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
Acting
1967
asDragline
1967
asMajor Max Armbruster
1965
asBellamy
1964
asForeman
1970
asJoe Patroni
1978
asAndrew Pennington
1963
asHerman Scobie
1975
asBen Bowman
1974
asSgt. Lew Slade
1965
asCol. Fairchild
1984
asCotton
1990
asVance
1973
asAbe Fraser
1998
asBrick Bazooka (voice)
2007
asJohn Tevis
1974
asRed Leary
1977
asJoe Patroni
1975
asJohn Kinsdale
2006
asSelf
1980
asCaptain Ashland
1969
asChris
1968
asDet. Phil DiNatale
1974
asJoe Patroni
2005
asDirector
1988
asBill Crafton
1989
asHal
1979
asJoe Patroni
1994
asEd Hocken
1964
asLeo Krause
1968
asSheriff July Johnson
1980
asAdmiral Conway
2011
asJoe Baker
1962
asDeputy Sheriff Gutierrez
1988
asEd Hocken
1991
asEd Hocken
1986
asFather O'Malley
1965
asCurley
1998
asMr. Johnson
1987
asRay Spruce
1988
asMike Harvey
2008
asJudge Duke
1986
asSpade Chandler
1971
asDallas 'Doc' Council
1981
asRoy McLean
1970
asHerkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill
1965
asWillard
1969
asMcKay
1968
asArch Ogden
1988
asSherrif Hanks
1981
asBrakus
1978
asGen. George S. Patton
1970
asPaul R. Cameron
1979
asAnthony Fusqua
1982
asMr. Doctor Graves
1970
asJohn Little
1987
asDeke Turner
1985
asTick Rand
2008
asSelf
1990
asThomas
1979
asChief Talasek
1973
asSam Cornelius
1979
asBig Lew Cassidy
1988
asVincent Duplain
1961
asNathan Dillon
2003
asDexter Brisbane
1988
asHeinrich Holzmann
1972
as'Bear' Suchette
1969
asAxel P. Johanson
1991
asDr. Bruckner
1967
asSheriff Coombs
1978
asCaptain Omar Kinsman
1963
asGeorge
1980
asFarley & Harley Fontenot
1988
asSam Milshaw
1973
asWalter 'Cowboy' McAdams
1987
asGeneral Nelson Miles
1989
asRev. Hughes
1982
asHimself
1974
asSam Hadley
1998
asCarter McKay
1986
asSeamus Reilly
1968
asSammy Ryderbeit
1972
asBrad Wilkes
1964
asRudy
1988
asVince Colby
1989
asWilson
1971
asSarge Swanson
1965
asColonel Gregory
1968
asMatt Burke
1984
asCharles 'Charley' Riley
1991
asWarden Barles
1964
asAleut Captain
1977
asKen Shuftan
1975
asBumper Morgan
1985
asRudy Van Leuven
2014
asEd
1998
asGeorge Kennedy
1985
asParsons
1992
asFather Dave Hagan
1996
asCarter McKay
1981
asGeorge Kennedy / Zeron
2005
asDr. Peter Gannon
1964
asHenri Le Clerc
1988
asBig Buck Brayton
2005
asEd Fiske
2003
asPassenger Requesting Vodka (uncredited)
2010
as(archive footage)
1992
asTom Bradfield
1991
asJohn McCready
1984
asBert
1998
asArmy
1990
asBahraini Investigator
1985
asBen
1961
asHawk
1990
as
1997
asL.B. Mammoth (voice)
1984
as
1974
asBen Dover
2008
asProfessor Zebediah Jones (segment "The Devil's Due at Midnight")
1994
asHimself
1975
asSelf
1971
asFather Samuel Cavanaugh
1997
asOfficer Lowe
asState Police Detective
asSergeant Muldaney
as
asLee Nelson
as
asGeorge Kennedy
as
asEmil
asGeorge Spangler
asMajor Vyx
as
as
as
as
asGeorge Wales
as
asZach Morgan
asJack Marshman
asFather Samuel Cavanaugh
asJohn Paterson
as
asThatcher
asas 
asSheriff Zeke Armitage
as
asGunner Slagle
asBlodgett
asJoe Cramer
asSelf
as
as
as
asSelf - Host
asOfficer Bumper Morgan
asSergeant Hensley
asTom 'Bear' Suchette
asSwarner
asBayloe
asHuck Harkness
asHug
asStark
asCyrus
asBen Payson
asRalph (voice)
asWaldo Watson
asPeter Long
asGeneral Axton (voice)
asDeke - Killer
asDer
asMP Sgt. Kennedy (uncredited)
asAl Scali
asCarter McKay
asFather Samuel Cavanaugh
asSelf
asPres. Warren G. Harding
asGeorge Martin
asRoss Kuhn
asSelf
asBig Jim
asSam Tarnitzer
Production
Crew
Directing
