In June 1994, in several American cities, the first screening of the world-famous cartoon "The Lion King", released by Walt Disney, took place.
The plot is familiar to everyone: the main character is the lion cub Simba, the prince and future king of the African savannah. All lions and other animals are happy for his birth, with the exception of Scar - Uncle Simba. He is doing everything to get rid of his disturbing nephew and again become the first contender for the title of king.
One of those who contributed to the creation of the picture was the American actress Moira Kelly. She took part in working on the cartoon as a voice actress and gave her voice to Nala, a childhood friend, and later the main character's lover.
For Moira Kelly, “The Lion King” was the most successful project. However, on Nala, the list of her roles does not end there.
Moira Kelly biography and photos: childhood and adolescence
The future actress was born March 6, 1968 in the United States, New York, in the Queens area, located on the island of Long Island. Her parents, Anne and Peter Kelly, were immigrants from Ireland. Father is a violinist and mother is a nurse. Moira became the third child of six.
Parents were pious and deeply religious Catholics, tried to instill the same thing in all their children. Years later, in an interview, Kelly mentioned that she even wanted to become a nun in her childhood. Later, she had to choose between this aspiration and acting career.
Moira Kelly attended Connectot High School, which she graduated in 1986. Then she entered Marymount College Manhattan - an independent private educational institution in New York.
In school, Moira Kelly participated in a small production of the musical “Annie”. She played one of the secondary roles in it. Initially, Kelly did not plan to perform on stage, but one of the girl actresses became ill, and Moira Kelly had to replace her. It was this incident that affected the girl in terms of choosing a life path, and she became an actress, not a nun, as she wanted in childhood.
Actor career
Kelly's debut as a professional actress took place in 1991, when she played the role of Cinnamon Brown in the American mini-series Love, Falsehood and Murder.
The following year, Moira Kelly starred in the prequel to David Lynch’s cult drama series Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks: Through the Fire, playing the role of Donna. This film contains frank sex scenes with the participation of the character Kelly, so the actress, as a pious Catholic, had to go home and ask her priest for permission to shoot.
The priest replied that there is nothing worthy of condemnation if the actress does this not for the sake of money, but solely for the sake of art and creative aspirations.
Filmography
Golden Ice is a romantic comedy directed by Paul Michael Glaser. In this film, Moira Kelly played one of her first major roles.
The heroine of the actress is called Kate Mosley. She is a successful skater, rich and spoiled, striving to always be the best of the best. It is for these reasons that Kate always performs solo, without a partner. This could go on, but once in the life of a skater, a brash and ambitious Dag Dorsey appears - a former hockey player forced to leave his favorite sport due to a serious injury. Initially, there is no sympathy between them, but the couple is forced to unite for the common goal - winning the Winter Olympics.
In 1998, Marshall Herskowitz’s film “Honest Courtesan” was released about the life of young Veronica Franco, who has to become a prostitute because of her family’s poverty. The main character was played by the English actress Catherine McCormack, and Moira Kelly played the secondary role of Beatrice Venier. Why the courtesan is honest, the viewer will be able to find out in the course of the plot.
Moira Kelly, whose original voice became the voice of the lioness Nala from the first part of The Lion King, also voiced her character in subsequent cartoons - The Lion King 2: Pride of Simba and The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata.
Currently
At the moment, in the filmography of Moira Kelly, several dozens of roles in films and TV shows. The last work of the actress is the role of Madeline in the series "Girl in the Bunker", released in 2018.
As for the personal life of Moira Kelly, it is known that in 2000, Kelly married businessman Steve Hewitt. The couple has two children: daughter Ella, who was born in 2001, and son Imon, who was born in 2003. The family lives in the city of Flower Mound, which is located in Texas.