On August 2, 2025, in her hometown of Cincinnati, Kelley Lynne Klebenow—better known as Kelly or Kelley Mack—passed away at just 33 years old after battling a rare form of brain cancer known as glioma of the central nervous system.
Her family shared the news on Instagram, calling her “a bright, fervent light” who left this world peacefully, surrounded by her loving mother Kristen and her steadfast aunt Karen.
They spoke of butterflies—how Kelley seemed to visit loved ones in that form—and how devastatingly deep the sorrow is. It’s a real punch to the heart.
The Journey of Her Career: From Tiny Camera to Big Screens
You can almost imagine young Kelley tinkering with that little video camera she got as a kid—maybe shooting her pets, siblings, or the odd family scene—and thinking, Yeah, I kinda love this.
That spark led to early roles in commercials, and eventually to her first film credit in The Elephant Garden (2008), a student film for which she won an acting award at NYU’s Tisch School. That movie also earned the Student Visionary Award at the Tribeca Film Festival.
After graduating from high school (Hinsdale Central High, class of 2010), she went on to study cinematography at Chapman University’s Dodge College, finishing her degree in 2014.
It was a journey from behind the camera to being in front of it—and then whole lot more.
From there, she lived in Los Angeles for over a decade, taking on roles that made people take notice—from five episodes as Addy in The Walking Dead (Season 9, in 2018–2019) to notable guest spots in Chicago Med, 9‑1‑1, and even a Modern‑Family spinoff.
On the movie side, she played Alice in Broadcast Signal Intrusion (2021) and Wilda in Delicate Arch. She had also wrapped filming Universal, playing Ricky and serving as executive producer.
Beyond live acting, she had a full voice‑over life—she voice‑matched Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld’s character) for promotions of Spider‑Man: Into the Spider‑Verse and reprised that in a Hyundai commercial.
On top of that she lent her voice to a range of commercials for Budweiser, Chick‑fil‑A, Dairy Queen, Ross, Credit Karma, and a few more.
She wasn’t just in front of the camera—she was making things happen behind it, too. She produced several short films, including A Knock at the Door (2016), which won an award at the Atlanta Horror Film Festival and garnered some FilmQuest nominations.
Before that, she wrote, directed, and edited Positive (2015), and served as cinematographer for The Kingdom (2014). That’s hands‑on storytelling, folks.
In total, she was credited with about 35 acting roles and 5 producer credits at the time of her passing.
Estimated Net Worth: Growing, Not Glittering
Here’s the honest scoop: there’s no official number floating around for her net worth. She wasn’t a megastar pulling in tens or hundreds of millions.
But she was a working actor and producer steadily building a career with diverse credits across film, TV, voice‑overs, and shorts. As one respected outlet put it, she was steadily building her career—meaning she was earning, growing her craft, and making connections.
It’s tempting to throw out a number like “$500K” or some round‑off guess, but that’d be pure speculation. Better to say she was emerging, creative, and steadily moving forward, and that her legacy will be carried by the work she left behind.
0 Comments