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 an American actor. A World War II veteran, 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
Perry Mason
Saturday Night Live
Dallas
The Mike Douglas Show
Bonanza
Bonanza
The Andy Griffith Show
Ironside
Maverick
Have Gun, Will Travel
Have Gun, Will Travel
Have Gun, Will Travel
Have Gun, Will Travel
Cheyenne
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
The Virginian
The Virginian
The Virginian
The Big Valley
Wings
The Merv Griffin Show
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Daniel Boone
Dr. Kildare
Dr. Kildare
Rawhide
Creepshow 2
Lawman
Route 66
Peter Gunn
Bat Masterson
Duckman
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
The Oscars
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
77 Sunset Strip
Sugarfoot
Sugarfoot
Laredo
Thriller
The Commish
Surfside 6
The Great Adventure
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
Tarzan
Fools' Parade
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
Charade
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Death Ship
Death on the Nile
Counterforce
Airport '77
Distant Justice
The Tall Man
Uninvited
The Phil Silvers Show
Outlaws
Shenandoah
The Gambler
Small Soldiers
The Dirty Dozen
Riverboat
Liberty
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Brass Target
Hurry Sundown
The Delta Force
Half Nelson
Mirage
Hangfire
Bolero
Going My Way
The Gunfighters
The Flight of the Phoenix
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
The Sons of Katie Elder
Strait-Jacket
International Airport
Wacko
Cool Hand Luke
Monster Makers
Radioactive Dreams
Steel
Cats Don't Dance
The Rogues
Savage Dawn
Bandolero!
Earthquake
The Concorde... Airport '79
Airports
In Harm's Way
Proof of the Man
Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist
Virus
Top Line
The Jesse Owens Story
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
The Legend of Jesse James
Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!
Airport
The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire
The Gambler: The Legend Continues
View from the Top
Modern Romance
Demonwarp
Cahill: United States Marshal
Lonely are the Brave
Santo Bugito
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
The Boston Strangler
Sands of Oblivion
Airport 1975
The Bull of the West
Sarge
Dirty Dingus Magee
Dallas: J.R. Returns
Dallas: War of The Ewings
The Cops Are Robbers
The Man Who Came Back
The Pink Jungle
Just Before Dawn
See How They Run
The Eiger Sanction
McHale's Navy
Don't Come Knocking
Kraft Mystery Theatre
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
Another Happy Day
The Ballad of Josie
The Asphalt Jungle
Backstairs at the White House
The Terror Within
Esmeralda Bay
The Human Factor
The Double McGuffin
Born to Race
Grindl
Hotwire
Driving Me Crazy
Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
Men in White
Rigged
WWE SummerSlam 1994
A Great American Tragedy
Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story
… tick… tick… tick…
The Man from the Diners' Club
The Priest Killer
Gunslinger
The Boneyard Collection
Mean Dog Blues
Intensive Care
The Legend of Lylah Clare
Lost Horizon
The Blue Knight
A Cry in the Wilderness
Nightmare at Noon
Chattanooga Choo Choo
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Sarge: The Badge or the Cross
The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
Gaily, Gaily
Ministry of Vengeance
Private Road: No Trespassing
Three Bad Men
The Blue Knight
Truce
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
Bayou Ghost
Brain Dead
A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke'
Hired to Kill
Sonic Boom
Hollyweird
Rare Breed
The Jupiter Menace
Deliver Us from Evil
What Price Victory
Zig Zag
Search and Destroy
The Lion Roars Again
