Jack Kelly - "I'm a Home-Stayer, Course-Charter, a Follow-Througher" :)

Hi Again!

Before continuing with our 1958 tour of the Kelly home, let's pause for a quick cup of joe with Jack:

Oops! Looks like JK just lost a game of Chinese checkers to Donna. And who's that sitting on the TV? Our old friend Mr. Clown Doll! Glance just past him and you can see into the Kellys' backyard:


The caption to the pic below says that JK "cuts his own firewood, and he himself has made most of the improvements around the honeymoon cottage, just big enough for two."


And, of course, he was handy in the kitchen (and at the grill), too!


The article also gives some details about how the Kellys became a couple. Although they'd acted in two films together (They Rode West and The Violent Men) and socialized at various functions, they didn't really start dating until after Donna decided to visit JK at the Warner Brothers Studios one day. She found him on Stage Nineteen, and "there was Kelly, looking as handsome and dashing as her memory of him, in his period costume for King's Row, the teleseries then being made at Warner Brothers."

JK, as Donna might have seen him,
in costume for King's Row

The couple soon became an "item" and decided to marry. Reportedly, their first choice for a wedding location was Mexico. However, there was too much international red tape involved. Then, they considered having a formal ceremony, but there were too many guests involved.

Finally, a friend steered them to Quartzsite, a marrying mecca located in the Arizona desert. Although the couple arrived in the middle of the night, they were able to have a $75.00 wedding ring fashioned on the spot before being married by a justice of the peace. The Kellys also had a church wedding a month later.

The Kellys made a pact to never be apart during their marriage. JK claims in the article, "This is a motivating factor in our happiness. If a plane crashes or a train wrecks or a ship sinks, we will be together. Whatever happens to one of us will happen to both. This has worked a hardship, financial and career-wise, more than once...since signing on for the role of Bart in the Maverick series at Warner Bros., I've run into countless difficulties--obligations for personal appearances and business trips which I steadfastly refuse unless my wife can go along."

In fact, this "togetherness" pact may have almost cost JK his guest role in the TV series Gunsmoke. According to the article, while in the middle of enjoying a delayed honeymoon in Mexico four months after they were married, Jack got word about the Gunsmoke part. However, the plane home was overbooked and there was room for only one Kelly on the flight! The tearful decision was made that JK would go on to Los Angeles for the job while Donna would stay in Mexico.

JK was about to board the plane, but he looked back and saw Donna crying. He ordered his bags off the plane and the whole airport cheered his gallant, romantic gesture. And, the Kellys were able to leave Mexico together the next day, just in time for JK to play "Cal Durbin".

So, it's no wonder maverick Jack said of his married life at the time, "I used to be a fence-walker...now, I'm a home-stayer, a course-charter, and a follow-througher."

And, here's a bit of JK nickname trivia for you: We know that Donna called JK "Kelly". The article says JK called her "The Big M" or "Kukie". He hated the name "May Wynn" because it "wasn't real" and called her "The Big M" until he married her and "... I knew her well enough to call her 'Donna'".

Plus, they had a poodle named "Hickey"--since Donna's full real name was "Donna Lee Hickey".

Well, until next time, have a blessed and safe Easter. :)