Men Of Character Character Actors
Henry "Bomber" Kulky
Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (TV)/ Chief Curly Jones
The Life Of Riley (TV)/ Otto Schmidlap
The Charge At Feather River/ Pvt. Smiley
Up Periscope/ Chief Petty Officer York
Per Quinlan's Character Stars:
Squat, hairy, dark haired, flat nosed, cigar chewing American actor whose battered features bore mute witness to scores of boxing and wrestling bouts as Bomber Kulkovitch. At one time he was judo champion of South America, but in post war years fellow ex wrestler Mike Mazurki introduced him to films where he played tough minor heavies and equally tough good hearted sergeants of army and cavalry alike............. He used to joke that his wrestling days taught him all that he needed to know about acting.
He was born Henry Kulkowich in 1911 at Hastings on the Hudson, NY.
He was originally a boxer, wrestler and judo champion before entering films and television.
Kulky stopped boxing when he was offered a position to train wrestlers. Moving to Argentina, he competed all through out South America as Bomber Kulkovich. While in South America he also garnered the continent's judo crown.
According to Kulky he was involved in approximately 7,000 matches and won the majority of them.
His film debut was in 1947 in the film A Likely Story.
Some of the film roles of Henry Kulky were:
A Likely Story (1947) as Tremendo
Call Northside 777 (1948) as First Bartender
Alias A Gentleman (1948) as Moving Man
To The Ends Of The Earth (1948) as Giant Chinese Man
A Foreign Affair (1948) as Russian Soldier At Marketplace
Tarzan's Magic Fountain (1949) as Vredek
State Department File 649 (1949) as Mongolian Soldier
Mighty Joe Young (1949) as Strongman
The Red Danube (1949) as Russian Officer At Camp 12
Bodyhold (1949) as Kalumbo
Wabash Avenue (1950) as Joe Barton
Jiggs And Maggie Out West (1950) as Bomber Kulkovich
Love That Brute (1950) as Mug
South Sea Sinner (1950) as Bartender
Force Of Arms (1951) as Sgt. Reiser
The Guy Who Came Back (1951) as Wizard, Wrestler
Love Nest (1951) as George Thompson
The Kid From Amarillo ( 1951) as Zeno
Fixed Bayonets (1951) as Vogl
Red Skies Of Montana (1952) as Dawson
Gobs And Gals (1952) as Boris
Red Planet Mars (1952) as Military Guard
The World In His Arms (1952) as Peter
What Price Glory (1952) as Company Cook
Because You're Mine (1952) as Sergeant
No Holds Barred (1952) as Mike The Mauler
Target Hong Kong (1953) as Dutch Pfeifer
Down Among The Sheltering Palms (1953) as First Sergeant Jones
The Glory Brigade (1953) as Sgt Smitty Smitkowsky
Powder River (1953) as Bartender
The Charge At Feather River (1953) as Pvt. Smiley
Chipped Wings (1953) as Sgt. Broski
Yukon Vengeance (1954) as Schmidt
Hell And High Water (1954) as Gunner McCrossin
Phantom Of Rue Morgue (1954) as Sailor Maurice
Fireman Save My Child (1954) as Harry
Tobor The Great (1954) as Paul - Spy and Henchman
The Human Jungle (1954) as Marty
The Steel Cage (1954) as George
Prince Of Paupers (1955) as Bartender
Abbott And Costello Meet The Keystone Cops (1955) as Brakeman
New York Confidential (1955) as Gino
Finger Man (1955) as Louie
Francis In The Navy (1955) as Auction Bidder
To Hell And Back (1955) as Sgt. Stack
Jail Busters (1955) as Marty
The Girl In The Red Velvet Swing (1955) as Prisoner
Illegal (1955) as Taylor
It's A Dog's Life (1955) as Grainger
The Girl Can't Help It (1956) as Iceman
Sierra Stranger (1957) as Bartender Matt
Bombers B-52 (1957) as Calvin
Up Periscope (1959) as Chief Petty Officer York
The Gunfight At Dodge City (1959) as Charlie The Bartender
Guns Of The Timberland (1960) as Logger
Maisie (1960-TV) as Town Person
All Fall Down (1962) as Sailor
A Global Affair (1964) as Charlie - Newstand Proprietor
Mr. Kulky starred as Chief Curly Junes in the TV series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea (1964 - 1965).
He also appeared on Life Of Riley TV series as Otto Schmidlap, a co worker of Chester A. Riley from 1953 to 1958.
Other TV programs that Mr. Kulky appeared on were Adventures Of Superman, The Files Of Jeffrey Jones, The Abbott And Costello Show, Racket Squad, My Hero, My Little Margie, Public Defender, Adventures Of The Falcon, The Lone Ranger, Topper, Navy Log, Adventures Of Wild Bill Hickok, It's A Great Life, Ethel Barrymore Theater, Oh Susanna, The Sheriff Of Cochise, The Adventures Of Jim Bowie, The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet, Sky King, The Silent Service, Father Knows Best, The Thin Man, The Bob Cummings Show, Maverick, The Texan, Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color, The Red Skelton Hour, Pete And Gladys, Grindl, Make Room For Daddy and Bonanza.
Henry Kulky passed away of a heart attack on the set of Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, in February, 1965 while he was studying a script.
I enjoyed Mr. Kulky in his role as Chief Curly Jones In Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, and as Otto Schmidlap on the Life Of Riley sitcom as well as in the films The Charge At Feather River, Up Periscope, Tarzan's Magic Fountain, Fixed Bayonets, Force Of Arms and Jail Busters.
Louis The Movie Buff