George Kennedy

DOB: 1925-02-18

DOD: 2016-02-28

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.

Starred In

1967
Movie

Cool Hand Luke

1967
Movie

The Dirty Dozen

1970
Movie

Airport

1978
Movie

Death on the Nile

1963
Movie

Charade

1975
Movie

The Eiger Sanction

1974
Movie

Earthquake

1965
Movie

Shenandoah

1984
Movie

Bolero

1990
Movie

Brain Dead

1998
Movie

Small Soldiers

2007
Movie

Sands of Oblivion

1977
Movie

Airport '77

1975
Movie

The Human Factor

1980
Movie

Death Ship

1974
Movie

Airport 1975

1988
Movie

Demonwarp

1989
Movie

The Terror Within

1964
Movie

Strait-Jacket

1968
Movie

Bandolero!

1980
Movie

Virus

2011
Movie

Another Happy Day

1986
Movie

The Delta Force

1987
Movie

Creepshow 2

1988
Movie

Uninvited

1986
Movie

Radioactive Dreams

1971
Movie

Fools' Parade

1981
Movie

Just Before Dawn

1970
Movie

Dirty Dingus Magee

1965
Movie

Mirage

1988
Movie

Nightmare at Noon

1978
Movie

Brass Target

1970
Movie

Zig Zag

1979
Movie

Search and Destroy

1982
Movie

Wacko

1987
Movie

The Gunfighters

1985
Movie

Savage Dawn

1990
Movie

Hired to Kill

1973
Movie

Lost Horizon

1979
Movie

Steel

1988
Movie

Born to Race

2003
Movie

Monster Makers

1988
Movie

Top Line

1969
Movie

Gaily, Gaily

1991
Movie

Intensive Care

1967
Movie

Hurry Sundown

1978
Movie

Mean Dog Blues

1980
Movie

Hotwire

1982
Movie

The Jupiter Menace

1986
Movie

Liberty

1968
Movie

The Pink Jungle

1964
Movie

See How They Run

1988
Movie

Counterforce

1989
Movie

Esmeralda Bay

1991
Movie

Hangfire

1965
Movie

In Harm's Way

1977
Movie

Proof of the Man

1975
Movie

The Blue Knight

2014
Movie

The Gambler

1998
Movie

Hollyweird

1985
Movie

Half Nelson

1981
Movie

Modern Romance

2005
Movie

Truce

1964
Movie

McHale's Navy

1988
Movie

What Price Victory

2005
Movie

Three Bad Men

2003
Movie

View from the Top

1992
Movie

Distant Justice

1991
Movie

Driving Me Crazy

1998
Movie

Men in White

1985
Movie

Rigged

1997
Movie

Cats Don't Dance

1984
Movie

Rare Breed

1974
Movie

Sonic Boom

1971
Movie

The Priest Killer

1997
Movie

Bayou Ghost

1955
Tv

Cheyenne

1960
Tv

Route 66

1990
Tv

Wings

1960
Tv

Surfside 6

1955
Tv

Gunsmoke

1957
Tv

Perry Mason

1964
Tv

The Rogues

1960
Tv

The Tall Man

1965
Tv

Laredo

1962
Tv

Going My Way

1960
Tv

Outlaws

1959
Tv

Rawhide

1964
Tv

Daniel Boone

1962
Tv

The Virginian

1971
Tv

Sarge

1960
Tv

Thriller

1958
Tv

Peter Gunn

1966
Tv

Tarzan

1963
Tv

Grindl

1958
Tv

Bat Masterson

1958
Tv

Lawman

1959
Tv

Riverboat

1961
Tv

Dr. Kildare

1953
Tv

The Oscars

1957
Tv

Maverick

1961
Tv

Dr. Kildare

1962
Tv

The Virginian

1955
Tv

Gunsmoke

1955
Tv

Gunsmoke

1962
Tv

The Virginian

1955
Tv

Gunsmoke

1955
Tv

Gunsmoke

1955
Tv

Gunsmoke

1955
Tv

Gunsmoke

1995
Tv

Santo Bugito

1959
Tv

Bonanza

1959
Tv

Bonanza

1991
Tv

The Commish

1978
Tv

Dallas

1967
Tv

Ironside

1957
Tv

Sugarfoot

1994
Tv

Duckman