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Jim Kelly

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 Jim Kelly, Star of Martial Arts Movies, Dies at 67By WILLIAM YARDLEY 

Published: July 1, 2013

Jim Kelly, who added an Afro, street swagger and a few memorable one-liners to martial

arts movies in the 1970s, most notably in a prominent role alongside Bruce Lee in “Enter the

Dragon,” died on Saturday in San Diego. He was 67.

Enlarge This Image 

Jim Kelly in “Black Belt Jones” (1974). He was also prominent inblaxploitation.

 

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Mr. Kelly in 1973 in a scene from "Enter the Dragon."

The cause was cancer, said his former wife, Marilyn Dishman.

In a genre dominated by Asian faces and settings, Mr. Kelly’s roles often emphasized what

 was most obviously distinctive about him: he was a handsome and chiseled black man whoknew karate at a time when most prominent black fighters were boxers. He wore his hair in

a meticulous mushroom Afro, flashed more curls on his taut chest and dispensed stilted

 bravado in between blows.

In “Enter the Dragon,” when the evil Mr. Han warns him that he will eventually be defeated

in a fight, Mr. Kelly’s character, known as Mr. Williams, flashes a smile and responds that

defeat will not faze him because he will “be too busy looking good.”

Decades later, when he joined other cult stars at autograph shows, fans would ask him torepeat his best-known lines, some of which are not printable in a family newspaper.

“Enter the Dragon” was a box-office success and made Mr. Kelly a new star in two rising

genres: martial arts and blaxploitation, both of which emphasized violent action. Critics

 were not always impressed. In a brief review of  “Black Belt Jones,” in 1974, A. H. Weiler of 

The New York Times wrote that “the succession of clashes and explicit street language tend

to become repetitious and as unwittingly comic as the cast’s largely mechanical

performances.”

Mr. Kelly made several other movies through the early 1980s, including “Three the Hard

 Way,” in which he co-starred with Jim Brown and Fred Williamson, and “Black Samurai.”

James Milton Kelly was born in Millersburg, Ky., on May 5, 1946. He spent part of his youth

in San Diego but graduated from Bourbon County High School in Kentucky, where he

starred in several sports, including track and football. He briefly attended the University of  

Louisville.

Mr. Kelly and Ms. Dishman divorced in 1968. Mr. Kelly’s survivors include a daughter from

that marriage, Sabrena Kelly-Lewis. Complete information on survivors was unavailable.

In a 2010 interview with Salon, Mr. Kelly said he began studying martial arts in 1964,

learning the Okinawan Shorin-Ryu style of karate from Parker Shelton in Lexington, Ky. He

later studied in Chicago before receiving his black belt in Southern California. In 1971, he

 won the middleweight division title at the Long Beach International Karate Championships.

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Two years later, after receiving one small film role playing a martial arts instructor, Mr.

Kelly appeared in “Enter the Dragon” after being cast at the last minute when another actor

dropped out.

“I broke down the color barrier,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 2010. “I was the first black martial artist to become a movie star.”

Enter the Dragon star Jim Kelly dies aged 67 

Karate ace and actor, who starred in the martial arts hit opposite Bruce Lee, had been suffering

from cancer 

  theguardian.com, Monday 1 July 2013 11.38 EDT  Jump to comments (68) 

'Busy looking good' ... Jim Kelly as Williams in Enter the Dragon (1973). Photograph: AP

The martial artist and actor Jim Kelly, best known for his nonchalant turn in the Bruce Lee film

Enter the Dragon, has died at the age of 67.

1.  Enter The Dragon

2.  Production year: 19733.  Countries: Rest of the world, USA

4.  Cert (UK): 18

5.  Runtime: 94 mins

6.  Directors: Heller, Robert Clouse, Weintraub7.  Cast: Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly, John Saxon

8.  More on this film 

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BY RICHARD B. MUHAMMAD -EDITOR- | LAST UPDATED: JUL 2, 2013 - 10:13:13 AM 

When I heard about the passing of Jim Kelly  it just didn‟t

seem right to limit news of his passing to a wire story andrecounting how he played alongside fellow martial artslegend Bruce Lee in “Enter The Dragon.” 

According to the Associated Press, the man I revered growing up as “Black Belt Jones” was 67-years-old at the time of his passing and the cause of death was cancer.

“Sporting an Afro hairstyle and sideburns, Kelly made a splash with his one-liners and fight

scenes in the 1973 martial arts classic. His later films included „Three the Hard Way,‟ „Black 

Belt Jones‟ and „Black Samurai,‟ ” the

Associated Press noted.

“During a 2010 interview with salon.com,

Kelly said he started studying martial artsin 1964 in Kentucky and later moved to

California where he earned a black belt in

karate. He said he set his sights on becoming an actor after winning karate

tournaments. He also played college

football,” AP noted. 

But the “Black Dragon” was more than

 just an actor: He was a huge screen hero

for millions of Black boys like me. He wasfearless, unconquerable, handsome,

always got the girl and was always on the

right side. The right side? Yes. The rightside, as in, somehow he was always

standing as a champion for Black people and always associated with either a groupof revolutionaries, gang members of like-minded brothers in the „hood. You didn‟t need

someone else to come to the rescue when you had Black Belt Jones and crew on deck. There was

an idealism in pursuit of what was right and there was always a “fine sister” in distress, who

usually could kick butt in her own right. They were a team and we had a team that looked like usand a team that was trying to right wrongs done to us.

The images of Jim Kelly on-screen and the images of members of the Black Panther Party andMinister Malcolm X and Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam in real life shaped my

view of the world and formed my image of Black men and thoughts about Black people. We

were beautiful, we were fierce and when we stuck together no one could stop us. Such is the

This 1973 photo released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows Jim Kelly as

Williams in a scene from “Enter the Dragon.” Kelly, who played a glib American

martial artist in “Enter the Dragon” with Bruce Lee, died, June 29 of cancer at hishome in San Diego. He was 67. Sporting an Afro hairstyle and sideburns, Kelly

made a splash with his one-liners and fight scenes in the 1973 martial arts classic.

(AP Photo/Warner Bros. Entertainment) 

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power of images and the power of characters in movies and men in real life to inspire and toeducate.

As Chuck D of Public Enemy noted years ago, “most of our heroes don‟t appear on no stamps.”Simply put the ones who we most often admire are not the same ones that our former slave

masters usually refer to as heroes — and when they do, they hope to reduce our heroes toacceptable versions of what those who oppressed us desire to see.

So even in the era of “blaxploitation films,” with their own stereotypes and faults, at least we had

men who weren‟t bug-eyed and fainting at the thought of danger or running faster than a racehorse at a noise.

We finally had brave fighters confronting the enemy and his Black puppets and winning. Here

was a celluloid presentation of a Black hero taking on the White men behind the scenes

directing, benefitting and controlling negative activity that was before us — and hurting us.

The movie “The Spook Who Sat By the Door,” based on the book by Sam Greenlee, took theconcept of Black heroes and revolution even further. In that 1973 movie, a Black CIA agent took his training to the „hood, politicized and taught gang members how to wage a guerilla war 

against White oppression.

Today our images of Black men are most often associated with violence, bravado, misogynism,

narcissism and excess. Our enemy has made self-destructive gang and thug life fair seeming.

And while America has always had a love affair with outlaws, from Jesse James to Bonnie andClyde, Whites are in a position to separate fantasy from reality. Their lives in no way reflect the

violence projected on-screen in videos.

But in neighborhoods where drug dealing and violence are endemic, these tales and charactersare embraced as reflections of Black reality and not the offspring of centuries of oppression.

So with White corporations controlling the rap game and deciding who will and will not get

record deals, exposure and air play and White fans buying most of the music, the lyrics and the

imagery reflect that which appeals to White sentiments and doesn‟t threaten the power structure.  

That desire to keep us misled and misdirected is constant and aimed at keeping us unconscious.But imagine if we could have heroes who confronted the enemy and showed us the power of 

unity; what could we do and what would we strive to be?

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JIM KELLY

Martial Artist, Actor  

Jim Kelly was born on May 5, 1946 in Paris, Kentucky. He grew up there, but later moved to San Diego, where he

devoloped an uncanny athletic ability in high school. He was a gifted athlete that

was involved in sports such as track and field, football, and basketball. He was

also voted most inspirtational junior high athlete in the entire city of San Diego,

and was pursuing a football career, but

decided otherwise after leaving the

University of Louisville as a freshman.

Shortly after leaving UL, Kelly moved to Lexington where he began his

study of the martial arts under acclaimed instructor of Shorin-Ryu karate,

Parker Sheldon. It was that decision that would cement his star status. In

1971, Kelly proved he was an excellent fighter, by capturing the 1971 International Middleweight Karate

Championship. Realizing that he had a potential career in the martial arts, Kelly opened a karate studio.

His recognition as a champion fighter gave him the opportunity to appear in a

movie called "Melinda" in 1972. The part wasn't big, but it led to other offers.

Six months later, Kelly was flown out to Hong Kong to showcase some of his

fighting techniques to Warner Brothers. Kelly had no idea he'd be getting a

part in one of the biggest martial arts films in cinematic history. Kelly was

asked to play 'Williams' in a movie co-starring Bruce Lee, and it was that role

that brought him 'star status'. Enter the Dragon's huge popularity, largely due

to Bruce Lee, showed that fans were eager to have a new kung fu hero.

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In 1974 Jim Kelly made his first appearance in the lead role in the film 

Black Belt Jones with Robert Clause, the director of Enter the Dragon 

and then in 1976 he starred in The Black Samurai , directed by genre

veteran Al Adamson. He went on to make several other films which

include Three the Hard Way, Hot Potato and Death Dimension. Kelly

retired after a string of low budget movies. His last appearance, in

1982, was in a movie called One Down, Two To Go.

More athlete than actor, Kelly retired from the screen to pursue a successful

career in professional tennis. Jim Kelly still gets offered roles in movies, but

simply says that he 'just doesn't dig the scripts'. He wouldn't mind acting again,

but he wants the roles to be respectable. He's also very proud of the movies he

did, and doesnt want to spoil that image. So where's Jim Kelly now? He's almost

58 years old, and can still be considered one of the best 'ass kickers' in the history

of cinema. He's made various appearances and done interviews, most recently at

the Alamo Drafthouse. He is currently studying Brazilian grappling and is developing his own style of hybrid fighting.