John Henry Kelley has been in the public eye since birth as the son of famous Hollywood actors David E. Kelly and Michelle Pfeiffer. Although he has an older adopted sister named Claudia born in 1993, John is considered the Kelly couple’s firstborn biological child when he was born in 1994.
Having grown up the child of two high-profile celebrities, John Henry Kelley enjoys significant name recognition as one of the most well-known “celebrity kids” due to his famous parents and closeness in age to his adopted sister Claudia.
John Henry Kelley’s Early Life
John Henry Kelley II has grown up in the spotlight as the son of two famous Hollywood parents – actress Michelle Pfeiffer and producer David E. Kelly. Born on August 5, 1994, John is now 29 years old and has largely avoided substantial public attention.
John Henry Kelley II came into the world in 1994 in the United States, born to powerhouse Hollywood couple Michelle Pfeiffer and David E. Kelly, who had married the previous year. He was named after his grandfather, the venerable ice hockey coach John Henry “Jack” Kelley, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.
Michelle has shared rare personal photos of her pregnancy with John and special family moments on her Instagram over the years. In April 2020, she posted a throwback of her baby bump while pregnant with John, reminiscing about missing her kids during the pandemic.
“#TBT. 1994. Me preggers. Like so many, missing my kids and wishing they were here with me 💜,” Pfeiffer captioned the post.
November 2023 marked Michelle and David’s 30th anniversary, a marriage milestone the private couple celebrated out of the spotlight.
John has an older adopted sister, Claudia, whom Michelle adopted right before meeting David.
According to Michelle, “He’s very creative in his way, but he doesn’t want to be an actor.” Rather than following the path of his celebrity parents, John has cultivated his own low-key life, graduating from Stanford University in 2016 with a degree in computer science.
John Henry Kelley shares one Adopted Sibling, Claudia
John Henry Kelley and his adopted sister Claudia have been siblings for their whole lives, despite not being biological relatives.
Their parents, Michelle Pfeiffer and David E. Kelly, met when the adoption process for Claudia was already underway.
Michelle finalized adopting Claudia in 1993, bringing her into the lives of both John, born the following year, and David, Michelle’s then-romantic partner whom she married that same November.
“The adoption process was already in motion when he and I met,”
Pfeiffer told Good Housekeeping in 2007.
Though barely a year apart in age, their mother Michelle has shared that John and Claudia’s little kid personalities diverged – John loved trucks and bugs, while Claudia enjoyed cats.
“When [John and Claudia] were little, they couldn’t have been more different — John was into trucks and Claudia was into kitty cats, and he was eating bugs and she wasn’t.
But they grew up together with an unbreakable sibling bond. Now adults, John is 29 while Claudia is 30 as of 2023.
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Claudia has even followed her family’s creative leanings, appearing in minor TV roles over the years. Though she and John have differences, their tight, almost twin-like relationship endures despite lacking biological ties.
Both animal lovers, John has a dog named Luna while Claudia is undoubtedly still a “cat person” like Michelle described from her childhood.
His Education and Pursuing His Dreams Beside Family Business
After graduating high school, John opted to attend Stanford University from 2012-2016. He expanded his skills and knowledge by studying computer science, choosing to focus on the burgeoning tech industry.
At Stanford, John engaged in typical college experiences as well, joining the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and playing for Stanford’s lacrosse team.
In 2016, John graduated from Stanford, earning his sought-after degree in computer science. His education paved the way for his current work as a software engineer at a San Francisco Bay Area technology company.
Outside of his technology career, John still indulges his creative passions through music. He can play both the guitar and piano.
John’s first and only time in front of the camera came as a child actor in 2004, playing a supporting part in his mother Michelle’s film White Oleander. He took on the small role of a boy who befriends the lead character at a foster home.
According to Michelle, “He was creative in his way, but didn’t want to be an actor.”
Now 27 years old, John Henry Kelley has been notably absent from Hollywood happenings over the past two decades.
