Biography
Henry Kulky (born Henry Kulakowich; August 11, 1911 – February 12, 1965) was an American actor and professional wrestler from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, best known for his role as Chief Petty Officer Curly Jones in the first season of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Kulky started boxing during his teenage years but stopped after six matches when he was offered a job training wrestlers at St. Matthew's Lyceum in his hometown.
In 1939, Stanislaus Zbyszko persuaded Kulky to wrestle professionally. He moved to Argentina and competed across South America under the ring name Bomber Kulkavich. The exact number of his matches is unclear; one source claims he won 172 out of 175 matches, while Kulky himself asserted he won nearly all of 7,000 matches. He is also said to have claimed South America's judo championship during his time there.
Like many wrestlers who transitioned to acting in the 1950s, Kulky's breakthrough came thanks to Mike Mazurki. The two worked together on several projects in the 1940s and 1950s, with Mazurki's agent securing Kulky a role in Call Northside 777.
Due to his tough-guy persona, Kulky was often cast as military personnel, thugs, gangsters, bartenders, wrestlers, and other strong characters who sometimes displayed a friendly and endearing side, contrasting with their hardened appearances. From 1953 to 1958, he portrayed Otto Schmidlap on the television series The Life of Riley, playing a coworker of Chester Riley at an aircraft plant. In 1952, he appeared as a wrestler working for a crooked promoter in episode 11 of Adventures of Superman, and in 1954, he appeared in episode 141 of The Lone Ranger. Between 1959 and 1962, Kulky had a recurring role as Chief Max Bronsky in forty-six episodes of Jackie Cooper's CBS military sitcom-drama Hennesey. This role was especially meaningful to him, as he had served as a boatswain's mate in the United States Navy during World War II.
Kulky's final role was as Chief Curley Jones in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He passed away from a heart attack on February 12, 1965, in Oceanside, California, while studying a script.
