George Kennedy
Sandy-haired, tall and burly George Harris Kennedy, Jr. was born in New York City, to Helen A. (Kieselbach), a ballet dancer, and George Harris Kennedy, an orchestra leader and musician. He had German, Irish, and English ancestry. 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.
Acted in
The Gambler
2014
as Ed
Another Happy Day
2011
as Joe Baker
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
2010
as (archive footage)
A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke'
2008
as Self
The Man Who Came Back
2008
as Judge Duke
The Boneyard Collection
2008
as Professor Zebediah Jones (segment "The Devil's Due at Midnight")
Sands of Oblivion
2007
as John Tevis
Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
2006
as Self
Don't Come Knocking
2005
as Director
Three Bad Men
2005
as Ed Fiske
Truce
2005
as Dr. Peter Gannon
Monster Makers
2003
as Dexter Brisbane
View from the Top
2003
as Passenger Requesting Vodka (uncredited)
Men in White
1998
as Army
Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!
1998
as Mr. Johnson
Small Soldiers
1998
as Brick Bazooka (voice)
Dallas - War of The Ewings
1998
as Carter McKay
Hollyweird
1998
as George Kennedy
Cats Don't Dance
1997
as L.B. Mammoth (voice)
Dallas: J.R. Returns
1996
as Carter McKay
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
1996
as General Axton (voice)
Santo Bugito
1995
as Ralph (voice)
WWE SummerSlam 1994
1994
as Himself
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1994
as Ed Hocken
Distant Justice
1992
as Tom Bradfield
Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story
1992
as Father Dave Hagan
Intensive Care
1991
as Dr. Bruckner
The Commish
1991
as Al Scali
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
1991
as Ed Hocken
Driving Me Crazy
1991
as John McCready
Hangfire
1991
as Warden Barles
The Cops Are Robbers
1990
Hired to Kill
1990
as Thomas
Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist
1990
as Bahraini Investigator
Wings
1990
as George Kennedy
Brain Dead
1990
as Vance
Ministry of Vengeance
1989
as Rev. Hughes
Esmeralda Bay
1989
as Wilson
The Terror Within
1989
as Hal
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
1988
as Ed Hocken
Uninvited
1988
as Mike Harvey
Top Line
1988
as Heinrich Holzmann
Nightmare at Noon
1988
as Sherrif Hanks
Private Road: No Trespassing
1988
as Sam Milshaw
Demonwarp
1988
as Bill Crafton
Counterforce
1988
as Vince Colby
Born to Race
1988
as Vincent Duplain
What Price Victory
1988
as Big Buck Brayton
The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues
1987
as General Nelson Miles
Creepshow 2
1987
as Ray Spruce
The Gunfighters
1987
as Deke Turner
Radioactive Dreams
1986
as Spade Chandler
Liberty
1986
as Seamus Reilly
Savage Dawn
1986
as Tick Rand
The Delta Force
1986
as Father O'Malley
International Airport
1985
as Rudy Van Leuven
Rigged
1985
as Ben
Half Nelson
1985
as Parsons
Rare Breed
1984
Bolero
1984
as Cotton
The Jesse Owens Story
1984
as Charles 'Charley' Riley
Chattanooga Choo Choo
1984
as Bert
The Jupiter Menace
1982
as Himself
Wacko
1982
as Mr. Doctor Graves
Just Before Dawn
1981
as Roy McLean
The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire
1981
as Brakus
Modern Romance
1981
as George Kennedy / Zeron
Hotwire
1980
as Farley & Harley Fontenot
Virus
1980
as Admiral Conway
Death Ship
1980
as Captain Ashland
Steel
1979
as Big Lew Cassidy
The Concorde... Airport '79
1979
as Joe Patroni
Search and Destroy
1979
as Anthony Fusqua
The Double McGuffin
1979
as Chief Talasek
Backstairs at the White House
1979
as Pres. Warren G. Harding
Brass Target
1978
as Gen. George S. Patton
Death on the Nile
1978
as Andrew Pennington
Dallas
1978
as Carter McKay
Mean Dog Blues
1978
as Captain Omar Kinsman
Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette
1978
as Self / Andrew Pennington
Proof of the Man
1977
as Ken Shuftan
Airport '77
1977
as Joe Patroni
The Human Factor
1975
as John Kinsdale
The Eiger Sanction
1975
as Ben Bowman
The Blue Knight
1975
as Bumper Morgan
The Blue Knight
1975
as Officer Bumper Morgan
The Lion Roars Again
1975
as Self
Earthquake
1974
as Sgt. Lew Slade
Airport 1975
1974
as Joe Patroni
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
1974
as Red Leary
A Cry in the Wilderness
1974
as Sam Hadley
Sonic Boom
1974
as Ben Dover
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
1973
as Self
Deliver Us from Evil
1973
as Walter 'Cowboy' McAdams
Cahill: United States Marshal
1973
as Abe Fraser
Lost Horizon
1973
as Sam Cornelius
A Great American Tragedy
1972
as Brad Wilkes
The Bull of the West
1972
as 'Bear' Suchette
Sarge
1971
as Father Samuel Cavanaugh
Fools' Parade
1971
as Dallas 'Doc' Council
Sarge: The Badge or the Cross
1971
as Sarge Swanson
Dirty Dingus Magee
1970
as Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill
Zig Zag
1970
as Paul R. Cameron
Airport
1970
as Joe Patroni
Tick... Tick... Tick...
1970
as John Little
Gaily, Gaily
1969
as Axel P. Johanson
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
1969
as McKay
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
1969
as Chris
The Pink Jungle
1968
as Sammy Ryderbeit
The Boston Strangler
1968
as Det. Phil DiNatale
The Legend of Lylah Clare
1968
as Matt Burke
Bandolero!
1968
as Sheriff July Johnson
The Ballad of Josie
1968
as Arch Ogden
Cool Hand Luke
1967
as Dragline
The Dirty Dozen
1967
as Major Max Armbruster
Ironside
1967
as Father Samuel Cavanaugh
Hurry Sundown
1967
as Sheriff Coombs
Tarzan
1966
The Flight of the Phoenix
1965
as Bellamy
Mirage
1965
as Willard
Laredo
1965
The Big Valley
1965
as Thatcher
The Legend of Jesse James
1965
as Blodgett
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965
as Curley
Shenandoah
1965
as Col. Fairchild
In Harm's Way
1965
as Colonel Gregory
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964
as Foreman
See How They Run
1964
as Rudy
Daniel Boone
1964
as Zach Morgan
The Rogues
1964
as Major Vyx
Island of the Blue Dolphins
1964
as Aleut Captain
McHale's Navy
1964
as Henri Le Clerc
Strait-Jacket
1964
as Leo Krause
Charade
1963
as Herman Scobie
The Great Adventure
1963
as Sergeant Muldaney
Grindl
1963
The Man from the Diners' Club
1963
as George
Going My Way
1962
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
as George Martin
The Virginian
1962
as Jack Marshman
The Virginian
1962
as Tom 'Bear' Suchette
The Virginian
1962
as Huck Harkness
Lonely are the Brave
1962
as Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
1961
as Hawk
Dr. Kildare
1961
as Joe Cramer
Dr. Kildare
1961
as Sergeant Hensley
Kraft Mystery Theatre
1961
The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
1961
as Nathan Dillon
The Asphalt Jungle
1961
Route 66
1960
Surfside 6
1960
The Andy Griffith Show
1960
as State Police Detective
Outlaws
1960
Thriller
1960
as John Paterson
The Tall Man
1960
Riverboat
1959
as Gunner Slagle
Bonanza
1959
as Waldo Watson
Bonanza
1959
as Peter Long
Rawhide
1959
as George Wales
77 Sunset Strip
1958
Bat Masterson
1958
as Sheriff Zeke Armitage
Lawman
1958
Peter Gunn
1958
Maverick
1957
Perry Mason
1957
as George Spangler
Sugarfoot
1957
as Ross Kuhn
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
as Deke - Killer
Cheyenne
1955
as Lee Nelson
The Phil Silvers Show
1955
as MP Sgt. Kennedy (uncredited)
Gunsmoke
1955
as Emil
Gunsmoke
1955
as Swarner
Gunsmoke
1955
as Bayloe
Gunsmoke
1955
as Hug
Gunsmoke
1955
as Stark
Gunsmoke
1955
as Cyrus
Gunsmoke
1955
as Ben Payson
The Oscars
1953
as Self