Film In his debut role of Luther in
Walter Hill's 1979
cult film The Warriors, Kelly screeches the famous line, "Warriors... come out to play-ee-ay!" which was not in the script and which he improvised in collaboration with Walter Hill who asked him to come up with something. Kelly's film credits include
Commando (as Sully),
The Crow,
Crooklyn,
Hammett,
Dreamscape,
The Adventures of Ford Fairlane,
Last Man Standing,
Songcatcher,
K-PAX,
The Longest Yard,
Flags of Our Fathers,
John Wick (reprising his role as Charlie in
John Wick: Chapter 2), and
Chi-Raq. Kelly played Dropshadow in
David Lynch's film
Wild at Heart, which won the
Palme d'Or at
Cannes in 1990. He appeared in the 1996 video game
Ripper., and
Only Murders in the Building.
Stage He performed in a few
off-off-Broadway theater productions during the 1970s and 1980s. These included
Wilford Leach's ''C.O.R.F.A.X. (Don't Ask)'', produced at
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 1975, and Ireneusz Iredyński's
An Altar to Himself, as adapted by Michal Kobialka and Liz Diamond and directed by
Virlana Tkacz at La MaMa in 1989. He also appeared in the April 1974 production of
Mr. Jello, written and directed by
George Birimisa, and then performed a song for which he wrote the music from
Mr. Jello, at a benefit hosted by La MaMa to honor
H.M. Koutoukas, called "For the Benefit of Harry", also in 1974. In 1976, he performed in La MaMa's "Cracker Club Country Fair Gala" in segments from
Paul Foster's
Silver Queen and
Leonard Melfi's
Horse Opera. In 1998, Kelly played the role of
Feste in the
Lincoln Center production of
Twelfth Night directed by
Nicholas Hytner. Kelly originated the role of Da in
Once on
Broadway, which was awarded the 2012
Tony Award for Best Musical. Kelly sang and played mandolin on the
Grammy Award-winning soundtrack for
Once. In 2015, he appeared as Michaud, alongside
Keira Knightley, in the
Roundabout Theatre Company's production of
Helen Edmundson's adaptation of
Thérèse Raquin in the
Studio 54 space. In 2022, Kelly played the Narrator and the Mysterious Man in
Stephen Sondheim's
Into the Woods at
Encores! and later at the
St. James Theatre on Broadway and on the 2023 national tour. In 2024, Kelly played King Sextimus the Silent in
Once Upon a Mattress at
Encores! Kelly played Morten Kiil in
Amy Herzog's new adaptation of
An Enemy of the People at
Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway, directed by
Sam Gold.
Music As a composer and musician, Kelly participated in New York's rock and cabaret scene, playing such venues as
Max's Kansas City, Reno Sweeney's,
CBGB, and The Lower Manhattan Ocean Club. He wrote the music for the titular song of
George Birimisa's
Mr. Jello, which was produced at La MaMa in 1974. In May 2008, he released an album of his original music titled
David Patrick Kelly: Rip Van Boy Man, which contained new songs and live recordings from his club days in 1975. In 2024 he had a cameo as a cop on
Warriors, a concept album by
Lin-Manuel Miranda and
Eisa Davis based on the 1979 movie
The Warriors, in which he starred. ==Awards==