In Memory of

Actor Brian Kelly, who starred as Porter Ricks in '60s series "Flipper," died Feb. 12 of pneumonia in Voorhees, N.J. He was 73.

Kelly began his acting career with guest appearances on "The Beverly Hillbillies," "The Rifleman" and other shows. He was then cast as the father of two boys in family dolphin series "Flipper."

He appeared in TV movies including underwater film "Around the World Under the Sea" "Company of Killers," "The Berlin Affair" and "Drive Hard, Drive Fast."

In 1970 Brian Kelly starred in a spaghetti western film, "The Longest Hunt," and then landed the lead role in Mike Frankovich's "The Love Machine." Three days into shooting, he was severely in a motorcycle accident, and he was left with a permanently paralyzed right arm and leg.

In the 1970s Brian Kelly won a settlement from the accident and turned to producing, buying the rights to Philip Dick's science fiction novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep." As executive producer, he secured Hampton Fancher to write the screenplay and Michael Deeley to produce the Ridley Scott film "Blade Runner."

He is survived by a daughter; a son; two brothers, two sisters and a granddaughter.

Some notable actors that Brian worked with back in the 60s, as his career was just beginning to take off......

Joan Collins, Ray Milland, David McCallum, Max Baer, Jr., Fritz Weaver, Keenan Wynn, John Saxon, Buddy Ebsen, Darren McGavin, Lloyd Bridges, Van Johnson, Jack Nicholson....

Common threads in anecdotes related at Mike McCluskey's visitation and funeral were that he was gruff, loved to eat good food, loved to teach and coach, and loved his boat, which he cruised over Lake St Clair and the Detroit River - Harsens Island and Canada being the most frequent destinations. Loved by his family, he was also loved by his students and co-workers who turned out en masse to pay their respects.

Little known fact: In 1990, Mike was elected to the Catholic League Hall of Fame as a coach. Check out the list...you may recognize a few of the names. (See years 1977, 1988, and 2000, in particular.)

Although nearly 80 years separated these photo sessions, the above-featured tykes look as though they were separated at birth. Below, in a shot from 1989, John O'Brien Carelli displays the smile that he clearly inherited from his grandfather, John Harrington O'Brien, whose picture dates from about 1910. Uncle John was the lone boy in a family that included six girls, so one can only imagine how much he was coddled and fawned over as he grew up. Young John Carelli, on the other hand, with just one sister (who's away at school) has had to make it through life on the coddling and fawning of his parents, Anne and Frank (which, no doubt, they've offered up in liberal, devoted doses).