View source for Ricky Kelman

==Early career==

Kelman is adopted. He was born in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ifa.zoomshare.com/album/California%20Adoptees/images/87ef9e550e815da1e445c13e8f747765_12123618110/:album|title=California Adoptees: Ricky Kelman|publisher=ifa.zoomshare.com|accessdate=November 23, 2012; now under a pay wall}}</ref> His first appearances were as a choirboy in 1954 and 1955 on ''The Red Skelton Hour''. He then had an uncredited role in the 1955 film ''A Man Called Peter'', based on the life of the [[U.S. Senate]] chaplain Peter Marshall. In 1957, he portrayed Jimmy Logan in the episode "Bentley and the Baby Sitter" on CBS's ''Bachelor Father'' series, with [[The John Forsythe Show|John Forsythe]] and Noreen Corcoran.<ref name=imdb/> In 1957, Kelman played the role of Elmer in the last of the ''Ma and Pa Kettle'' films, ''The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm.'' This was the last screen appearance by Marjorie Main.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blockbuster.com/catalog/movieDetails/62952#readMore|title=Synopsis of ''The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm''|publisher=blockbuster.com|accessdate=August 20, 2012}}</ref> 
  
In 1958-1959, young Kelman was cast in three episodes as Homer Foley on [[NBC]]'s children's western series, ''Buckskin'', with Tommy Nolan and Sally Brophy as a son and a mother living in a hotel in a small [[Montana]] town.<ref name="imdb">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0446989/|title=Ricky Kelman|publisher=Internet Movie Data Base|accessdate=August 18, 2012}}</ref> In 1958, Kelman appeared in the episode "The Unfamiliar" of [[Ronald W. Reagan]]'s ''General Electric Theater'' on CBS.<ref name=imdb/>
  
Kelman was cast as Randy Towne, the son of Dennis O'Keefe's character, Hal Towne, in ''The Dennis O'Keefe Show,'' which ran for thirty-two episodes. Hope Emerson played Amelia Sargent in the series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052460/|title=''The Dennis O'Keefe Show''|publisher=Internet Movie Data Base|accessdate=August 17, 2012}}</ref>
 
In the 1960 season premiere of ABC's ''77 Sunset Strip'', the then 10-year-old Kelman appeared in the role of Randolph in the episode "Attic", set in a remote mountain hideout. The episode also features Kathleen Crowley, Lee Van Cleef, and Gary Vinson.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0503371/|title="Atttic", September 16, 1960|publisher=Internet Movie Data Base|accessdate=August 18, 2012}}</ref> He made two appearances in 1961 on NBC's ''Bonanza'' in the episodes "Many Faces of Gideon Flinch" and "The Infernal Machine."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boyactors.org.uk/actor.php?ref=2202|title=Boy Actors: Ricky Kelman|publisher=boyactors.org.uk|accessdate=August 20, 2012}}</ref> 

In 1961, Kelman was cast in two conflicting roles as John and Oliver Hadley in the episodes "The Bully" and "The Sissy", respectively, of NBC's ''National Velvet'' family series. On December 7, 1961, he appeared as "Butch" in the episode "The Fabulous O'Hara" of ABC's ''[[The Donna Reed Show]].'' In 1961 and 1962, he appeared twice on CBS's ''Gunsmoke''<ref name=imdb/> and in 1962 as the youthful Alex in the episode "Young Man's Fancy" of CBS's ''The Twilight Zone'', co-starring with Phyllis Thaxter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/movies/title/0,,2192248,00.html|title=''The Twilight Zone'': "Young Man's Fancy" (1962)|publisher=artistdirect.com|accessdate=August 20, 2012}}</ref>
   
Then, Kelman played Tommy MacRoberts, one of the children, in the 34-episode ''Our Man Higgins'', with Stanley Holloway in the title role of an erudite English butler in the United States, with Frank Maxwell and Audrey Totter as the parents, Duncan and Alice MacRoberts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055697/|title=''Our Man Higgins''|publisher=Internet Movie Data Base|accessdate=August 18, 2012}}</ref>