From the spectacular, heart-stopping Ringling Brothers & Barnum Bailey circus to the glitz and glamour of off-Broadway stage, Monika Kelly’s life may have looked like a three ring circus at times, but these days she likes to think of her life as a four-act play.
 
This year’s Grand Marshall in the Ballground Heritage Day Parade, Monika has brushed elbows with the likes of Joey Bishop, Dustin Hoffman, Carol Burnett and Frank Sinatra in her journey to north Georgia.
 
As a child, Monika watched her father, the world famous clown Emmett Kelly Sr., bring joy and laughter to millions, and she kept the family spirit alive not with clowning, but with her comedic acting. Her own acting career spanned more than 20 years and took her from the stage to television, films and commercials.
 
If the right role were offered, would she return to acting? “I’ve already thought about that — yes — Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate. In a heartbeat!”
 
Born in New York City to former professional acrobat, Evi Gebhardt, Monika said, “The fact that my father was 100% Irish and my mother is 100% German is probably the reason I like good beer!”
 
Her dad’s character, ‘Weary Willy,’ was in great demand world wide with the circus and at Harrah’s, so she spent half her childhood in Sarosota, FL and the other half in Lake Tahoe, CA. By the time she graduated high school, her father, born in 1898, was working mainly nightclubs, films and commercials. Her first memory of her father? “Riding on his shoulders — like any kid.” 
 

In 1979, when Monika was 22, her dad passed away while working on a United Way film with Tony Bennett. He was also in pre-production of a major motion picture of his life’s story. At his funeral Red Skelton simply remarked, “I guess those in Heaven needed a laugh.”
 
She and husband Rick moved from LA to Georgia in 1993. Why Atlanta? “My sister lives in Buckhead, and I was working a lot in Atlanta; it was a good market, and we’d made friends here.” She and Rick both wanted acreage and a place that was unique. That’s when they found Ball Ground. “Everyone we knew in Atlanta said, ‘You’re moving where?’” Monika laughed. “We just love it up here; it’s wonderful, or I wouldn’t be there.”
 
After two decades in a career field that demands perfection of everything external: the hair, the body, the nails, Monika decided to take a year off. She never returned. “As time goes by, I’m getting more and more disconnected from Hollywood, the Oscars.” She shrugs. “I don’t care anymore.” 
 
Monika spreads her time between managing her father’s estate and memorabilia, working part-time at the Ballground pharmacy, and her family.
 
From her father Monika observed first hand what it was like to bring joy and laughter to others. What brings joy to Monika these days is her family, friends and a little town in Georgia with a big heart called Ballground. 

Cindy writes freelance from Woodstock. She can be reached at cindy.morrow@gmail.com or visit her website: www.cindymorrow.net.