Tim O'Kelly

Tim O'Kelly (variously O'Kelley; born Timothy Patrick Wright, March 12, 1941 – January 4, 1990) was an American actor best known for playing the homicidal sniper in Peter Bogdanovich's film Targets (1968).

O'Kelly first gained attention as a stage actor with the Santa Monica Group Theater. He later served as a director and acting coach with the group. Among the stage productions he appeared in was Peter Shaffer's The Private Ear/The Public Eye. Much of his television work was in Western series such as The Monroes, Cimarron Strip, The Big Valley,[10] and The Guns of Will Sonnett,[11] although he also made appearances in Batman.[12][13] O'Kelly also played Detective Danny "Danno" Williams in the pilot episode of Hawaii Five-O, but was replaced by James MacArthur after a preview audience found O'Kelly "too young" for the part.[14][15]

His one major film appearance was opposite Boris Karloff in Peter Bogdanovich's directorial debut Targets (1968), in which he played the spree killer Bobby Thompson, a character loosely based on Texas tower sniper Charles Whitman.[16] His final confirmed acting role was the 1970 film The Grasshopper (as the boyfriend of Jacqueline Bisset's character),[17] after which he faded from the public eye.[a]

O'Kelly was the son of Maurice Wayne Wright and Billie Jo Chew.[19][20] He had a brief marriage to actress Evelyn Rudie, whom he married in 1968.[21] Vital records indicate he died of cardiomyopathy in Los Angeles on January 4, 1990, aged 48.[20][22][23]