Brendan Hanson-Kelly, Television Executive, Dies at 54

Posted by Aldo Pusey on Sunday, April 7, 2024

Brendan Hanson-Kelly, a longtime television executive who worked for New Line Cinema, Relativity Media and others, died Dec. 18 of appendix cancer in New York City. He was 54.

Hanson-Kelly’s 30-plus year career in the entertainment Industry spanned executive positions across multiple companies. He began at New Line Cinema in 1994, eventually rising to the position of executive vicepresident of business affairs, where he created a rights management system that was implemented at each subsequent studio he worked at. He moved on to Relativity Media in 2010, serving as senior vice president, television business administration and was most recently with STX, joining in 2019 as executive vice president, digital and television distribution. He formerly served on the board of directors of Newfest and was a member of the Edgewood Club of Tivoli at the time of his death. 

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Hanson-Kelly was born July 18, 1968, to Henry and Elizabeth Kelly, the youngest child in an Irish-American family with five older siblings. In his teens, he was dove competitively on a national level, including at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials. He attended Stanford University on a diving scholarship before beginning his career in the television industry..

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He is survived by his husband Conrad; brothers and sisters Henry, Eleanor, Raymond, Timothy, Mary Agnes; nieces and nephews Stephanie, Timothy, Samantha, Alexander, Grace, James and Matthew, great niece Scarlett and numerous cousins.

Memorial donations in Hanson-Kelly’s name can be made to Planned Parenthood of Greater New York or the Trevor Project. A memorial celebration of his life will be planned for mid-January.

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