Jim Kelly (martial artist)

Jim Kelly, American actor, athlete, and martial artist (died 2013)

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Born: May 5, 1946
Died: June 29, 2013
Zodiac sign: Taurus
Birth year: 1946

About Jim Kelly (martial artist)

James Milton Kelly was an American athlete, martial artist actor, and professional tennis player. After winning several karate championships, he rose to fame in the early 1970s appearing in action films within the martial arts and blaxploitation genres. Kelly played opposite Bruce Lee in 1973's Enter the Dragon, and had lead roles in 1974's Black Belt Jones as the title character and Three the Hard Way as Mister Keyes. In 1971, he won four prestigious championships, most notably, the world middleweight title at the 1971 Long Beach International Karate Championships. Kelly was the first Black martial arts film star.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Jim Kelly (martial artist) timeline

1971In 1971, he won four prestigious championships, most notably, the world middleweight title at the 1971 Long Beach International Karate Championships.
1973Kelly played opposite Bruce Lee in 1973's Enter the Dragon, and had lead roles in 1974's Black Belt Jones as the title character and Three the Hard Way as Mister Keyes.

The world when Jim Kelly (martial artist) was born

Jim Kelly (martial artist) was born in 1946. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1946

#1 song"The Christmas Song" – Nat King Cole
Top movieThe Best Years of Our Lives
Best-selling bookThe King's General – Daphne du Maurier

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentFirst NBA (BAA) season begins
Top headlineUnited Nations General Assembly holds its first session
Technology milestoneENIAC — first general-purpose electronic computer
Defining fadBaby boom begins
Notable inventionTupperware
World population2.43 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
Sports championSt. Louis Cardinals (World Series)
U.S. population141.4M

1946 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Jim Kelly (martial artist)'s birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1946	2026
Gas	$0.21	$3.45/gal
Average home	$6,600	$435,000
Average income	$4,300	$67,500
Minimum wage	$0.40	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.35	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	141.4M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.