George Kennedy
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
189
Gender
Male
Birthday
1925-02-18
Day of death
2016-02-28 (91 years old)
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
George Kennedy
Biography
George Kennedy (February 18, 1925 — February 28, 2016) was a European-American businessman, entrepreneur, A World War II veteran, actor, adviser, radio dj, and author. Kennedy at one stage in his career cornered the market at playing tough, no-nonsense characters who were either quite crooked or possessed hearts of gold. Kennedy notched up an impressive 200+ appearances in both TV and film, and was well respected within the Hollywood community. He started out in TV westerns in the late 1950s and early 1960s: Have Gun - Will Travel (1957), Rawhide (1959), Maverick (1957), Colt .45 (1957), among others; before scoring minor roles in films including Lonely Are the Brave (1962), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) and The Flight of the Phoenix (1965). The late 1960s was a very busy period for Kennedy, and he was strongly in favor with casting agents, appearing in Hurry Sundown (1967), The Dirty Dozen (1967) and scoring an Oscar win as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Cool Hand Luke (1967). The disaster film boom of the 1970s was kind to Kennedy, too, and his talents were in demand for Airport(1970) and the three subsequent sequels, as a grizzled cop in Earthquake (1974), plus the buddy/road film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) as vicious bank robber Red Leary. The 1980s saw Kennedy appear in a mishmash of roles, playing various characters; however, Kennedy and Leslie Nielsen surprised everyone with their comedic talents in the hugely successful The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988), and the two screen veterans hammed it up again in, The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991), plus Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994). Kennedy remained busy in Hollywood and lent his distinctive voice to the animated Cats Don't Dance (1997) and the children's action film Small Soldiers (1998). A Hollywood stalwart for nearly 50 years, he is one of the most enjoyable actors to watch on screen. His last role was in the film The Gambler (2014), as Mark Wahlberg's character's grandfather. George Kennedy died on February 28, 2016 in Middleton, Idaho.
Known For
The Mike Douglas Show
Saturday Night Live
Perry Mason
Bonanza
Bonanza
Maverick
The Andy Griffith Show
Dallas
Dr. Kildare
Dr. Kildare
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
The Virginian
The Virginian
The Virginian
Ironside
Cheyenne
The Merv Griffin Show
Have Gun, Will Travel
Have Gun, Will Travel
Have Gun, Will Travel
Have Gun, Will Travel
Rawhide
The Big Valley
Wings
The Oscars
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Duckman
Daniel Boone
The Commish
Lawman
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Route 66
Bat Masterson
The Gambler
Thriller
Fools' Parade
Bolero
Hurry Sundown
Peter Gunn
Surfside 6
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
77 Sunset Strip
Sugarfoot
Sugarfoot
Liberty
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
Hangfire
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
The Great Adventure
Laredo
Tarzan
Steel
… tick… tick… tick…
Demonwarp
The Boneyard Collection
Monster Makers
Intensive Care
Outlaws
Riverboat
The Tall Man
Rigged
The Dirty Dozen
Just Before Dawn
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
Wacko
Small Soldiers
International Airport
The Legend of Jesse James
Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist
Nightmare at Noon
Counterforce
Airports
Mirage
Going My Way
Bandolero!
Brass Target
The Priest Killer
Modern Romance
Sarge
Charade
The Phil Silvers Show
The Rogues
Top Line
Cool Hand Luke
See How They Run
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
Death on the Nile
The Delta Force
Cats Don't Dance
Savage Dawn
Ministry of Vengeance
Three Bad Men
Creepshow 2
Earthquake
Sarge: The Badge or the Cross
Kraft Mystery Theatre
Rare Breed
In Harm's Way
Grindl
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
The Flight of the Phoenix
The Double McGuffin
Airport
Backstairs at the White House
Airport '77
Bayou Ghost
Santo Bugito
Gunslinger
Airport 1975
The Concorde... Airport '79
The Asphalt Jungle
The Eiger Sanction
The Sons of Katie Elder
Virus
The Pink Jungle
View from the Top
Don't Come Knocking
The Boston Strangler
Cahill: United States Marshal
Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Death Ship
The Blue Knight
Shenandoah
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
Half Nelson
The Man Who Came Back
Strait-Jacket
Lonely are the Brave
Uninvited
Proof of the Man
Brain Dead
Another Happy Day
The Legend of Lylah Clare
The Blue Knight
The Lion Roars Again
Sands of Oblivion
Lost Horizon
Hotwire
The Gambler: The Legend Continues
The Human Factor
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
Hollyweird
Men in White
McHale's Navy
The Man from the Diners' Club
Sonic Boom
A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke'
The Ballad of Josie
Hired to Kill
Dirty Dingus Magee
Driving Me Crazy
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Radioactive Dreams
A Cry in the Wilderness
The Bull of the West
Dallas: War of The Ewings
The Terror Within
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
The Jesse Owens Story
Mean Dog Blues
Esmeralda Bay
Truce
What Price Victory
The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire
The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
WWE SummerSlam 1994
Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story
A Great American Tragedy
The Cops Are Robbers
Dallas: J.R. Returns
Zig Zag
Born to Race
Gaily, Gaily
Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
Chattanooga Choo Choo
Distant Justice
The Gunfighters
The Jupiter Menace
Private Road: No Trespassing
Deliver Us from Evil
Search and Destroy
