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Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic film character actor, known as "Slow Burn". A slow burn is an exasperated facial expression, performed very deliberately; Kennedy embellished this by rubbing his hand over his bald head and across his face, in an attempt to hold his temper. Kennedy is best known for a small role as a lemonade vendor in the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup, as well as the many Hal Roach films he appeared in.
Kennedy became so identified with frustration that practically every studio hired him to play hotheads. He often played dumb cops, detectives, and even a prison warden; sometimes he was a grouchy moving man, truck driver, or blue-collar workman. His character usually lost his temper at least once. In Diplomaniacs, Kennedy presides over an international tribunal, where Wheeler & Woolsey want to do something about world peace. "Well, ya can't do anything about it here", yells Kennedy, "this is a peace conference!" Kennedy, established as the poster boy for frustration, even starred in an instructional film titled The Other Fellow, in which loudmouthed roadhog Edgar always vents his anger on other drivers (each one played by Kennedy as well), little realizing that, to them, he is "the other fellow."
Perhaps his most unusual roles were as a puppeteer in the detective mystery The Falcon Strikes Back and as a philosophical bartender inspired to create exotic cocktails in Harold Lloyd's last film, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947). He also played comical detectives opposite two titans of acting: John Barrymore in Twentieth Century (1934) and Rex Harrison in Unfaithfully Yours (1948); in the latter, he tells conductor Harrison that "Nobody handles Handel like you handle Handel."
Kennedy died of throat cancer at the Motion Picture Hospital, San Fernando Valley on 9 November 1948. His body was interred at the Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, Los Angeles County, California.
1994
as Officer (archive footage)
1968
as Officer Kennedy (archive footage)
1960
as edited from 'A Pair of Tights' (archive footage)
1957
as archive footage
1949
as Uncle Charlie
1948
as Sweeney
1948
as Edgar
1948
as Edgar Kennedy (footage from 'I'll Build It Myself') (archive footage)
1948
as Edgar Kennedy
1948
as Edgar Kennedy
1947
as Judd
1947
as Jake the Bartender
1947
as Edgar
1946
as Edgar
1946
as Edgar Kennedy
1946
as Edgar
1945
as Captain Bullwinkle
1945
as Edgar Kennedy
1945
as Edgar
1945
as Police Captain
1945
as Edgar Kennedy
1945
as Edgar Kennedy
1944
as Edgar
1944
as Bosun Higgins
1944
as Insp. Mulrooney
1944
as Edgar
1944
as Edgar
1943
as Judge
1943
as Doc Hogan, Fight Promoter
1943
as Nepomuk - the Hermit
1943
as Edgar
1943
as Edgar
1943
as Joe Bledsoe
1943
as Smiley Dugan
1943
as Edgar
1943
as Police Chief Murphy
1942
as Edgar
1942
as Sgt. Homer Gatling
1942
as Mayor Moe Carson
1942
as Edgar
1942
as Kegs McKeever
1942
as Warden Bingham
1942
as Sgt. Ed Cooper
1942
as Edgar Kennedy
1941
as Edgar
1941
as Biff
1941
as Edgar
1941
as Edgar
1941
as Dr. Glenn
1941
as Edgar Kennedy
1940
as Edgar Kennedy
1940
as George Browning
1940
as Cornelius Cornpone
1940
as Fire Chief Galvin
1940
as Sheriff Gregory
1940
as Edgar Kennedy
1940
as Pops
1940
as Chauncey
1940
as Edgar
1940
as George Browning
1940
as Edgar
1940
as Officer Rafferty
1940
as Edgar Kennedy
1939
as Inspector Dailey
1939
as Edgar Kennedy
1939
as Judge John J. McGuinnis
1939
as Paper Hanger
1939
as Joe Barton
1939
as Edgar
1939
as Lieutenant Miller
1939
as Edgar Kennedy
1939
as Edgar
1938
as Arthur Bailey
1938
as Edgar
1938
as Edgar Kennedy
1938
as Bugs Leary
1938
as Daniel Webster Smith
1938
as Sheriff Renick
1938
as Edgar
1938
as Callaghan
1937
as Darsey
1937
as Edgar
1937
as Spike
1937
as Edgar
1937
as Police Lt. Garrison
1937
as Edgar Kennedy
1937
as Pop Randall
1937
as Edgar
1937
as Mr. Basscombe
1937
as Four Roles
1936
as Harry, the Bartender
1936
as Donovan
1936
as Edgar Kennedy
1936
as Bicarbonate
1936
as Edgar
1936
as Sheriff
1936
as Rudolf Hochstetter
1936
as Captain Mack
1936
as Sheriff Judd
1936
as Edgar Kennedy
1936
as Edgar Kennedy
1935
as Henry
1935
as Police Officer McCarthy
1935
as Onderdonk
1935
as Edgar Kennedy
1935
as Sweeney
1935
as Edgar
1935
as Edgar Kennedy
1935
as Willy 'Persimmon' Bates
1935
as Counterman
1935
as Mahoney
1935
as Edgar
1934
as O'Brien
1934
as Jimmie Pierson
1934
as Sgt. Buck Martin
1934
as Edgar Kennedy
1934
as Herman Wilson
1934
as Officer Thurston
1934
as Happy Moran
1934
1934
as Healy, Process Server
1934
as Detective Donahue
1934
as Herbert Green
1934
as Edgar, Movie Director
1934
as Oscar McGonigle
1934
as Edgar
1934
as Herbert - the Husband
1934
as Guard (uncredited)
1933
as Cop
1933
as Street Vendor
1933
as Edgar
1933
as Judge
1933
as Edgar Kennedy
1933
1933
as Tim Kelsey
1933
as Ed Wimpy
1933
as Windy
1933
as Chairman - Peace Conference
1933
as Edgar
1933
as Sam Gilroy
1933
1932
as Edgar Kennedy
1932
as Officer Donovan
1932
as Water Wagon Driver (uncredited)
1932
as Daddy Warbucks
1932
as Warden Elmer Jones
1932
as Edgar
1932
1932
as Elmer
1932
1932
as Baldy
1931
as Buffington-Doorman
1931
as Cop (uncredited)
1931
as Thelma's Last Rescuer
1931
as Cop
1931
as Howard J. Green
1931
1930
as Man in Phone Booth
1930
as Detective
1930
as Night Club Patron
1930
as Uncle Ed Sutton
1930
as Quimby the Lawyer
1930
as Mary's Father / Gertie's Uncle
1930
as Fiancee's Father
1930
as Officer Kennedy
1930
as Thelma's Father
1930
as Kennedy
1930
as Kennedy the Cop (uncredited)
1930
as Detective
1930
as Detective
1930
as Kennedy the Cop (uncredited)
1930
as Cicero the Cop
1930
as Kennedy the Cop (uncredited)
1930
as Station Master Kennedy (uncredited)
1930
1930
as Officer Kennedy
1929
as 2nd Sailor
1929
as Landlord
1929
as Kennedy the Cop (uncredited)
1929
as Diner's Owner
1929
as Collis P. Kennedy
1929
as SFPD Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
1929
as Ed Eggers (uncredited)
1929
as Policeman
1929
1929
as Uncle Edgar
1929
as Michael Kennedy
1929
as Judge Kennedy
1929
as Orchestra Leader
1929
as Officer Ed Kennedy
1929
as Officer Kennedy
1929
as Inspector Murch
1929
1929
1929
as Marion's Boyfriend's Boss
1929
as Cop
1928
1928
1928
1928
as The Cop
1928
as Motorist
1928
1928
1928
as Golfer (uncredited)
1928
1928
1928
as The Husband, Mr Glenders
1928
as Cop (as Ed Kennedy)
1928
as A Photographer
1928
as The Cop
1928
as Cop
1927
as Maydorf
1927
as Trayguard
1927
as O.K. McDuff (as Ed Kennedy)
1926
as Detective
1926
as Corporal Austin
1926
as Cpl. Ryan
1926
as Bill Sproat
1926
as Eric Johnson
1925
as Gewilliker Hay
1925
as Detective (as Edward Kennedy)
1925
as Detective (uncredited)
1924
1924
as The Crook
1924
as Tom Grady
1924
as Dan O'Leary (as Ed Kennedy)
1924
as Lem Beeman
1923
as Ptomaine Tommy
1923
1923
as Hank Hall
1922
1921
as An American Tourist
1921
as Mike Reynolds
1920
1920
1919
as Pete
1919
as German Prison Guard (uncredited)
1918
1917
as Art Gallery Operator
1917
as The Detective
1916
as Edwin Rowley, Jr.
1916
as Tony Peanutty - Italian Ward Leader
1916
as Peter X. Bush - Streetcar Superintendent
1916
as A City Chap
1916
as Diamond Dan - Jim's Rival
1915
as Edgar
1915
as Shell Game Operator
1915
as Suitor
1915
as Fatty's Pal
1915
as Cop
1915
as The Maid's Boyfriend
1915
as Diner / Man in Audience (uncredited)
1915
as Neighbor
1915
as Handout-Giver (uncredited)
1915
as 1st Street Crowd Participant (uncredited)
1915
as The cafe waiter (uncredited)
1915
as 2nd Thief
1914
as Restaurant Owner / Banks' Butler (uncredited)
1914
as Café Proprietor
1914
as Policeman (uncredited)
1914
as The Slicker's Chauffeur
1914
as Police Chief
1914
as Fatty's Neighbor
1914
as Ethel's Former Boyfriend
1914
as Policeman
1914
as Striking Baker
1914
as The Rival
1914
as The Wife's Brother
1914
as (uncredited)
1914
as The Sky Pirate
1914
as The Trouble Mender
1914
as Tough Hot Dog Customer (uncredited)
1914
as Cyclone Flynn (uncredited)
1914
as Cafe Proprietor (uncredited)
1914
as Lover
1914
as Spectator in Grandstand (uncredited)
1914
as Jealous Boyfriend
1914
as Landlady's Husband (uncredited)
1914
as Butler
1914
as Tough Guy in Bar
1914
as Dance Hall Manager (uncredited)
1914
as Director (uncredited)
1914
as Crook (uncredited)
1914
as Wreck Bystander (uncredited)
1914
1914
as The Groom
1914
as Cop
1914
as Rajah
1913
as Caesar - Zuzu's Rival
1913
as Cop (uncredited)
1913
as Mustached Man
1913
as Jealous Cop
1913
as Water Policeman
1913
as Laughing Spectator
1913
as Wedding Guest
1913
as Bowling Alley Operator
1913
as Mug
1913
as Audience Member / Cop in Movie
1913
as Cop
1913
as Cop
1913
1913
as 1st Cop
1913
as 1st Crook
1913
as Spectator
1913
as The Cop
1913
as Henchman
1913
1913
1913
as Cop
1913
as 3rd Deputy
1913
as Cop