Richard Kelton

Richard Kelton (April 29, 1943 – November 27, 1978) was an American actor. He died of accidental carbon monoxide asphyxiation due to a faulty heater in his trailer while filming the NBC-TV miniseries Centennial.

Life and career

Born Richard Duane Kelton in Lincoln, Nebraska, Kelton the only child of Alvis Fred Kelton (1917-1996), a former Army Air Corps flight instructor and engineer during World War II and schoolteacher,^[1] and his wife, the former Glenna Sedalia Zachary (1912-1989).^[2]

While growing up in Miami, Oklahoma, After briefly attending Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in 1963, he transferred to The University of Kansas, earning his Bachelors' Degree in drama 1966, and then his Masters' two years later, in 1968. He returned briely in 1973 to appear in a campus production of He made his way to California where he made his debut playing "Bud" in an episode of Gunsmoke. In 1967, made his film debut with a small part in the movie In Cold Blood (1967) as Nancy's boyfriend. Soon after arriving in California with his wife in 1970, he got another guest starring role in the ABC-TV series The Young Rebels.

Soon afterwards, he made his TV movie debut as "Lieutenant Charring" in Wild Women (1970). He continued in numerous other guest starring roles and a movie roles. He also played the role of "Nick" in the Broadway revival of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? in 1976.

After returning to California, he had a guest-starring role on ABC-TV's Charile's Angels that same year, 1976, His performance was so well received, that he was offered the starring role as "Ficus Pandorata" in the short-lived NBC-TV science fiction series Quark (1978). Later that year he was invited back to The University of Kansas to give a short seminar on films.

Death

Kelton died of accidental carbon monoxide asphyxiation due to a faulty heater in his trailer while filming the NBC-TV miniseries Centennial, in which he was to have co-starred in. Universal Studios, which produced the TV miniseries, was fined $720 for the failure to provide a proper ventilation system for the trailer which Kelton had retreated to rehearse his lines.^[3][4][5]

Legacy

His alma mater, KU, established the Richard Kelton Memorial Fund was established in December 1978 to aid student actors in their professional acting aspirations.^[5] The fund still exists today in the form of the Richard Kelton Memorial Scholarship, that provides scholarships for undergraduate students majoring in theatre with an emphasis in acting ^[6] He was survived by his wife, the former Eileen Jacobsen, and son Zachary (born in 1974), and his parents.

Filmography

References

External links

• Richard Kelton at the Internet Movie Database
• Richard Kelton at Find a Grave
• Richard Kelton at the Internet Broadway Database