George Kennedy
Known For
Acting
Born
1925-02-18 in New York City, New York, USA
Died
2016-02-28
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.
Most Known For
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Host
The Mike Douglas Show
as Self
Perry Mason
as George Spangler
Bonanza
as Waldo Watson
Bonanza
as Peter Long
Dallas
as Carter McKay
The Andy Griffith Show
as State Police Detective
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
as Self - Guest
Ironside
as Father Samuel Cavanaugh
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
as George Martin
Have Gun, Will Travel
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Deke - Killer
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Big Jim
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Sam Tarnitzer
The Merv Griffin Show
as Self
Maverick
The Virginian
as Jack Marshman
The Virginian
as Tom 'Bear' Suchette
The Virginian
as Huck Harkness
The Big Valley
as Thatcher