Gerard Kelly would have appreciated his final audience, and had the much-loved comedian been present in more than spirit, he no doubt would have greeted the 700 friends, family and fans who assured a full house in St Aloysius’, in Glasgow’s Garnethill, with his signature panto catchphrase “Hiya pals!”
“Kelly made such an impact on so many. We’ll all miss him,” said close friend, actor Andy Gray, after the service for the star of stage and TV who died of a suspected brain aneurism aged only 51 at home in London last month.
Actress Elaine C Smith echoed the sentiment, and praised the actor whose appeal crossed three generations. “Kelly was an uncle to my kids,” she said of her teenage daughters.
Fellow stars of comedy, such as Gregor Fisher, Tony Roper, David Hayman and Barbara Rafferty, expressed their love for an actor – who appeared by his real name Paul Kelly on the order of service – with whom they had worked and shared laughs.
Many, such as Jan Wilson, who played Kelly’s mother in BBC 1980s sitcom City Lights, were distraught.
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