Career
Kelly's first major TV appearances were as a panellist in the gameshow Punchlines hosted by Lennie Bennett, (1980–1984) (ITV) and in the ITV sitcom Holding The Fort (1980–1982) but he became famous as part of the original team on Game for a Laugh for the same producers and network. For the next 14 years his work centred on light entertainment shows such as Kellys Eye (TVS sketch show 1985), You Bet! (LWT/ITV) (1991–1995) and, most notably, Stars in Their Eyes (Granada/ITV), which he took over from Leslie Crowther – at first temporarily after Crowther had suffered serious head injuries in a car crash in October 1992. However, it later became apparent that Crowther would not be able to return. Thereafter, Kelly hosted the show until March 2004. He was also the first CITV presenter and continued to act occasionally, notably in the Channel 4 comedy Relative Strangers, and in the theatre production of The Cabinet Of Doctor Caligari.
On 15 January 2003, Kelly was arrested by Surrey Police over allegations that he sexually abused teenage boys. No charges were brought, and he was cleared a month later, but this caused him to be suspended by ITV until he was cleared. He subsequently returned as host of Stars in their Eyes for a time before declaring that he would leave light entertainment behind and return to acting full time. To this end he has appeared in a number of television and theatre productions. In 2005 he was a member of the cast in BBC One's Bleak House as Mr. Turveydrop. He also played a serial killer in 2005's Cold Blood and its 2007 sequel, as well as the explorer Giovanni Belzoni in BBC One's Egypt.
On the stage he won an Olivier Award in 2003 for his portrayal of Lenny in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men at the Savoy Theatre. Other work includes Ripafratta in Mirandolina at the Royal Exchange Theatre in August 2006 which he swiftly followed by appearing as a well-received Antonio Salieri in Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus.
For a short period in summer 2007 he played the character Willie Thorn in the farce Out For Justice in Sydney, Australia's Royal Court Theatre. The play was a huge success and writer Vicky Ledbrook was quoted as saying Kelly is one of the finest comic actors of his generation.
From December 2008 to January 2009, he joined Stefanie Powers, Craig McLachlan and Christopher Biggins at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton to play May, one of the ugly sisters, in the pantomime Cinderella alongside his son Matthew Rixon.
In 2009 he was on stage to high critical acclaim, in Howard Barker's Victory: Choices in Reaction, at the Arcola Theatre, then as George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Lichfield Garrick Theatre, followed by a season at London's Trafalgar Studios. The summer was spent as Pandarus in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida at The Globe in London. He opened in Comedians at the Hammersmith Lyric in October 2009.
In January 2010 he replaced Simon Callow as Pozzo in the revival of Waiting for Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, alongside Ian McKellen (Estragon), Roger Rees (Vladimir) and Ronald Pickup (Lucky). He continued in the successful production of Waiting for Godot at the Comedy Theatre, Melbourne in May 2010.
In November 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by University of Chester.
In March 2012 he returned to mainstream television by appearing in the ITV comedy Benidorm, playing Cyril Babcock, a judge for the hotel's dance competition.
During the 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe he played the role of Frank in a stage adaptation of Educating Rita
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