Barbara Kelly

Barbara Kelly (5 October 1923 – 15 January 2007) was a Canadian-British actress, best known for her television roles in the United Kingdom opposite her husband Bernard Braden in the 1950s and 1960s, and for many appearances as a panelist on the British version of What's My Line? Early years Barbara Kelly was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1923. As a child, she was given elocution lessons, and while Kelly hated the stage her mother was a frustrated actress. Kelly's first professional role was playing the Virgin Mary in a nativity play. Her father, an Irishman, was a lorry driver in Vancouver. Her mother, who was from Manchester, forced ballet classes and elocution lessons on her. Deeply unhappy at home, in 1942 she escaped to marry the actor and broadcaster Bernard Braden, and she soon did much radio work and toured across Canada in a stage show. Kelly also made her television debut at this time, appearing in The Stage Show. In 1949, she and her husband moved to the United Kingdom with their two children. A third child, Kim, was born in November 1948 in London. Career