Bob Kelley

Who was Bob Kelley?

Robert J. "Bob" Kelley was born May 17, 1917, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and died September 9, 1966, in Los Angeles. He was an American sportscaster, best known as the announcer for the Rams pro football team from that NFL franchise's inception in 1937 in Cleveland, after its move to Los Angeles in 1946, and through 1964.

After graduation from high school, Kelley got a job announcing the football games of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He became director of sports for radio station WGAR in Cleveland and began calling Ram games. In 1942 he joined radio station WJR in Detroit where he broadcast the games of the Michigan Wolverines, while commuting back to Cleveland on Sundays to do the Rams' games.

In addition to broadcasting Rams games, Kelley was the regular baseball announcer for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League from 1948 to 1957 and the Los Angeles Angels of the American League in 1961, and had an evening sports show on radio station KMPC. His announcing career ended when he suffered a heart attack at the Coliseum during the 1964 Pro Bowl game.

Kelley, who was known as "The Voice of the Rams", attended high school in Elkhart, Indiana, and was a 1942 graduate of Western Reserve University. He had several minor film roles, playing a sports announcer. His son Pat, who was known as Paraquat Kelley, also pursued a broadcasting career in Southern California.