Gen Y-er On The Loose: A Tribute To Kelsey Mulrooney

Friday, December 24, 2021

A Tribute To Kelsey Mulrooney

Below is an article from the old AlligatorJuice.com vault. I used to do profiles of some of the entertainers who meant something to me. After learning earlier this year that Kelsey Mulrooney passed away in April of 2021, I wanted to post this again. It was originally published on my site in 2004. Kelsey herself once left a message on my guestbook saying she and her friend had stumbled across the page and had enjoyed looking at the old photos. Kelsey appeared in many movies and shows in the 90s. You probably even saw her in one or two of them. I hope this article brings a little smile to those who fondly remember her work. For those that may have missed her talent, I hope this gives you a glimpse of it. May she rest in peace.

Published April 4, 2004....

Kelsey Mulrooney was one of those actresses that seemed to pop up in everything I watched. Beginning when she was six or seven years old, she made her way into feature films, TV movies, and about a dozen TV shows -- including two of my all-time favorites. I couldn't help but notice this kid, and as I followed her career, I noticed a lot of consistencies -- and a lot of growth -- in this young actress. My hope, in 2004, was that although she hadn't done much lately, if she continued in the acting field, she would start getting the credit she deserved.

One of Kelsey's first gigs was on the 1994 TV series The Boys Are Back, a show that I watched from time to time thanks to my then-love for George Newbern. She played the granddaughter of Suzanne Pleshette and Hal Linden. The series aired on CBS and lasted all of one season.

During the filming of this show (or perhaps the summer before it went on the air), Kelsey nabbed the role of Lottie in the feature film A Little Princess. Lottie, a classmate of main character Sara, had recently lost her mother, and was prone to screaming fits in order to express her inner pain. Sara helps her realize that even though her mother is gone, Lottie can still talk to her as if she was there.

During the spring and summer of 1995, Kelsey was one busy little actress. She guest-starred on the TV series Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, which aired in May...

... and then went on to film the TV-movies The Great Mom Swap and the ratings-blockbuster The Christmas Box.

In The Great Mom Swap, Kelsey played Tiffany, the younger sister of Karen, a
snotty girl who, after a series of troublemaking incidents, is forced to temporarily
switch families with her rival, Terri. Terri goes to live with Karen's family, and,
having always been an only child, is not amused by Tiffany's antics, which include
setting booby traps and telling constant knock-knock jokes.

In The Christmas Box, Kelsey played Jenna, the only daughter of a young couple
(Richard Thomas and Annette O'Toole) who go to work for a seemingly-grouchy elderly woman (Maureen O'Hara), who teaches them the value of making time for those you love. The movie was so popular it spawned a prequel the following year.

In 1996, Kelsey made a guest appearance alongside Elliot Gould on the series Touched
By An Angel.

That same year, she also played young Norma Jean in the TV-film Norma Jean & Marilyn.
In December, she guest-starred on the TV series The Pretender, playing a little girl
named Angel, whose spirits are restored by Jarod after the loss of one of her pals.

1997 and 1998 were both busy years for Kelsey. She appeared in the feature film
She's So Lovely as well as the film Second Chances. In addition,
she did a TV special with Shelley Long called Melinda: First Lady of Magic,
which was extremely cheesy but gave Kelsey the chance to do a little levitation.

Not only that, in 1997 she made guest appearances on Promised Land and NYPD Blue.

She also began a several-episode stint as Debbie Broots on The Pretender.

In 1998, she appeared as Del's long-lost daughter on Caroline In The City.

She would go on to appear (again, as a different character than before) on Touched By
An Angel, as well as Providence.
In 2002, she played "Kimberly" in an episode of the WB series Do Over.

Throughout the years, she has played so many different roles and has grown
up in front of the cameras. But one thing has been pretty consistent -- she gets
a lot of hugging roles! Here's proof...

Hugging Dean Cain...