kelly.
[Rudie's] marriage to actor Tim O'Kelly ended in an annulment after four months.