---
name: "David Patrick Kelly"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/david-patrick-kelly"
fi1m_id: "david-patrick-kelly"
imdb_id: "nm0446314"
tmdb_id: 1737
wikidata_id: "Q210076"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "23 January 1951"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 7
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 6
updated: "2026-10-04T19:05:49.774116+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# David Patrick Kelly

## Identity

David Patrick Kelly

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/david-patrick-kelly
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** david-patrick-kelly
- **IMDb ID:** nm0446314
- **TMDB ID:** 1737
- **Wikidata ID:** Q210076
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Patrick_Kelly, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q210076, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446314/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1737

Actor. Born 23 January 1951 in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 23 January 1951, Detroit, Michigan, USA
- **Active:** 1982–2017
- **Also known as:** دیوید پاتریک کلی
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 7: 6 acting, 1 other
- **Frequently works with:** [Joel Silver](https://film.one/person/joel-silver.md), [Steven E. de Souza](https://film.one/person/steven-e-de-souza.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as actor, over 6 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 69 (3), 1990s 78 (2), 2010s 78 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 78 to 71 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 5 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 2 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Action 4, Thriller 4, Crime 3, Adventure 1, Comedy 1, Drama 1
- **Screen time:** 12 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $457m across 6 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Patrick_Kelly, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q210076, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446314/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1737

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*48 Hrs.*](https://film.one/film/48-hrs.md) (78)
- **Tubi:** [*Commando*](https://film.one/film/commando.md) (74)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on David Patrick Kelly

> David Patrick Kelly makes a twitchy villain funny without making him harmless. We rate his precision in small parts, though the familiar screen menace can obscure an actor with more to offer than another threat.

In *48 Hrs.* (1982), David Patrick Kelly’s Luther is holding a girl hostage in a flat, and he is still allowed to be funny. James Remar’s Ganz kills without changing expression; Sonny Landham’s Billy Bear barely speaks. Kelly gives Walter Hill a twitchier villain, someone whose agitation changes the pace of a scene. We laughed at Luther’s nervous energy, then felt uncomfortable because the girl was still his prisoner. It is a small but useful distinction in a film whose other villains are nastier than the plot needs them to be.

Hill had already cast him as another Luther in *The Warriors* (1979), his screen debut, and would use him again in *Last Man Standing* (1996). That debut established the wiry, unstable antagonist who remains his most familiar screen presence. In *Commando* (1985), his Sully belongs to another cheerfully excessive action film, this time opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film is entertaining despite its thin writing, and we would not pretend that every memorable supporting turn makes a part substantial. This is the limit of the casting: his wiry intensity can become a convenient way of identifying the villain.

David Lynch offered a different setting for that intensity through *Wild at Heart* (1990) and the role of Jerry Horne in *Twin Peaks* (1990). The latter role makes use of the particular physical and vocal details that distinguish Kelly’s small parts. He returned as Jerry for the 2017 revival. There were repeated collaborations with Spike Lee too, including *Malcolm X* (1992), *Crooklyn* (1994) and *Chi-Raq* (2015), giving him work beyond the genre films that first made him recognisable.

His musical and comic work as Feste in the stage *Twelfth Night* (1998) is a useful reminder of what the screen villains leave out. Later film work includes Charlie in *John Wick* (2014), another supporting part. The familiar early roles still carry much of his reputation, which is understandable but limiting. Of our reviewed films, *48 Hrs.* makes the strongest case for seeking him out. Start there, provided a funny villain is enough compensation for some ugly dialogue.

## Biography

David Patrick Kelly is an American actor and musician. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he graduated cum laude with a BFA from the University of Detroit and trained with Stella Adler and Marcel Marceau. He began his career in New York theatre before making his screen debut in 1979.

Kelly is known for his role as Luther in *The Warriors* (1979) and for repeating the name in *48 Hrs.* (1982). His other film credits include *Commando* (1985), *The Crow* (1994), *Crooklyn* (1994), *The Longest Yard* (2005) and *John Wick* (2014). He has collaborated with Spike Lee and David Lynch, and appeared as Feste in a 1998 production of *Twelfth Night*. In 1998 he received an Obie Award for sustained excellence in theatre.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, catalog.afi.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (7)

### Performed in (6) — the average rests on these

- *John Wick: Chapter 2* (2017), Fi1m 76, as Charlie — [page](https://film.one/film/john-wick-chapter-2.md)
- *John Wick* (2014), Fi1m 80, as Charlie — [page](https://film.one/film/john-wick.md)
- *Malcolm X* (1992), Fi1m 79, as Mr. Ostrowski — [page](https://film.one/film/malcolm-x.md)
- *Wild at Heart* (1990), Fi1m 78, as Dropshadow — [page](https://film.one/film/wild-at-heart.md)
- *Commando* (1985), Fi1m 74, as Sully — [page](https://film.one/film/commando.md)
- *48 Hrs.* (1982), Fi1m 78, as Luther — [page](https://film.one/film/48-hrs.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Beverly Hills Cop* (1984), Fi1m 55, as Luther (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/beverly-hills-cop.md)

## Complete filmography (64)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Sheriff Country* (2025), series, as Mitchell
- *Adieu, Lacan* (2022), as Lacan
- *Asking For It* (2022), as Sheriff Morel
- *Ray Donovan: The Movie* (2022), as Matty
- *Only Murders in the Building* (2021), series, as Miller — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/only-murders-in-the-building.md)
- *Paint* (2020), as David Crays
- *The Return of Tragedy* (2020), as Katebush
- *Fugitive Dreams* (2020), as Henri Gatien
- *VFW* (2019), as Doug McCarthy
- *Succession* (2018), series, as Paul Chambers — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/succession.md)
- *O.G.* (2018), as Larry
- *John Wick: Chapter 2* (2017), as Charlie — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/john-wick-chapter-2.md)
- *Feed the Beast* (2016), series, as Ziggy Woichik
- *To Keep the Light* (2016), as Brackett
- *Chi-Raq* (2015), as General King Kong
- *John Wick* (2014), as Charlie — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/john-wick.md)
- *Madso's War* (2010), as Danny Driscoll
- *Louie* (2010), series, as Therapist (uncredited), Therapist — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/louie.md)
- *Gossip Girl* (2007), series, as Noah Shapiro
- *Gardener of Eden* (2007), as Pa Harris
- *Flags of Our Fathers* (2006), as President Truman
- *The Longest Yard* (2005), as Unger
- *Justice* (2003), as Marty
- *Hack* (2002), series, as Eddie O'Daniel
- *Personal Velocity* (2002), as Peter
- *K-PAX* (2001), as Howie
- *Law & Order: Criminal Intent* (2001), series, as Bo Levy
- *Songcatcher* (2001), as Earl Giddens
- *Third Watch* (1999), series, as Danny McGowan
- *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (1999), series, as Orville Underwood
- *In Too Deep* (1999), as Rick Scott
- *Twelfth Night* (1998), as Feste
- *Trojan War* (1997), as Bagman
- *Cafe Society* (1997), as J. Roland Sala
- *Last Man Standing* (1996), as Doyle
- *Flirting with Disaster* (1996), as Fritz Boudreau
- *The Funeral* (1996), as Michael Stein
- *Heavy* (1995), as Grey Man in Hospital
- *Crooklyn* (1994), as Tony Eyes / Jim
- *The Crow* (1994), as T-Bird
- *Exterior Night* (1993), as Biff
- *Malcolm X* (1992), as Mr. Ostrowski — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/malcolm-x.md)
- *Ghostwriter* (1992), series, as Double-T, Double-T (archive footage)
- *Mad About You* (1992), series, as Cabbie with Chicken
- *Law & Order* (1990), series, as Josh Perlberg — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/law-and-order.md)
- *Wild at Heart* (1990), as Dropshadow — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/wild-at-heart.md)
- *The Adventures of Ford Fairlane* (1990), as Sam the Sleaze Bag
- *Twin Peaks* (1990), series, as Jerry Horne — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/twin-peaks.md)
- *Penn & Teller Get Killed* (1989), as Fan
- *Cheap Shots* (1988), as Arnold Posner
- *Date Rape* (1988), as Mr. Bisphane
- *The Misfit Brigade* (1987), as The Legionnaire
- *Commando* (1985), as Sully — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/commando.md)
- *Moonlighting* (1985), series, as McBride — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/moonlighting.md)
- *Beverly Hills Cop* (1984), as Luther (uncredited) — Fi1m 55, [page](https://film.one/film/beverly-hills-cop.md)
- *Tales from the Darkside* (1984), series, as Richard Hall
- *Miami Vice* (1984), series, as Jerry — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/miami-vice.md)
- *Dreamscape* (1984), as Tommy Ray Glatman
- *48 Hrs.* (1982), as Luther — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/48-hrs.md)
- *Hammett* (1982), as The Punk
- *Working* (1982), as Copyboy
- *American Playhouse* (1982), series, as Copyboy, Ansel Adams
- *Sanctuary of Fear* (1979), as Audience Member
- *The Warriors* (1979), as Luther

## Gallery

- ![David Patrick Kelly](https://film.one/media/person/396091/gallery-db61f2bb9064.jpg) David Patrick Kelly — Ofkings, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/St.Jude_.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![David Patrick Kelly](https://film.one/media/person/396091/gallery-6a95c1c39cc2.jpg) David Patrick Kelly — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/david-patrick-kelly