In Remembrance of David Kelly (1929-2012)

~By Colin

Rest in peace, sir.

So I awoke this morning to the news that David Kelly had passed away. 

This was a bummer, for Ireland has lost one of it's fine actors, but even more depressingly, it was overshadowed by the death of Whitney Houston. Fucking press, I mean really? When was the last time Whitney Houston was even relevant? Anyway, back on point, it was a real shame to hear of David Kelly's death. For those who aren't familiar with David's work, here are a few short clips to jostle your memory.

For those who are fans of 70's British sitcom "Faulty Towers", Kelly played the bumbling Irish repairman, O'Reilly: 

Most will probably remember Kelly as Grandpa Joe in the 2005 film "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory":

I remember David Kelly portraying Michael O' Sullivan in the 1998 film "Waking Ned Devine". 

WARNING: SPOILERS UNDERNEATH VIDEO CLIP

The trailer:

The eulogy scene, which is probably my favorite scene of the film:

This is probably one of my more favorite films, due to it's plot and well-developed characters. 

Michael (Kelly) and his longtime friend Jackie O' Shea (Ian Bannen) discover that someone in their local village has won the Irish Lottery, they then hatch a scheme to seek the winner's friendship to wet their beaks. After a few failed attempts, they find out that Ned Devine (Jimmy Keogh) was the villager who won, they then go to Ned's house to find him dead, suffering a heart attack after finding out he won. They decide to claim the ticket with Michael masquerading as Ned when the man from the Lottery Commission shows up. They convince the remaining villagers to tell the man from the Lottery that Michael is Ned and they will all receive a equal share of the winnings (£130,000 or $204,217). Through a series of events, the man from the Lottery shows up on the day of Ned's wake. Jackie does an impromptu eulogy for Michael, in which he reveals how much he cares for his friend. The movie ends with Michael, Jackie and others saluting their drinks to Ned for all he did for them.

It's a shame when we lose so many truly funny actors, but we can remember what they did for us in life. In that way, I'd like to think a little part of them will live on in us forever.

Rest in peace, David, I'll be having a pint tonight in your honor while watching "Waking Ned Devine".