Australians in Hollywood : Biographical Notes

Cecil Kellaway
Cecil Kellaway (1890-1973) was twice nominated for the best supporting actor Oscar: for playing a leprechaun in The Luck of the Irish (1948) and for playing a priest opposite Sidney Poitier in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). He was born in Capetown , South Africa , and arrived in Australia in 1918. He did stage work with the J. C. Williamson Company, and appeared in the films The Hayseeds (1933) and It Isn't Done (1938). His first stint in Hollywood brought him only bit parts in such gangster films as Everybody's Doing It (1938) and Double Danger (1938), and in 1939 he interrupted his contract with R.K.O. to return to Australia for Ken G. Hall's Mr Chedworth Steps Out. He then returned to the U.S. for Wuthering Heights (1939), and went on to appear in over 100 Hollywood films, including Intermezzo (1939), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), Kim (1950), Francis Goes to the Races (1951), Hush … Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1965) and Getting Straight (1970).

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