Kelly, George

Kelly, George, 1887–1974, American playwright, b. Philadelphia. He began his career as a vaudevillian, as both an actor and skit writer. His best-known plays, penetrating satires on American middle-class life, include The Torch-Bearers (1922), The Show-off (1924), Craig's Wife (1925; Pulitzer Prize), and The Deep Mrs. Sykes (1945).

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Kelly, George

 orig. George Kelly Barnes, Jr., known as Machine Gun Kelly

(born 1897?, Memphis, Tenn., U.S.—died July 17, 1954, Leavenworth, Kan.) U.S. gangster. He became notorious for committing a series of robberies and slayings in the Midwest. In 1933 he kidnapped the millionaire Charles F. Urschel; arrested soon afterward, he spent the rest of his life in prison. Though designated “Public Enemy No. 1,” he was by no means the most dangerous criminal of his day.