[n 1] He was the son of English parents, Rebecca Annie (née Brebner) and Edwin John Kellaway, an architect and engineer.

[2] He toured for three years through China, Japan, Siam, Borneo, Malaya, North and South Africa, and Europe, in plays such as Monsieur Beaucaire.

He had a notable success as the comic father of four daughters in A Night Out which he played through most of 1922; it kicked off a sixteen year association with Williamsons on the Australian stage, mostly in musical comedies.

[12] However his main focus was still the stage: The Dubarry (1934), Music in the Air (1934), Roberta (1935), High Jinks (1935), Ball at the Savoy (1935), A Southern Maid (1936) and White Horse Inn (1936).

Directed by Ken G. Hall it was a popular success, and led to Kellaway being screen-tested and put under contract by RKO Pictures.

[15] However his parts remained small: Smashing the Rackets (1938), Tarnished Angel (1938), Annabel Takes a Tour (1938), and Gunga Din (1939).

He did A Very Young Lady (1941) at Fox, Burma Convoy (1941), New York Town (1941), Birth of the Blues (1941), and Appointment for Love (1941) at Universal.

[21] Back at Paramount, he was in And Now Tomorrow (1944), Practically Yours (1944), and Love Letters (1945), the latter also starring Kellaway's one-time Australian co-star Ann Richards.

[22] MGM borrowed him to play the ill-fated husband of Lana Turner's character in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), a supporting role in Easy to Wed (1946) and the villain in The Cockeyed Miracle (1946).

[25] Kellaway was in The Decision of Christopher Blake (1948), Portrait of Jennie (1948), Down to the Sea in Ships (1949), The Reformer and the Redhead (1950), back at MGM.

[26] In 1950, it was announced James Hilton was writing a script as a vehicle for Kellaway, Roof of the World, based on the actor's time in India.

He returned to Paramount for Thunder in the East (1952) and was in Just Across the Street (1952), My Wife's Best Friend (1952), Young Bess (1953), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), Cruisin' Down the River (1953), and Paris Model (1953).

[29] On American television, he made a guest appearance in 1959 on Perry Mason as chemist Darrell Metcalf in "The Case of the Glittering Goldfish", and he received a billing credit in that episode equal to Raymond Burr's.

Kellaway then guest-starred two years later on CBS's Western series Rawhide, portraying the character MacKay in the episode "Incident in the Middle of Nowhere".

Kellaway's last films included Spinout (1966), The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), which earned him another Oscar nomination.

His final performances included Fitzwilly (1969), Getting Straight (1970), The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City (1971) and a pilot for a TV series, Call Holme (1971).