Henry Kulky
Acting
Born 1911-08-11
Died 1965-02-12
Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, USa
68 credits
Read biography
Henry Kulky (born Henry Kulakowich; August 11, 1911 – February 12, 1965) was an American actor and professional wrestler from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, probably best remembered as Chief Petty Officer Curly Jones from season 1 of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Kulky began boxing in his teenage years. After six bouts, he stopped boxing when he was offered a position training wrestlers at St. Matthew's Lyceum in his native Hastings-on-Hudson.
Stanislaus Zbyszko convinced Kulky to compete professionally in 1939. Moving to Argentina, Kulky competed throughout South America under the ring name Bomber Kulkavich. The number of matches in which he competed is uncertain; one claim states that he won 172 of 175 matches. Kulky, however, claims that he won nearly all of 7,000 matches. While in South America, he is also said to have won the continent's judo crown.
Like most wrestlers who turned to acting in the 1950s he owed his big break to Mike Mazurki. The two appeared in several parts in the 1940s and 1950s, with Mazurki's agent getting him a part in Call Northside 777.
Because of his rather tough guy image, Kulky became typecast as military men, thugs, gangsters, bartenders, wrestlers and other "strong guys" who were at times quite friendly and lovable characters contrasting strongly with the tough guy image. From 1953 to 1958, he played Otto Schmidlap in the television series The Life of Riley. In the series, Kulky portrayed a co-worker of series character Chester Riley, a wing riveter at an aircraft plant. In 1952 he appeared in an episode (#11) of Adventures of Superman, as a wrestler working for a crooked promoter. In 1954 he appeared in an episode (#141) of The Lone Ranger. From 1959 to 1962, Kulky was cast in the recurring role as Chief Max Bronsky in forty-six episodes of Jackie Cooper's CBS military sitcom-drama television series Hennesey. The role was close to Kulky's heart because during World War II, he was a boatswain's mate in the United States Navy.
Kulky's last role was as Chief Curley Jones in the television series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He died on February 12, 1965, in Oceanside, California, of a heart attack suffered while he was studying a script.
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Filmography
— top 60 of 68
Acting
54 credits
Bonanza
Maverick
The Red Skelton Show
I Love Lucy
Adventures of Superman
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
The Texan
The Life Of Riley
The Abbott and Costello Show
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
Public Defender
Cavalcade of America
The Thin Man
The Wonderful World of Disney
Hennesey
Hey, Jeannie!
Mighty Joe Young
A Star Is Born
Bombers B-52
It's Always Fair Weather
Call Northside 777
Up Periscope
The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing
The Red Danube
A Foreign Affair
Hell and High Water
U.S. Marshall
Love Me or Leave Me
I'll Cry Tomorrow
Illegal
Phantom of the Rue Morgue
Fixed Bayonets!
Guns of the Timberland
Army Daze
The World in His Arms
New Faces
New York Confidential
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.
Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops
Tarzan's Magic Fountain
To the Ends of the Earth
Tobor the Great
Red Skies of Montana
Love Nest
A Global Affair
South Sea Sinner
You Never Can Tell
Down Among the Sheltering Palms
The Human Jungle
The Glory Brigade
Alias the Champ
Sierra Stranger
A Likely Story
Other credits
6 credits
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