Fred Kelsey: What a Character

Fred Kelsey, a pioneer character actor in both silent and talking motion pictures, was born in Sandusky on August 28, 1884. Known as “the detective of the screen,” Kelsey’s trademarks were a derby hat, a big cigar, and his thick moustache. He appeared in several Three Stooges movies.

In his listing in the Internet Movie Database his film credits total over four hundred. Kelsey started out directing in 1909, but by the 1920’s he was well-established in his role of the bungling policeman or detective. Fred Kelsey was so typecast as a comedy cop that in 1944 animator Tex Avery patterned the detective in the MGM classic cartoon “Who Killed Who” after Fred’s character.

Fred Kelsey often came back to Sandusky for the annual reunion of the “Quien Sabe” Club, a local men’s organization. The photograph below was taken at the Club’s fiftieth reunion in August, 1953 at the Log Cabin Inn in Bay View.Fred Kelsey died on September 2, 1961. He is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood, California.

Archives Month: 50th Anniversary Reunion of Quien Sabe Club

On an August day in 1953, forty-three men with roots in Sandusky met at the Log Cabin Inn (now the Angry Trout), in Bay View -- the 50th anniversary reunion of the members of the Quien Sabe club.

Quien Sabe was formed in Sandusky in 1903 as a social group for young business and professional men. (Quien Sabe means "who knows?" in Spanish.) At first, they met in office space in the Kingsbury Block, but eventually they established their own club space in the James building on Market Street. The group disbanded in 1916. In its 13 years of operation, about 150 men of Sandusky were members.

The Golden Jubilee Reunion in 1953 brought back a number of former Sanduskians to their old home town. Among the more notable visitors was Fred Kelsey, who achieved success as an actor and director in Hollywood, and Dr. Walter Rittman, a well-known chemical engineer.