Kellye Nakahara was born on January 16 1948 in Oahu, Hawaii. As a young woman she moved to San Francisco to pursue a career in art. There she met her husband, David Wallet, who survives her. The two of them moved to Los Angeles.
Kellye Nakahara made her television debut on the show for which she is best known, M*A*S*H. She was hired midway through the first season and initially played a non-speaking role. Her name would vary in the early days of the show. Initially billed as Nurse (followed by a number which would vary by episode), then Nurse Able and later Nurse Charlie, eventually she became Nurse Kellye. In the end she appeared in more episodes than some of actors in leading roles on the show and became one of the most beloved characters on the show. In the role of Nurse Kellye, Miss Nakahara was also a pioneer. She was one of the first East Asian characters with a regular role on television. In the Seventies Kellye Nakahara also guest starred on an episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
In the Eighties Kellye Nakahara guest starred on the television shows Little House on the Prairie, At Ease, Matt Houston, Lottery!, Otherworld, and Hunter. She made her film debut as the cook in Clue in 1985. She also appeared in the movies Amazon Women in the Moon (1987) and She's Having a Baby (1988). In the Nineties she guest starred on the TV show Growing Pains, Dream On, Crisis Center, NYPD Blue, and Sabriana the Teen Age Witch. She was a guest voice on the animated series The Wild Thornberrys. She appeared in the movies Shattered (1991), 3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994), Black Day Blue Night (1995), and Doctor Dolittle (1998).
In recent years she resumed her career as an artist, working in watercolours and oil. She was active in the local art community and took part in art shows.
Kellye Nakahara was extremely talented. On M*A*S*H she created one of the most beloved of the show's secondary characters. In fact, it is quite possible that Nurse Kellye was the most popular of the nurses on the show. She was also memorable as the cigarette smoking cook in the cult movie Clue. She made numerous guest appearances on TV shows, playing everything from a desk sergeant on Otherworld to the Hawaiian goddess Pele on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. As if being a talented actress was not enough, Kellye Nakahara was also an accomplished artist. In a statement fellow M*A*S*H co-star Alan Alda said, "She began as a background performer and worked her way up to playing the lead in an episode I wrote for her. She was adorable and brilliant in the part, but, you couldn’t beat what she was as a person, funnier and warmer and kinder than most people I've known. We all loved her on M*A*S*H, and we’re all heartbroken to know she's gone. Kelley was a treasure."
That is a lovely tribute from Alan Alda, who knew her. For the rest of us, it is interesting how someone becomes a fixture in your life although you only know them as they pretend to be someone.
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