Mike Kellin


Myron "Mike" Kellin was an American stage and screen actor. He won an Obie Award for his performance in the original Off-Broadway run of American Buffalo, and was nominated for a Tony Award for the Broadway musical Pipe Dream. He was also known for his starring role as Chief Petty Officer Willie Miller on the 1960s television sitcom The Wackiest Ship in the Army.

Early life

Kellin was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Sophia and Samuel Kellin, Russian-Jewish immigrants. His younger sister, Shirley Ann Kellin, died in the 1944 Hartford circus fire. He was educated at Boston University and Trinity College in Hartford. He served with the Navy as a lieutenant commander during World War II, and after the war, studied acting and playwriting at the Yale School of Drama.

Career

Kellin made his Broadway debut in 1949 in At War with the Army and repeated his role in the 1950 film version with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. He worked in some 50 plays and won an Obie Award for his work in American Buffalo and earned a Tony nomination in 1956 for his acting in the musical Pipe Dream.
In 1956, he contributed the song preserven el parque elysian to a rally in support of Elysian Park. Pete Seeger recorded this song in 1965 for this album God Bless the Grass.
Kellin appeared in both the film version of The Wackiest Ship in the Army and the 1965–1966 television series based on the film in the same role.
In 1966, Kellin appeared in "The Deadly Games of Gamma 6" episode on Lost in Space as Myko. Later in 1966, he played “Chad Timpson”, a reformed outlaw protecting his challenged brother, in “Moonstone” on the TV Western series Gunsmoke. He also appeared in "The Thirty Fathom Grave" episode of The Twilight Zone and as a Southerner in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "Night of the Owl".

Personal life and death

Kellin married Nina Caiserman in 1952. The couple adopted a daughter before Nina's death in 1963. In 1966, Kellin married actress Sally Moffat, daughter of actress Sylvia Field. Kellin was active in the Fortune Society, a prisoners' rights group.
He died on August 26, 1983, from lung cancer in Nyack, New York, at the age of 61. His interment was at Emanuel Synagogue Cemetery in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

Stage credits (partial)

  • King Lear as King Lear
  • Are You Now or Have You Ever Been as Lionel Stander
  • The Ritz as Carmine Vespucci
  • The Odd Couple as Oscar Madison
  • Mother Courage and Her Children as Cook
  • Rhinoceros as Dribble
  • God and Kate Murphy as Sean Murphy
  • Pipe Dream as Hazel
  • Ankles Aweigh as Joe Mancinni
  • The Emperor's Clothes as Second Rottenbiller Brother
  • Stalag 17 as Stosh
  • The Bird Cage as Frank
  • At War with the Army as Staff Sergeant McVay

    Film credits

  • So Young So Bad as Carousel Operator
  • At War with the Army as Sergeant McVey
  • Hurricane Smith as Dicer
  • Lonelyhearts as Frank Goldsmith
  • The Wonderful Country as Pancho Gil
  • The Mountain Road as Prince
  • The Wackiest Ship in the Army as Chief Petty Officer MacCarthy
  • The Great Imposter as Clifford Thompson
  • Hell Is for Heroes as Private Kolinsky
  • Invitation to a Gunfighter as Blind Union Vet
  • Banning as Harry Kalielle
  • The Incident as Harry Purvis
  • The Boston Strangler as Julian Soshnick
  • Riot as Bugsy
  • The Maltese Bippy
  • The Phynx as Bogey
  • The People Next Door as Dr. Margolin
  • Cover Me Babe as The Derelict
  • Fools' Parade as Steve Mystic
  • The Last Porno Flick as Boris
  • Freebie and the Bean as Lieutenant Rosen
  • Next Stop, Greenwich Village as Ben Lapinsky
  • God Told Me To as Deputy Commissioner
  • Midnight Express as Mr. Hayes
  • Girlfriends as Abe
  • On the Yard as Red
  • The Jazz Singer as Leo
  • So Fine as Sam Schlotzman
  • Just Before Dawn as Ty
  • Paternity as Tour Guide
  • Echoes as Sid Berman
  • Sleepaway Camp as Mel

    Television credits

He was very active in television and was a regular on:
  • Mister Peepers as Edward Barnes
  • Bonino as Rusty
  • Honestly, Celeste! as Marty Gordon
  • The Wackiest Ship in the Army as C.P.O. Willie Miller
  • Seventh Avenue, a mini-series as Morris Blackman
  • Fitz and Bones as Robert Whitmore
  • Combat! Episode "Losers Cry Deal"
He also appeared in made-for-TV movies, including:
  • Assignment: Munich as Gus
  • The Catcher as Mike Keller
  • The Connection as Pillo
  • F.D.R.: the Last Year as Andre Gromyko
He guest starred on the following:
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Killer
  • Have Gun, Will Travel as Sergeant Major Siebert
  • The Rifleman as Len Sommers
  • Naked City
  • * as Billy Ketch
  • * as Anton
  • * as Louis Wystemski
  • Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond as Dominic DiNovio / Fredrick Gibbs
  • The Untouchables
  • * as Abe Garfinkel
  • * as Mig Torrance
  • * as Lou Mungo
  • Have Gun, Will Travel as Logan Adcock
  • Have Gun, Will Travel as Alvah Brent
  • Have Gun, Will Travel as Faivel Melamed
  • Route 66 as Lieutenant Calder
  • Route 66 as Art Hannibal
  • The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as O.D. Parker
  • The Twilight Zone as Chief Bell
  • Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea as Steban
  • Combat! as Jackson
  • Lost in Space as Myko
  • Gunsmoke as Chad Timpson
  • Starsky and Hutch as Al Grossman
  • All in the Family as Bummie Fencel
  • Barney Miller as Al Mitchell
  • Galactica 1980 as Stockton
  • Galactica 1980 as John Stockton

    Discography

  • Tevya and His Daughters, Columbia Masterworks OL 5225
  • And the Testimony's Still Coming, Verve-Forecast FTS 3028