George Kennedy
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
Perry Mason
George Spangler
Bonanza
Waldo Watson
Bonanza
Peter Long
Dallas
Carter McKay
The Andy Griffith Show
State Police Detective
Ironside
Father Samuel Cavanaugh
Have Gun, Will Travel
Have Gun, Will Travel
Deke - Killer
Have Gun, Will Travel
Big Jim
Have Gun, Will Travel
Sam Tarnitzer
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
George Martin
Dr. Kildare
Joe Cramer
Dr. Kildare
Sergeant Hensley
Maverick
The Virginian
Jack Marshman
The Virginian
Tom 'Bear' Suchette
The Virginian
Huck Harkness
Wings
George Kennedy
Cheyenne
Lee Nelson
The Big Valley
Thatcher
Daniel Boone
Zach Morgan
Rawhide
George Wales
Route 66
Lawman
Duckman
Movie Director (voice)
Gunsmoke
Emil
Gunsmoke
Bayloe
Gunsmoke
Swarner
Gunsmoke
Hug
Gunsmoke
Stark
Gunsmoke
Cyrus
Gunsmoke
Ben Payson
Bat Masterson
Sheriff Zeke Armitage
Peter Gunn
The Oscars
Self
77 Sunset Strip
Thriller
John Paterson
The Commish
Al Scali
Surfside 6
Gabe Buchanan
Sugarfoot
Ross Kuhn
Sugarfoot
Sykes
The Phil Silvers Show
Kennedy (uncredited)
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
General Axton (voice)
Laredo
The Rogues
Major Vyx
Riverboat
Gunner Slagle
Brain Dead
Vance
Tarzan
The Tall Man
Outlaws
The Great Adventure
Sergeant Muldaney
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Ed Hocken
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Self
Zig Zag
Paul R. Cameron
Going My Way
Cool Hand Luke
Dragline
The Sons of Katie Elder
Curley
The Dirty Dozen
Major Max Armbruster
Airport
Joe Patroni
The Blue Knight
Officer Bumper Morgan
Grindl
The Legend of Jesse James
Blodgett
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
Ed Hocken
Santo Bugito
Ralph (voice)
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
Ed Hocken
Kraft Mystery Theatre
The Gambler
Ed
Small Soldiers
Brick Bazooka (voice)
Sarge
Samuel Cavanaugh
Charade
Herman Scobie
Death on the Nile
Andrew Pennington
Demonwarp
Bill Crafton
The Asphalt Jungle
Bandolero!
Sheriff July Johnson
Earthquake
Sgt. Lew Slade
Gunslinger
Sheriff
Lost Horizon
Sam Cornelius
The Lion Roars Again
Self
Sonic Boom
Ben Dover
Airport 1975
Joe Patroni
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Red Leary
Creepshow 2
Ray Spruce
The Flight of the Phoenix
Bellamy
The Delta Force
Father O'Malley
Deliver Us from Evil
Walter 'Cowboy' McAdams
Virus
Admiral Conway
Hollyweird
George Kennedy
Truce
Dr. Peter Gannon
Airport '77
Joe Patroni
The Concorde... Airport '79
Joe Patroni
Backstairs at the White House
Pres. Warren G. Harding
Top Line
Heinrich Holzmann
The Eiger Sanction
Ben Bowman
Lonely are the Brave
Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez
In Harm's Way
Colonel Gregory
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
Chris
What Price Victory
Big Buck Brayton
Fools' Parade
Dallas 'Doc' Council
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Foreman
Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!
Mr. Johnson
Just Before Dawn
Roy McLean
View from the Top
Passenger Requesting Vodka (uncredited)
Cahill: United States Marshal
Abe Fraser
Strait-Jacket
Leo Krause
Bolero
Cotton
Mirage
Willard
Cats Don't Dance
L.B. Mammoth (voice)
Airports
Uninvited
Mike Harvey
Don't Come Knocking
Director
Death Ship
Captain Ashland
The Boston Strangler
Det. Phil DiNatale
Shenandoah
Col. Fairchild
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Aleut Captain
The Human Factor
John Kinsdale
Savage Dawn
Tick Rand
Proof of the Man
Ken Shuftan
WWE SummerSlam 1994
Himself
Sands of Oblivion
John Tevis
The Priest Killer
Father Samuel Cavanaugh
Wacko
Mr. Doctor Graves
The Terror Within
Hal
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
(archive footage)
The Legend of Lylah Clare
Matt Burke
Hurry Sundown
Sheriff Coombs
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
McKay
Another Happy Day
Joe Baker
Hotwire
Farley & Harley Fontenot
Modern Romance
George Kennedy / Zeron
Ministry of Vengeance
Rev. Hughes
Radioactive Dreams
Spade Chandler
The Pink Jungle
Sammy Ryderbeit
Intensive Care
Dr. Bruckner
Men in White
Army
The Blue Knight
Bumper Morgan
McHale's Navy
Henri Le Clerc
Bayou Ghost
Officer Lowe
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
Hawk
Born to Race
Vincent Duplain
The Man from the Diners' Club
George
Steel
Big Lew Cassidy
Monster Makers
Dexter Brisbane
Liberty
Seamus Reilly
Esmeralda Bay
Wilson
Rare Breed
Hired to Kill
Thomas
Nightmare at Noon
Sherrif Hanks
Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist
Bahraini Investigator
Half Nelson
Parsons
The Jesse Owens Story
Charles 'Charley' Riley
The Cops Are Robbers
Gaily, Gaily
Axel P. Johanson
The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire
Brakus
Dirty Dingus Magee
Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill
Brass Target
Gen. George S. Patton
The Gambler: The Legend Continues
General Nelson Miles
The Gunfighters
Deke Turner
… tick… tick… tick…
John Little
Hangfire
Warden Barles
Dallas: War of The Ewings
Carter McKay
The Bull of the West
'Bear' Suchette
Counterforce
Vince Colby
See How They Run
Rudy
The Ballad of Josie
Arch Ogden
Chattanooga Choo Choo
Bert
Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story
Father Dave Hagan
The Man Who Came Back
Judge Duke
Dallas: J.R. Returns
Carter McKay
Private Road: No Trespassing
Sam Milshaw
A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke'
Self
The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
Nathan Dillon
A Cry in the Wilderness
Sam Hadley
The Boneyard Collection
Professor Zebediah Jones (segment "The Devil's Due at Midnight")
The Double McGuffin
Chief Talasek
Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
Self
International Airport
Rudy Van Leuven
A Great American Tragedy
Brad Wilkes
Sarge: The Badge or the Cross
Sarge Swanson
The Jupiter Menace
Himself
Mean Dog Blues
Captain Omar Kinsman
Distant Justice
Tom Bradfield
Driving Me Crazy
John McCready
Rigged
Ben
Three Bad Men
Ed Fiske
Search and Destroy
Anthony Fusqua
The Mike Douglas Show
Self
Six Days in Paradise
Monty Crenshaw
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Der