Luke Kelly remembered: A force of nature on stage

ONE of the things friends remember about Luke Kelly — who passed away 30 years ago next Thursday — were his teeth. He got them fixed up in England where he went to live for a few years at 17 years of age.

Noel Pearson, the film producer and former manager of The Dubliners, remembers that Kelly’s false teeth kept falling out during his performances as King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar in 1973, the hit musical that Pearson produced at the Gaiety Theatre.

The actor and comedian Niall Tóibín, who performed with Kelly in several revue pieces over the years, says Kelly used to flash them when he’d open up on a song. And when he got his teeth stuck in a song few could match him. He was a force of nature, and one of the great interpreters of songs.