173:, which cemented his success and took him into the top rank of vaudeville performers. As "The Virginia Judge", he toured nationally and internationally and became a highly paid performer. Although Kelly did a number of different Southern dialects playing the various characters in his "Virginia Judge" sketches, an Irish flavor sometimes sneaked through. In one such sketch where three men appear before the Judge for "disturbin' the peace and quarrelin' on the highway", the word "highway" came through as very Irish. Most of his sketches, however, were racist humor at the expense of African-Americans, which reflected his personal feelings. According to
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He developed a talent for storytelling, drawing on the mannerisms and speech of the judges he had witnessed, and made his performing debut in
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in 1900. His success led to theatre bookings and many tours on the vaudeville circuit. In 1904, he played in a sketch opposite
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He brought his signature role to the movies in the role of Judge
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Vaudeville, Old and New: An
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Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2006).
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250:Of Me I Sing: An Informal Autobiography
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316:Anthony Slide, "Walter C. Kelly",
232:(1935); "Capt. Zack Livermore" in
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138:. Walter was regarded as the "
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455:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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238:(1936); and "Pat Kelly" in
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226:(1931); "Dan McFadden" in
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451:"Laughing Irish Eyes"
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427:"Tugboat Princess"
403:"McFadden's Flats"
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340:2014-11-29
267:References
128:Jack Kelly
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39:1873-10-29
208:Paramount
201:Broadway
100:comedian
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