[4] Despite Kelly's earning good critical reviews for his performance, the film was only a poor financial success.

[5] In 1939, Tommy Kelly had a small but memorable part in Gone with the Wind as the boy crying in a band playing "Dixie" in Atlanta while the death lists are given out.

"Dr. Kelly" served as an International Relations Advisor in the International Organization Affairs (IOA) unit of the Office of International Cooperation and Development (OICD) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he prepared positions for the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, with personal responsibility for OECD, and United States delegations to the governing boards of United Nations Organizations concerned with Food and Agriculture, a position he held until his retirement from federal service.

[citation needed] Kelly was generally reticent about his years as an actor after retiring from Hollywood at the age of 25.

[10][11] Kelly died on January 26, 2016, in Greensboro, North Carolina, at age 90 from congestive heart failure.