Jim Kelly

CTL-E-6264 · Person · other · 1946–2013

PROVISIONAL evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07455 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-6264.

James Milton Kelly was an American martial artist, actor, and athlete, identified in reference accounts as the first Black martial arts film star. Born May 5, 1946, in Paris, Kentucky, he competed in basketball, football, and track at Bourbon County High School and attended the University of Louisville on a football scholarship before leaving in his freshman year. He began studying karate in Kentucky in 1964, earned his black belt in San Diego five years later, and in 1971 won four championships, including the world middleweight title at the Long Beach International Karate Championships. He opened his own studio in Los Angeles. His first film role was in Melinda (1972); his breakout came as Williams, opposite Bruce Lee, in Enter the Dragon (1973), which led to a three-film contract with Warner Bros. He starred as the title character in Black Belt Jones (1974) and as Mister Keyes in Three the Hard Way (1974), and later headlined Black Samurai (1977). He also played professional tennis on the USTA senior circuit in later years. Kelly died of cancer on June 29, 2013, at his home in San Diego, California, aged 67.

The record

• Also known as: James Milton Kelly

Notes

Staged 2026-10-16 under CTL-GOV-006 (Scan Tail Wave 7 — 747 Program, FINAL Wave 13; seventh Scan Tail packet at the founder's 40-record size). Gate A (2026-10-16): Gate A CLEAR (hand-checked 2026-10-16): no Jim Kelly entity, alias, or variant in the live graph (3,910 entities). ID CTL-E-6264 free at staging. Containment check: the live graph holds no other Jim Kelly; references to the name in research resolved to this actor only. Supply: 747 Supply Ledger — Tier 4 corpus scan tail, corpus-gap-candidates-2026-10-15.json ranked #2854. The scan supplied the name string only; every fact is sourced under CTL-GOV-004. SCOPE GATE: Black American martial artist and actor whose Enter the Dragon role and 1970s starring films made him the first Black martial arts film star; a foundational figure in Black action cinema. Vital status: DECEASED — died June 29, 2013, San Diego, California, aged 67, of cancer (Wikipedia, accessed 2026-10-16; NPR obituary published July 1, 2013, reporting his death the preceding Saturday at home in San Diego). STATISTICS — Dates and counts (accessed 2026-10-16): born May 5, 1946, Paris, Kentucky; karate training begun 1964, black belt 1969 (NPR); four karate championships won in 1971, including the Long Beach world middleweight title (Wikipedia). IDENTITY RESOLVED: this is the martial-arts actor, NOT Jim Kelly the NFL quarterback — no quarterback record or alias is staged here. TIER GAP: No institutional/authoritative source (e.g., an AFI Catalog, TCM, or Smithsonian record) was opened for this subject; the record rests on NPR's obituary (reputable journalism) and Wikipedia. Birth date, birthplace, and the 1971 championship count are single-sourced to Wikipedia at page level. Tier capped at Provisional until an institutional film-reference source is opened. MEDIA: photo HELD (candidate: The 1973 Enter the Dragon production still of Kelly as Williams carried on his Wikipedia reference page — named candidate only; NO license is claimed — PHOTO-001 verification deferred); chart FILLED (charts/chart-ctl-e-6264-jim-kelly.svg, CTL graphic from this record's sourced facts); video HELD (No matching-entity CTL Short in the Shorts Link Map (shorts-link-map-2026-10-15.json, 233 rows, checked by name and variants, 2026-10-16); no near-miss title found.); audio HELD (no rights-cleared matching-entity audio staged); map N/A (Person records carry no map slot.) MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Person records carry no map slot.) | visual_assets = HELD: | chart = FILLED (Created for this packet (CTL graphic, CTL-PHOTO-001 lane) from the record's sourced facts.) | video = HELD (No matching-entity CTL Short in the Shorts Link Map (shorts-link-map-2026-10-15.json, 233 rows, checked by nam) | audio = HELD (HELD: No CTL-owned or rights-cleared matching-entity audio exists at staging.)

Sources

• NPR (via WCBW/WCBE), Jim Kelly, Actor In 'Enter The Dragon,' Dies (published July 1, 2013) (accessed 2026-10-16) — Kelly died at 67; breakout role in the Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon; starred in Black Belt Jones, Three the Hard Way, and Black Samurai; died of cancer on Saturday at home in San Diego per his ex-wife; began training in martial arts in 1964 in Kentucky and earned his black belt five years later in San Diego; in later years drew autograph seekers at comic book conventions (Associated Press reporting noted) — https://www.wcbe.org/2013-07-01/jim-kelly-actor-in-enter-the-dragon-dies (build store)
• Wikipedia, Jim Kelly (martial artist) (accessed 2026-10-16) — James Milton Kelly, born May 5, 1946, Paris, Kentucky; died June 29, 2013, San Diego, California, aged 67; Bourbon County High School and University of Louisville (football scholarship, left freshman year); won four karate championships in 1971 including the world middleweight title at the Long Beach International Karate Championships; first role Melinda (1972); played Williams in Enter the Dragon (1973); three-film Warner Bros. contract; Black Belt Jones (1974) title role, Three the Hard Way (1974) as Mister Keyes, Black Samurai (1977); first Black martial arts film star; USTA senior tennis circuit — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Kelly_(martial_artist) (build store)

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