Jim Kelly

Description:

With his funky Afro hairstyle, super cool attitude and superb karate skills, Jim Kelly was instantly identifiable, and one of the top martial arts film stars of the early 1970s. After appearing in a minor film role, Kelly's second screen effort was as one of the invited guests to the deadly Han's Island in Enter the Dragon (1973). Kelly quickly cropped up in several more martial arts influenced "blaxploitation" films including Three the Hard Way (1974), Golden Needles (1974) and Black Belt Jones (1974), with its interesting fight finale in a soap filled car wash! He then appeared in several other action films of the late seventies, however since 1980, Kelly has only cropped up in two minor roles. A talented athlete, winning ranked titles both in tennis and karate, Jim Kelly was an integral part of the African-American & martial arts cinematic explosion of the 1970s.

Overview

Birthday May 5, 1946
Born In Paris, Kentucky, USA
Height 188 cm
Spouse/Ex- Marcia Bentley 1980 - June 29, 2013 (his death),Marilyn Dishman January 1967 - January 1968 (divorced)

Did you know

Trivia Became a professional tennis player in 1975, rising to No. 2 in California in the senior men's doubles rankings and reaching the state's top ten in senior men's singles.
Quotes I broke down the color barrier. I was the first black martial artist to become a movie star.

Scores

Enter the Dragon
1h 42m
7.6
Black Belt Jones
1h 25m
6.2
Three the Hard Way
1h 29m
6.2
Black Samurai
1h 28m
4.7
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