Kelly Norton Monteith was born on October 17, 1942, in St. Louis, Missouri. Monteith, who was discovered in the early 1970s, appeared as a guest comedian on NBC’s The Tonight Show and the BBC’s Des O’Connor Tonight.

Monteith had a short-lived variety show on CBS called The Kelly Monteith Show in 1976. Following successful guest appearances on British chat shows, the BBC offered him his own series. Kelly Monteith premiered in 1979 and ran for six seasons.

It was notable for frequently shattering the fourth wall by showing Monteith in his dressing room before and after a scene. During the series’ run, Kelly Monteith earned the Silver Rose for the BBC at the Montreux Television Festival in Switzerland.

The BBC series was rebroadcast in the United States on the fledgling Arts and Entertainment Network. Monteith sustained two strokes in February 2021, leaving him with aphasia. He was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for two months.

Kelly Monteith funeral

Monteith died on January 1, 2023, at the age of 80, in his home in Los Angeles. His death was disclosed on January 2 via social media by The Anglophile Channel, a LA-based production business he later worked with.

He is survived by his two children from his marriage to Caroline Alexander. On social media, Monteith’s Kelly Monteith co-star Lisa Vanderpump led the tributes. Many comedians, including Bennett Arron, Al Murray, and John Wing Jr., paid tribute.