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aybe it’s understandable. After appearing in more than 13 films including“Con Air” and “The Rock,” and 39 television episodes (22 of those as Mike Savagein “Acapulco H.E.A.T.”), the only film Brendan Kelly took his kids to see was

“The Lizzie McGuire Movie,” released in 2003.Finally, he got to play the good guy.The Irish-American actor has been cast as a bad guy more often than not. Kelly’s

imposing 6-foot-4-inch frame, shaved head, and standing as a former internationallyranked amateur boxer combine to make him a formidable-looking enemy.

The real deal, though, is a 43-year-old father of five whose self-proclaimed claim to fameis the fact that he can push two carts through Costco at the same time. His vernacular ispunctuated with similes like “I’m as game as a Cornish hen.”

THENOT-SO-BAD

GUYACTOR BRENDAN KELLY AT HOME

IN LA QUINTA WITH HIS FAMILY

BY LINDA HARDIE PHOTOS: JON EDWARDS

M

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Raised in a Catholic household, Kelly absorbed his parents’values through repeated admonitions and encouragements.

“My father never got in the way of himself,” Kelly says. “Hesaid that he’d take the good bad guy over a bad good guy any day.

“My mother is the purest, sweetest woman in the world,”he says. “Once when I got in a fight behind the railroad tracksin back of our house, she came out and yelled over the fence,‘Remember boys, if you’re going to kill each other, kill eachother with kindness.’ It kind of took the fun out of the fight.”

That is not to say that he ever backed away from aworthwhile brawl.

“I was a bouncer, a boxer and I chased after plenty of badguys for money,” Kelly says.

“I wanted to get to the point that I could lick anybody…but my daddy could always lick me.”

Kelly got good enough that he was chosen as Mike Tyson’ssparring partner before the 1988 heavyweight championshiptitle fight versus Michael Spinks in Atlantic City, N.J. Tysonwon by a knockout 91 seconds into the fight, and he and Kellyremained friends.

“Tyson was tough, he came up hard,” Kelly says, “but heshowed acts of kindness as well.”

Notable was a recent gift of new Versace clothes, $40,000worth, that Tyson had delivered to Kelly’s home.

“We wear the same shirt size,” says Kelly, “but the pants area little short.”

Another pugilistic pursuit that didn’t earn him a dime butdid garner a citation from the Culver City Police Department,happened on the night the Kelly family arrived in Los Angelesfrom New York in 2002.

They had stopped at an El Pollo Loco in Culver City, wherehis parents live, when a man, obviously not in his right mind,was chasing a young woman across the street with a knife.Kelly ran out of the restaurant, through the traffic, tackled theassailant and held him down, foot to throat, while the policewere called. Meanwhile, a group of chain and crowbar-wielding workers came out of a nearby garage to attack theassailant, at which point Kelly found himself warding themoff until the police arrived.

It could have been out of a movie, but reality was in fullforce, brought home figuratively and literally by Sandra SarayaSalvador Kelly, who Brendan refers to as his “Ecuadorianprincess,” when she threw her wedding ring into the street andvowed to take the kids and leave him if he didn’t he didn’t

Above: Mike Tyson with Kelly in his earlier years. Top right: In characteras Mr. George in “Victim,” screening this year at Cannes.

Right: Brendan in his modeling days.

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Above: Teaching Hillary Duff how to box in Italy. Below: The Kelly clan. Brendan’s wife infull makeup (nine months pregnant) on her way to deliver their child.

FAVORITETHINGS

TO DO IN LA QUINTA:Family bike rides and walks.

We found Trixie, our Chiweenie,abandoned in the bushes on

one of these outings.

FAVORITE MOVIE:“Braveheart”

FAVORITE ROLE:As Mr. George in “Victim,”

screening this year at Cannes,about a confused bad guy who

doesn’t say a word.

FAVORITE ACTOR:Steve McQueen because he did

the most and said the least.

WORDS TO LIVE BY:God first, family second, self last,

and be prepared to have agood laugh at yourself in

any given situation.

“stop this vigilante(expletive).”

SAFE HAVEN IN LA QUINTAFast forward to La Quinta, where

the Kellys found the right home for theright price at the right time, encouragedby the senior Mr. Kelly who has owneda second home in Bermuda Dunesfor years.

“We wanted to be in a safe and quietplace,” says Kelly,” but close enough toL.A. that I could easily commute whenI needed to.”

The Kelly offspring — Larkan, 10,Tiernan, 9 (the only boy), Shaelan, 8,Quinlan, 6, and Caedan, 3 (the “homerun” Kelly says) — are home schooledby Sandra, a musician and former leadsinger in Saraya, a band that opened forMetallica and other big-name groups,including Def Leppard.

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34 LQ Magazine

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Kelly has taken his penchant for thegood fight to the computer keyboard,having completed a movie script aboutserial killer Larry Singleton (morespecifically about one of the victimsthat survived, the heroic Mary Vincent).With Brad Wyman, who produced“Monster,” it is now waiting tobe optioned.

Next up is a script about Claude“Thunderbolt” Patterson, achampionship wrestler with the WWA(World Wrestling Association, precursorto WCW, World ChampionshipWrestling) who was blacklisted in 1972and now heads up Athletes SupportingKids in Atlanta.

Simultaneously, the Kellys’ dream isto put together a kids’ Christian TVshow in the desert.

“We want to teach our kids and othersthat they are human first and not tocategorize, to teach them aboutfriendship. We want it to be fun andfunny without being preachy, sort ofBiblical “Sesame Street.”

Some bad guy this is.

Top: Brendan receiving a citation from CulverCity Police Department with his mother.Below: Brendan with his dad in Ireland, 1987.

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