• She has appeared in close to 60 movies and TV series, and is best known for her role in the 1989 crime movie “Drugstore Cowboy”.
• She grew up being interested in acting and sports, and obtained her Bachelor Arts degree from Guthrie Theater in 1980.
• She married Mitch Glazer in 1992, and has a daughter from a previous relationship.
• She’s a huge dog lover, passionate about travelling and supports the Black Lives Matter movement.
• She has an estimated net worth of over $20 million.
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Who is Kelly Lynch?
Kelly Ann Lynch was born in Golden Valley, Minnesota USA, on 31 January 1959 – her zodiac sign is Aquarius, and she holds American nationality. She’s an actress and a model, who has been credited with appearing in close to 60 movies and TV series, while she’s perhaps still known best for her portrayal of Dianne, one of the main characters in the 1989 crime movie “Drugstore Cowboy”. It was written and directed by Gus Van Sant, also starred Matt Dillon and James le Gros, and follows a boy and his crew who are robbing pharmacies, while evading the law. The movie won 12 of the 23 awards for which it was nominated.
Early life and education
Kelly was raised in Golden Valley alongside her sister Robin Lynch, by their father Robert Lynch who was a restaurateur, and their mother Barbara who was a modern dancer.
She grew up being interested in acting, and practiced her skills at both her elementary and later high school drama club. Kelly was also into sports, having played soccer for her high school’s team. Upon matriculating in 1977, she enrolled at the Guthrie Theater, and obtained her Bachelor Arts degree in 1980. Kelly then spent some time working as a flight attendant, but was also a model signed to the agency Elite Model Management, before she became a popular actress.
Roles in movies
Kelly made her debut film appearance in 1983, with her portrayal of an elite model in the drama “Portfolio”.
A couple of her following roles were in the 1986 science fiction “Osa”, the 1988 drama “Bright Lights, Big City”, and the 1988 romantic comedy “Cocktail”.
She gained recognition in 1989, when cast to play Doc, the main character in the action thriller “Road House”. It also starred Patrick Swayze and Sam Elliott, and follows a bouncer who has been hired to work at a dirty bar – the film was nominated for five awards.
A couple of Kelly’s following roles were in the 1989 drama “The Edge”, the 1990 action crime drama “Desperate Hours”, and the 1991 family comedy “Curly Sue”. The ‘90s saw her appear in over 10 movies, with the most popular among these the 1995 action crime science fiction “Virtuosity”. It was written by Eric Bernt, directed by Brett Leonard, and starred Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe and Kelly. The film follows a former police officer who has returned to work, to stop the serial killers who have escaped into the real world from a virtual reality simulation.
In 2000, Kelly played the supporting character Vivian Wood in the critically acclaimed action adventure comedy “Charlie’s Angels”, and a couple of her following roles were in the 2001 comedy “Joe Somebody”, the 2002 sports drama “The Slaughter Rule”, and the 2003 biographical drama “Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story”.
Her most notable performance in the 2000s was in the 2005 fantasy mystery “The Jacket”, directed by John Maybury, and which starred Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley and Daniel Craig. It follows a war veteran who has been sent to a mental institution, at which the doctors are now conducting experiments on him. It won one of the three awards for which it was nominated.
A couple of her roles in the first half of the 2010s were in the 2012 mystery crime thriller “Dark Desire”, the 2014 thriller drama “Glass Chin”, and the 2015 crime thriller drama “The Frontier”. Two of Kelly’s most recent movie roles have been in the 2016 romantic drama “Seattle Road”, and the 2020 romantic comedy drama “On the Rocks”.
Roles in TV series
Kelly made her debut TV series appearance in 1986, with her portrayal of Bartender in the episode “Prelude” of the action crime drama “The Equalizer”.
The following years saw her appear in a single episode of various series, such as the mystery horror drama “The Hitchhiker”, the action crime drama “Miami Vice”, and another mystery crime drama “Fallen Angels”.
In 2001, she was cast to make a guest appearance as Gloria Albright, in the episode “Boy’s Town” of the critically acclaimed fantasy comedy drama “Ally McBeal”. The series was created by David E. Kelley, starred Calista Flockhart and Greg Germann, and follows the life of the attorney Ally. It was a hit, winning 43 awards including a Primetime Emmy, while it was nominated for 115 other awards. Between 2004 and 2009, Kelly played the supporting character Ivan Aycock in the romantic drama “The L Word”, and in 2010 and 2011, she played Laurel Cooper, in the romantic comedy “90210”, which won two of the 19 awards for which it was nominated.
The year 2012 saw her play one of the main characters Meg Bannock, in the crime drama “Magic City”, created by Mitch Glazer, and which also starred Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Olga Kurylenko. It follows the lives of mobsters in Miami, in the 1950s.
Kelly’s most recent role in a TV series has been in 2017, when she played Deborah Hartsfield, in eight episodes of the mystery science fiction thriller “Mr. Mercedes”; created by David E. Kelley and starring Holland Taylor, Brendan Gleeson and Jharrel Jerome, it follows a retired detective who’s trying to catch a psychopathic killer, who has driven a stolen Mercedes into a crowd, and killed many people. The series won one of the 12 awards for which it was nominated.
Other credits
Kelly has received specials thanks for four movies: the 2000 short documentary “Getting G’d Up”, the 2003 comedy “Lost in Translation”, the 2004 action adventure comedy “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”, and the 2015 musical war comedy “Rock the Kasbah”.
She’s featured in a number of documentary movies, such as the 2002 “Searching for Debra Winger”, the 2008 “Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner”, and the 2019 “I Am Patrick Swayze”.
Kelly has made a guest appearance in a number of talk-shows, such as “Late Night with David Letterman”, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”.
Awards and nominations
In 2004, Kelly won a Prism Award for Performance in a TV Movie or Miniseries, for the movie “Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story”.
She was also nominated for two Film Independent Spirit Awards: one in 1990 for Best Female Lead, for her performance in “Drugstore Cowboy”, and the other in 1995 for Best Supporting Female, for her performance in “The Beans of Egypt, Maine”.
Love life and relationships
Kelly prefers to keep the details of her love life to herself, but it’s widely known that she’s today married to the American actor, film writer and producer Mitch Glazer.
Before meeting Kelly, Mitch was married to the American actress Wendie Malick, and they spent seven years together, before divorcing for unknown reasons. He and Kelly exchanged vows in 1992, and it appears as that they decided not to have children, as they both wanted to focus on their careers. There are also some who claim that Mitch is perhaps infertile, but this hasn’t been confirmed.
Sometime in the first half of the 1980s, long before meeting Mitch, Kelly was in a relationship with a man whose identity hasn’t been disclosed, and in 1985 she gave birth to their daughter Shane, who is today an actress and writer, and has appeared in around 15 movies and TV series.
As of June 2021, Kelly’s married to Mitch Glazer, and has a daughter from a previous relationship.
Hobbies and other interests
Kelly’s a huge lover of dogs, and her pet dog can be seen featured in many of her Instagram pictures.
She’s passionate about travelling, and has been all around the world for both work and pleasure. A couple of her favorite countries to travel to are France, Japan and England.
Kelly likes to listen to music, and her favorite performer is the late Prince.
She’s a fighter for equal rights of all humans, and today supports the movement Black Lives Matter.
Kelly’s still physically quite active, and has a couple of training sessions at the gym each week, thus her slim figure. She’s also following a strict diet, and avoids eating meat.
She has her own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are Russell Crowe, the late Heath Ledger, and Julia Roberts – a couple of her favorite movies are “A Good Year”, “Brokeback Mountain” and “Notting Hill”.
Age, height and net worth
Kelly’s age is 62. She has long blonde hair and blue eyes, her height is 5ft 9ins (1.75m) and she weighs around 134lbs (61kgs).
As of June 2021, her net worth has been estimated at over $20 million.
