Jim Kelly

Acting

Jim Kelly

Born — Died

1946-05-05 — 2013-06-29

Place of birth

Paris, Kentucky, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

25 titles

James Milton "Jim" Kelly (May 5, 1946 – June 29, 2013) was an American athlete, martial artist, and actor best known for his roles in 1970s action and blaxploitation films. Born in Millersburg, Kentucky, Kelly excelled in athletics from a young age, participating in multiple sports before dedicating himself to Okinawan karate. He became a decorated karate champion, winning several prestigious titles in 1971 and opening his own dojo in Los Angeles. His appearance alongside Bruce Lee in "Enter the Dragon" (1973) launched his acting career, leading to starring roles in films like "Black Belt Jones" (1974) and "Three the Hard Way" (1974). Beyond martial arts and acting, Kelly was also a professi…

Known for

Highway to Heaven poster
7.4

A probationary angel is sent back to Earth to team up with an ex-cop and help people.

Highway to Heaven

1984

Enter the Dragon poster
7.4

A martial artist agrees to spy on a reclusive crime lord using his invitation to a tournament there as cover.

Enter the Dragon

1973

Bruce Lee, the Legend poster
7.9

The Official Golden Harvest tribute to the Master of the Martial Arts Film, Bruce Lee.

Bruce Lee, the Legend

1984

Take a Hard Ride poster
5.3

After his cattle rancher boss dies, right-hand man Pike is given the job of returning $86,000 to some families who live across the border in Sonora, Mexico. Honest Pike is joined on the trip through the wilderness by a dishonest gambler named Tyree.

Take a Hard Ride

1975

Black Belt Jones poster
6.0

Jones is a secret agent who has gone into semi-retirement, concentrating instead on teaching the martial arts to inner city youths. The karate school is run by a kindly old coot named Pops. His gambling debts, however, bring the local thug, Pinky, down on him. To make matters worse, Pinky is then hired by some white thugs who want to get a hold of the property Pops' school occupies so they can build a shopping mall. When things get heavy, Black Belt Jones leaps into action. Only he's not alone. Pops' daughter, Sidney, shows up to lend a hand, proving herself every bit as agile and powerful a martial artist as Jones.

Black Belt Jones

1974

Death Dimension poster
4.4

The Pig has a plan to eradicate some people with a freeze bomb that instantly freezes people to death. It is up to Detective Ash to stop him and protect the woman with the secret to the ice bomb embedded in a microdot under the skin of her forehead.

Death Dimension

1978

Film credits

2000s · 4 titles

1990s · 5 titles

Stranglehold poster
5.7

Deep inside the nation's top chemical weapons facility, a brilliant terrorist takes a Congresswoman hostage. The Navy can't stop him. The Air Force can't reach him. The Coast Guard can't kill him. Only one man can do the job: special agent Ryan Cooper. He's in a race against time to save the world, facing his greatest challenge yet!

Stranglehold

1994

Top Fighter poster
6.6

Welcome to the world of the martial arts. A voyage for the times of the martial arts cinema, from the beginning in China in the 6th Century A.C. by a Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma, until the actual time and the influence in the world, with interviews to actors and historians, and a review to the most important movies of all times and to the most famous action movies actors. A magnificent jewel of this genre what nobody wouldn't lose.

Top Fighter

1995

Death by Misadventure: The Mysterious Life of Bruce Lee poster
8.1

Death by Misadventure: The Mysterious Life of Bruce Lee exposes the truth behind Lee's death and the cover-up that ensued.

Death by Misadventure: The Mysterious Life of Bruce Lee

1993

No artwork available
NR

A compilation of some of the best Black Action films of the 70s! Hosted by Mr. Dolemite himself... RUDY RAY MOORE!

Afros, Macks & Zodiacs

1995

Ultimatum poster
6.7

Dina Bonnevie played a Filipina working with a US-based chemical company which sent a team to the Philippines to check a branch here. Eddie Garcia played the Chief of Police assigned to protect the chemical company's visiting group which fell victim to a terrorist gang headed by Vernon Wells. Eddie was only too obsessed to save the chemical company group because Dina happened to be his girlfriend, who, against Eddie's wishes, had gone to the U.S.A. for greener pastures.

Ultimatum

1994

1970s · 12 titles

Enter the Dragon poster
7.4

A martial artist agrees to spy on a reclusive crime lord using his invitation to a tournament there as cover.

Enter the Dragon

1973

Take a Hard Ride poster
5.3

After his cattle rancher boss dies, right-hand man Pike is given the job of returning $86,000 to some families who live across the border in Sonora, Mexico. Honest Pike is joined on the trip through the wilderness by a dishonest gambler named Tyree.

Take a Hard Ride

1975

Black Belt Jones poster
6.0

Jones is a secret agent who has gone into semi-retirement, concentrating instead on teaching the martial arts to inner city youths. The karate school is run by a kindly old coot named Pops. His gambling debts, however, bring the local thug, Pinky, down on him. To make matters worse, Pinky is then hired by some white thugs who want to get a hold of the property Pops' school occupies so they can build a shopping mall. When things get heavy, Black Belt Jones leaps into action. Only he's not alone. Pops' daughter, Sidney, shows up to lend a hand, proving herself every bit as agile and powerful a martial artist as Jones.

Black Belt Jones

1974

Death Dimension poster
4.4

The Pig has a plan to eradicate some people with a freeze bomb that instantly freezes people to death. It is up to Detective Ash to stop him and protect the woman with the secret to the ice bomb embedded in a microdot under the skin of her forehead.

Death Dimension

1978

Golden Needles poster
5.3

An ancient Asian statue with the power to grant health and long life via secret acupuncture points is being pursued by a wealthy criminal, but his plans are put in peril when a slovenly detective is tasked with protecting the relic.

Golden Needles

1974

Three the Hard Way poster
6.2

After his wife is kidnapped by a group of White supremacists, a record producer teams up with a PR man and a martial artist to get her back and put a stop to their plot to poison the water supply with a toxin that only kills Black people.

Three the Hard Way

1974

The Tattoo Connection poster
5.2

When a diamond is stolen in Hong Kong, the company insuring the diamond sends a former CIA agent to Hong Kong to retrieve it. Meanwhile, one of the thieves begins to have a change of heart because his girlfriend wants him to leave his criminal organization.

The Tattoo Connection

1978

Hot Potato poster
4.1

Martial-arts expert tries to rescue an ambassador's daughter who was kidnapped in Thailand.

Hot Potato

1976

Location: Hong Kong with Enter the Dragon poster
NR

Promotional film on the making of 'Enter the Dragon.'

Location: Hong Kong with Enter the Dragon

1973

Mr. No Legs poster
5.8

A double amputee known as Mr. No Legs oversees a drug syndicate while cavorting around in his double shotgun-equipped wheelchair. When one of the syndicate's drug dealers accidentally kills his own girlfriend—whose brother is a cop—after she announces plans to leave him, the game is on to bury the evidence, protect the syndicate and evade the long arm of the law.

Mr. No Legs

1978

Black Samurai poster
5.6

When the daughter of the royal family is held hostage, an agent for "D.R.A.G.O.N." will stop at nothing to destroy the evil organisation which abducted her.

Black Samurai

1976

Melinda poster
4.8

A slick, smooth-talking, womanizing young black DJ falls hard for an enigmatic woman he's just met. Things take a turn for the worse, though, when she is found dead in his apartment. It turns out that she was killed by the local mob, which is trying to frame him for the crime. With the police after him, he calls on some of his old acquaintances to help clear his name and avenge the woman's death.

Melinda

1972

Series credits