The middle of five children, Kelly was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where his grandfather and father were police officers/detectives and his mother was a social worker. He attended and graduated from Roselle Catholic High School in 1970. A graduate of St. Vincent College (Latrobe, Pennsylvania) in 1974, he pursued a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at Catholic University (Washington, D.C.) on a full scholarship.
Kelly appeared in numerous Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway productions, primarily at The Public Theater and Second Stage Theatre. A product of regional repertory theater, Kelly has been a company member of the Williamstown Theater Festival (Massachusetts), the Folger Theater (DC), Arena Stage (DC), and the Actors Theatre of Louisville among others.
He toured with the National Players, the oldest classical touring company in the United States. He starred on Broadway opposite Madeline Kahn's Billie in Born Yesterday in 1989, and as Brick opposite Kathleen Turner's Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1990. In 2003, he appeared at the Mark Taper Forum (Los Angeles), originating the role of Richard in Living Out by Lisa Loomer.[citation needed]

Return to Daniel Hugh Kelly Autograph Profile