George Kennedy profile
Actor profile

George Kennedy

18th February 1925 New York City, New York, USA Acting

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.

126 Movies 52 TV Shows 178 Credits
Filmography

Movies & TV Shows

Truce poster
Truce 1st January 2005 as Dr. Peter Gannon
Hangfire poster
Hangfire 11th January 1991 as Warden Barles
Top Line poster
Top Line 16th August 1988 as Heinrich Holzmann
Liberty poster
Liberty 23rd June 1986 as Seamus Reilly
Rigged poster
Rigged 15th May 1985 as Ben Wheeler
Bolero poster
Bolero 31st August 1984 as Cotton
Wacko poster
Wacko 12th November 1982 as Mr. Doctor Graves
Hotwire poster
Hotwire 1st September 1980 as Farley & Harley Fontenot
Virus poster
Virus 26th June 1980 as Admiral Conway
Steel poster
Steel 21st October 1979 as Big Lew Cassidy
Zig Zag poster
Zig Zag 1st May 1970 as Paul R. Cameron
Airport poster
Airport 25th March 1970 as Joe Patroni
Mirage poster
Mirage 29th October 1965 as Willard
Charade poster
Charade 1st December 1963 as Herman Scobie
Duckman poster
Duckman 5th March 1994 as Movie Director (voice)
Wings poster
Wings 19th April 1990 as George Kennedy
Dallas poster
Dallas 2nd April 1978 as Carter McKay
Sarge poster
Sarge 21st September 1971 as Samuel Cavanaugh
Ironside poster
Ironside 28th March 1967 as Father Samuel Cavanaugh
Thriller poster
Thriller 13th September 1960 as John Paterson
Bonanza poster
Bonanza 12th September 1959 as Peter Long
Rawhide poster
Rawhide 9th January 1959 as George Wales
Maverick poster
Maverick 22nd September 1957 as Deputy Jones