“Hell must be filled with beautiful women and no mirrors”
http://theoscarsite.com/whoswho3/orrykelly.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orry-Kelly
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/orrykelly/
Orry-Kelly with Tony Curtis on the set of his Oscar-winning “Some Like it Hot” film where he was costume designer.
http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140703b.htm
Kelly, Orry George (1897 – 1964)
- Birth:
- 31 December 1897, Kiama, New South Wales, Australia
- Death:
- 26 February 1964, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
- Cultural Heritage:
- Occupation:
- costume designer
KELLY, ORRY GEORGE (1897-1964), dress designer, was born on 31 December 1897 at Kiama, New South Wales, son of William Kelly, a tailor from the Isle of Man, and his Sydney-born wife Florence Evaleen, née Purdue. Orry attended Kiama Public and Wollongong District schools. His distinctive first name (later hyphenated with his surname for professional use) was derived from a variety of carnation in his mother’s garden and from that of an ancient Manx king. After working briefly in a Sydney bank, Kelly was attracted to the stage. He studied art, acting, dancing and voice, and became a protégé of Eleanor Weston. Moving to New York in 1921, he found employment first as a tailor’s assistant, then as a painter of murals for nightclubs and department stores. He also formed a friendship with a young Englishman Archibald Leach, later known as Cary Grant, sharing living quarters with him and another Australian expatriate Charles (‘Spangles’) Phelps, a former ship’s steward.
Kelly’s murals soon led to employment as a title designer for silent films for the Fox Film Corporation, and to designing stage sets and costumes for players like Katharine Hepburn, Ethel Barrymore and Jeanette MacDonald. In 1931 he moved to Hollywood where Grant helped him to gain entry into First National Pictures Inc. Between 1932 and 1944 Orry-Kelly was chief costume designer at Warner Bros, working on hundreds of films and forming—with ‘Adrian’ at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Travis Banton at Paramount Pictures Inc.—a triumvirate of the leading men in his profession. Kelly dressed many major stars, but his most distinguished work was done for Bette Davis, whose ‘red’ ball gown in the black-and-white film, Jezebel (1938), was probably his best-known single creation.
An uneasy relationship with studio chief Jack L. Warner, caused chiefly by Kelly’s alcoholism, came to a head in 1944 when Warner discharged him. Orry-Kelly subsequently secured a three-year contract with Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation to dress Betty Grable. From 1950 he freelanced with several studios and established private workrooms. Despite declining health and mounting personal problems, he maintained his professional status, designing for Rosalind Russell, Leslie Caron, Kay Kendall, Shirley MacLaine and Natalie Wood among others. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded him three Oscars for best costume design for An American in Paris (1951, shared with two others), Les Girls (1957) and Some Like It Hot (1959).
A quarrelsome, hot-tempered man of slightly less than middle height, with brown hair and large blue eyes, Kelly was brilliant but difficult, a versatile perfectionist who used only the finest hand-finished fabrics. His period costumes were noted for their richness and authenticity; those he designed for Davis helped to define her strongly individualized screen characters. His style was marked by its felicitous balance of realism and artifice, and achieved glamour without vulgarity. A talented amateur oil-painter, he also designed ties, cushions and shawls. He enjoyed contract bridge and watching prizefights. Witty, popular and gregarious when not affected by alcohol, Kelly was known to his intimates as ‘Jack’. He never married. Leaving an unfinished memoir, ‘Women I’ve Undressed’, he died of cancer on 26 February 1964 at Los Angeles and was cremated.
Orry Kelly with Kay Francis
Here is the family tree from the Kiama Pilot’s Cottage on Orry-Kelly.
Here is a shot of the Kelly siblings at a 1905 Church of England Sunday School Concert kindly donated to Sue Eggins’ display at the Kiama Pilot’s Cottage Museum!
Here are the three Kelly children. Billy, Muriel and Orry Kelly.
and here is a young Orry, and one can see that having a father who was a gentleman tailor meant you were always beautifully dressed, as a form of advertising perhaps!
I believe his father William Kelly is the man with moustache in middle row, third from left but I am trying to find the copy identifying him as the first surf rescue captain. I will publish a photo from the Kiama Pilot’s Cottage exhibition of Orry’s Mother, Mrs Hart, off to visit her son in Hollywood shortly!
Kiama Surf Club 1912 members:- Back: (l to r) W. Cocks, J. Kingsbury, J. Loomes, F. Kingsbury, unknown, unknown, I. Thomas, S. Gabriel. Centre:- G. Tory, H. Thomas, W. Kelly, J. Bullen, A. Pollack, P. Walker, W. Farquharson, D. Walker. Front: D. Duggan, S. Smylie, J. Murdoch, A. Henderson, H. Tidmarsh.
Here is William Kelly’s gentleman tailor shop, around 1913.
Here is his mother Mrs J.J. Hart, the rather theatrical woman on the left, with Eleanor Weston, who had been Orry’s mentor in his younger days, about to travel to Hollywood by liner.
Mrs J.J. Hart in a later newspaper article
This was published in Wollongong (NSW Australia), in the Illawarra Mercury Weekender feature liftout (written by Katrina Lobley)on Saturday June 29th, 1996. She now works at the Sydney Writers Centre.
http://www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au/meetourteam.htm
Ph: (02) 9929 9237
Michelle Hoctor is the heritage writer for the Illawarra Mercury and probably knows about Orry-Kelly descendants’ whereabouts. The important part is the fact that a copy of the biography lies with the Kelly family, and Orry-Kelly wanted it to be made into a film, but because it was revealing lurid details of Cary Grant’s homesexual past it was suppressed in a court case, the article alleges.
There is also a story of Orry in the army in the St Petersburg Times December 20th 1942
and a year later Orry writes an article for the St Petersburg Times covering a Hollywood fashion parade.
He wrote a syndicated column for INS, Hearst’s International News Service.
Check out comments for an update on living relatives of Orry-Kelly( at least last year in 2008)
Orry George Kelly (Birth certificate confirms this is the correct name despite about six versions) at about 8 years old in what was probably a studio shot at Cock’s Photographic Studio in Kiama. ( it may have been part of a dramatic production, but the boat in the photo has ‘Kiama’ on it and appears in other studio shots, well spotted Sue Eggins!)
The Kiama and District Historical Society Secretary Sue Eggins has put together an ‘Orry-Kelly’ Exhibition for a showing of a Orry film (Casablanca) shown in August 2009 as part of the Kiama Council 150th anniversary celebrations. http://www.kiama.nsw.gov.au/media/pdf/Media-Releases/090421-150th-celebrations.pdf
The film was shown at Pics’n’Flicks at Gerringong Town Hall on Friday August 7th, 2009 (http://www.visitnsw.com/town/Gerringong/event.aspx)and will be opened by the much loved film critic ‘Mr Movies’ Bill Collins who is passionate about Orry Kelly and apparently collects Orry-Kelly. He certainly would be a good lead for anyone seekng a copy of Orry’s unpublished biography!
Saturday 8th August 2009 Update; on film and exhibition; Gerringong Pics’n’Flicks showed ‘Casablanca’ which was a great success (lots of familiar dialogue), Bill Collins was unable to attend, and Sue Eggin’s ‘Orry-Kelly’ exhibition is currently showing at the Kiama Pilot’s Cottage.
A local boutique hotel, the Kiama Sebel Harbourside, has named its community gallery the Orry-Kelly gallery.
This is a pic of the current Orry-Kelly exhibition at the Pilot’s Cottage in Kiama put together by Sue Eggins as part of a very successful Kiama Council 150th Anniversary Celebration.
The Kiama Independent did a story as this as well!
http://www.kiamaindependent.com.au/article/display_a_tribute_to_kiamas_hollywood_hero/
http://www.kiamaindependent.com.au/article/sebel_opens_gallery_space
I will take a photo of (Orry’s father)William Kelly’s silver watch for bravery (he dived down and saved a ship in Kiama Harbour) that is on display at the Kiama Pilot’s Cottage.
And here it is!
William Kelly’s story http://www.nswoceanbaths.info/people/p008.htm
Orry came back to Kiama, too late for his father’s funeral in 1924
Eleanor Weston ( proprietor of the flower shop ‘The Grove’ ) travelled to Hollywood to visit Orry in the 1950s. She was a member of the Weston Family who were publishers of the “Kiama Independent’ and also his mentor during his days at Miss Swindell’s Academy in Kiama.
In the centenary booklet of the Kiama Public School (published in 1961, three years before Orry died) Orry is fondly remembered by a old school chum…..
Mrs M. Tidmarsh.
“Orry Kelly and Ray Walker were the best painters in the school. They used to paint designs for chocolate boxes. I used to skate with Orry Kelly and we always got first prize for the best couple at fancy dress balls”
Ice used to be put down on floors in Kiama for skating, and for a while in the 1910s and 1920 a floor at School Flat park for roller skating. The chocolate boxes referred to could well have been for Atkinsons confectionery in Kiama. With a local ice cream parlor, skating and local chocolates ( because of the dairy production in the area) Kiama must have been an idyllic place to grow up! There’s a film for you, Hollywood, the ‘Young Orry-Kelly’ bio-pic!
Check out King Orry’s Grave on the Isle of Man!
Hello, I was wondering if anyone could help me with this: I work for a publishing company in London, and we are currently working on a new book about the film ‘Some Like it Hot’. We would like to get in touch with the Estate/family of Orry-Kelly to clear permission to use a photograph of him. Does anyone have idea who deals with his estate. Any ideas much appreciated.
Best,
Emma
Hi Emma,
I’m trying to track his family down as well, for a novel – if I find out anything I’ll let you know. And perhaps you might do the same? Following a few leads now. Cheers, Lee
Emma,
I think surely you would not need permission of his estate, just attribute where you sourced it from in your publication!
By the way here is a painting by Orry-Kelly that Lucille Ball used to own!
http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5090012
Orry was well-remembered at his local school for doing drawings on top of chocolate boxes (Kiama Primary School Centenary 1961) and the Kiama Pilot’s Cottage museum have an original pic of him where he was eight, in a sailor suit in a dramatic production. I will take a photo and put in this site soon.
And of course his father won the silver watch we display at the museum for diving down and saving a ship, as he was such a well-known swimmer in the discrict. I have another article that mentions him
(check comments) and here is another article on William Kelly his locally famous father.
http://www.nswoceanbaths.info/people/p008.htm
I have just learned that a niece of Orry-Kelly gifted the Pilot’s Cottage with a couple of paintings, about 20 years ago, seems to be still alive! Her name is Marj Wilson OAM , and is involved in the Kangaroo Protection Society
Here is her contact details
KANGAROO PROTECTION CO-OP
Ms Marjorie Wilson, 16 Henley Street , DRUMMOYNE , New South Wales , Australia , 2047
http://www.savethekangaroo.com/index.shtml
She is heavily involved in other environmental causes amd has been for a long time.
Regrettably Marjorie Wilson passed away a couple of days ago at the age of 90.
She devoted a great part of her life to caring for Australia’s kangaroos.
Do you have any proof that Marjorie gifted the cottage? The Herald would like to know for her obituary. Please email Timelines@smh.com.au with the details
Best wishes
Richard
Can anyone please tell me if the Cottage gift can be verified? Need it for Marjorie’s obituary in the Herald
And if you have proof please email it direct to:-
Timelines@smh.com.au
Richard,
( are you the former NSW Legislative councillor Richard?) I heard it from my mother, Fran Whalan, who was active in the historical society at the time, but it would be in the accession book for the Kiama Pilot’s Cottage, which I won’t be able to access for a few days and it is uncertain where the two paintings in fact now are.
But I have no reason to disbelieve it.
Clearly Marj Wilson had the same passion as Orry-Kelly (her uncle or great-uncle?)and put her heart and soul into saving kangaroos and her other environmental work, for many years. I am sorry to hear of her passing.
When I was growing up my father told me that Orry-Kelly was a cousin of his. Actually looking at the Surf Rescue photo in this website, Don Duggan (my great uncle) is with Orry’s father.
We were not told much about him, other than he was famous and lived in America. The Duggan family have lived in Kiama since the mid 1800’s, they were Donald Duggan, Cornelius Duggan, Jeremiah Duggan and another son Patrick who died, but cannot find any details about. Small world!
Hi Chris
I am also a Duggan relation. My grandmother was Elizabeth Duggan – a daughter of Jeremiah Duggan & Julia Buckley. I would appreciate any information you could offer on the Duggan family as I am researching the family history and would like some confirmation of some old photos I have. Happy to share any information with you!
Kind regards
Cath Norton
Hi Cathy
Just by chance I looked at this web site again and saw your message! How exciting. We have been trying to piece the family history together for years!
I read in Jeremiah’s obituary that there was a son that pre-deceased his parents and his name was ‘Patrick’, this means that he would have been Elizabeth’s brother. My father was named Patrick and I think his father, Jeremiah (jnr) named him so for a reason, but I have never been able to find out anything about him.
I don’t have any photos of Elizabeth or her sister, I have only a photo of her brothers; Cornelius, Jeremiah and Donald.
Anyway, call me and we can have a chat. (02) 87530830
Kind regards
Chris Williams
Dear Chris,
I have 5 Shubert era, Orry Kelly costume design renderings which I am trying to sell, and while researching who to offer them to, I came upon this blog on the website.
If you are interested, please make contact with me so I can send you photos via e-mail on which ones I have.
Thank you
Elayne
(Los Angeles, CA)
Hi Elayne
Sorry to take so long for the reply, but I don’t check this website too often. It would be great if you could email me the photos. My address is chris_fabio@hotmail.com
Thanks
Chris
[…] Orry-Kelly’s Unpublished Biography still with family, in 1996. May 200913 comments 3 […]
I had a lucid dream some six years or so ago where a red haired woman named Ruth told that I was Jack O. Kelly in Myh last lifetime. Hit me some days late to throw it into a search engine. Who knows, right. But I really appreciated finding this site today, thankyou so much for having so much original info and photos I have never seen or heard before. I have been doing alot of inner child work lately and he always returns to my thoughts, for whatever reason.
My brother does mural art/ artistic architectural restoration as a profession in NYC. He has restored the Schubert theater and Radio City Music Hall and others which I am sure I would be proud of if I was culturaly savy as himnself. our grandfather was an extremely successssful tailor in Oakland who started as an orphan.
I had never heard he was rfiends with Louella Parsons. My grandmothers first name was Louella and it is my middle name as well. I just found recently she died on December 9 which is my birthdate, a different year of course.
Sorry about the unrelated blah.
Was amazed by Marilyn’s dress in Some Like it Hot the other night, which led me to this site. Great resource for Kiama. I think we should have an Orry-Kelly film festival each year. Great range of films to choose from.
i have an orry kelly painting. the subject matter is in france. looks like a scene from gigi. laundy hanging in the background and narrow streets with children. it changes from night to day with different light reflections.
I would love to buy it! I adore this paintings.
In 1964 I was in 6th class (6A) at Kiama Primary School. I always remember Mr Frew our teacher, also the Headmaster, telling us all that Orry Kelly had died. It was interesting at that time to know that someone famous had been born in Kiama. I even remember that I was sitting next to Phil Greenaway on that day. I tried for years to find out when Orry Kelly died and did not have much luck. Thank goodness for google. Michael Kennedy from Hartwell House In Farmer Street. Kiama 1963 to 1967
Can someone who is familiar with the Kelly history, explain to me what is the connection with the Duggan family? If he was my father’s cousin or second cousin, who married who? Also, I noted that Orry Kelly is Church of England and the Duggan’s are Catholic – interesting point way back when, so did one of his aunts marry a Catholic? Thank God those things don’t matter in Australia any more.
Chris
I have a painting with Orry-Kelly signture…… 2 black women with umbrellas, might be called Sumatra Girl.. How would I find out if he really painted it?
Compare the signature with Orry Kelly’s? I have a copy on this post. Unlikely to be forged. He was apparently a very prolific painter.
Hi Angie,
I just read this post. WOuld you be interested in selling your painting? I love his paintings and collect them.
Thank you,
Chris
I have a beautiful painting by him. I adore his design’s . So talented
Does his birth certificate happen to have the time he was born at?
My name is Helen Dianne Walker & Orry Kelly was my Fathers nephew – my fathers mother was Louisa Kissane (nee Purdue) sister of Florence Kelly ( Orrys Mother) – I would like to hear from some of the family
Helen Walker again- a mistake on the above entry- Orry Kelly was my late fathers COUSIN
Hi there – I am working on the documentary about Orry-Kelly and am trying to find any images of the ties he used to paint….Does anyone happen to know where I might be able to see one?
thank you very much
edie
From Barcelona, with love to the memory of Orry Kelly and his extraordinary talent!
FloBCN
Hi
Related on the ” Isle of Man Kelly side” Would love chat to anyone on this side of the family. Leanne
Does anyone know where I can get a copy of the article about Orry Kelly shown above ….the one with the words ‘OSCAR WINNER” would like to read the entire article for a book am currently writing. Thanks …Linda
The entire article is on the wall at the Kiama Pilots Cottage Museum but your best bet is to ring the Kiama and District Historical Society President Sue Eggins on 42360130 who has become the local expert on Orry Kelly. She was advising and helping in the current film being made.
Hi Cathy Norton,
Who did Elizabeth marry? As far as I can research she didn’t marry.
Thanks
Chris Duggan