George Kennedy
Acting
🎂 1925-02-18
George Kennedy 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.
Cast credits(186)
George Spangler
1957
Waldo Watson
1959
Peter Long
1959
Self - Host
1975
Carter McKay
1978
State Police Detective
1960
1957
Father Samuel Cavanaugh
1967
1957
Deke - Killer
1957
Big Jim
1957
Sam Tarnitzer
1957
Self
1961
Jack Marshman
1962
Tom 'Bear' Suchette
1962
Huck Harkness
1962
Lee Nelson
1955
George Wales
1959
Zach Morgan
1964
George Kennedy
1990
Ed Hocken
1988
Thatcher
1965
Emil
1955
Swarner
1955
Bayloe
1955
Hug
1955
Stark
1955
Cyrus
1955
Ben Payson
1955
1958
Joe Cramer
1961
Sergeant Hensley
1961
1960
George Martin
1962
Ed Hocken
1994
1966
Der
1963
Movie Director (voice)
1994
1958
Ed Hocken
1991
Sheriff Zeke Armitage
1958
1958
Gabe Buchanan
1960
Al Scali
1991
Self
1953
Ross Kuhn
1957
Sykes
1957
John Paterson
1960
Gunner Slagle
1959
1965
1960
Brick Bazooka (voice)
1998
Major Max Armbruster
1967
Andrew Pennington
1978
General Axton (voice)
1996
Ed
2014
Herman Scobie
1963
Self
1973
Dallas 'Doc' Council
1971
Major Vyx
1964
Dragline
1967
Abe Fraser
1973
Red Leary
1974
Sergeant Muldaney
1963
Father O'Malley
1986
Joe Patroni
1970
1960
Admiral Conway
1980
Mr. Johnson
1998
1963
1962
Chris
1969
Director
2005
Joe Patroni
1977
MP Sgt. Kennedy (uncredited)
1955
Sgt. Lew Slade
1974
Bellamy
1965
L.B. Mammoth (voice)
1997
Passenger Requesting Vodka (uncredited)
2003
1984
Father Samuel Cavanaugh
1971
Colonel Gregory
1965
Joe Patroni
1979
Curley
1965
Joe Patroni
1974
Ben Bowman
1975
Matt Burke
1968
Foreman
1964
Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez
1962
Ray Spruce
1987
Sheriff July Johnson
1968
Cotton
1984
Willard
1965
(archive footage)
2010
Axel P. Johanson
1969
Blodgett
1965
Col. Fairchild
1965
Ralph (voice)
1995
Det. Phil DiNatale
1968
Captain Ashland
1980
Joe Baker
2011
Thomas
1990
Mike Harvey
1988
1961
Bumper Morgan
1975
Roy McLean
1981
Sam Cornelius
1973
Ben Dover
1974
Mr. Doctor Graves
1982
Gen. George S. Patton
1978
Big Buck Brayton
1988
Hawk
1961
Sam Hadley
1974
Judge Duke
2008
Professor Zebediah Jones (segment "The Devil's Due at Midnight")
2008
McKay
1969
Ken Shuftan
1977
Vance
1990
Leo Krause
1964
Tick Rand
1985
Father Dave Hagan
1992
Carter McKay
1996
Sheriff Coombs
1967
Warden Barles
1991
Wilson
1989
Henri Le Clerc
1964
Bert
1984
Bill Crafton
1988
Arch Ogden
1968
Self
1975
George Kennedy
1998
Aleut Captain
1964
Pres. Warren G. Harding
1979
Himself
1994
Captain Omar Kinsman
1978
Sarge Swanson
1971
Officer Bumper Morgan
1975
George
1963
Army
1998
John Little
1970
1961
Officer Lowe
1997
'Bear' Suchette
1972
Brakus
1981
John Tevis
2007
Parsons
1985
Rudy Van Leuven
1985
Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill
1970
Spade Chandler
1986
Ben
1985
Sammy Ryderbeit
1968
Sherrif Hanks
1988
Big Lew Cassidy
1979
George Kennedy / Zeron
1981
General Nelson Miles
1987
Rudy
1964
Hal
1989
Dexter Brisbane
2003
John McCready
1991
Nathan Dillon
1961
John Kinsdale
1975
Dr. Bruckner
1991
Carter McKay
1998
Sam Milshaw
1988
Self
2006
Seamus Reilly
1986
Chief Talasek
1979
Deke Turner
1987
Father Samuel Cavanaugh
1971
Bahraini Investigator
1990
Ed Fiske
2005
Heinrich Holzmann
1988
Tom Bradfield
1992
Paul R. Cameron
1970
Vincent Duplain
1988
Charles 'Charley' Riley
1984
Rev. Hughes
1989
Himself
1982
1990
Brad Wilkes
1972
Self
2008
Vince Colby
1988
Walter 'Cowboy' McAdams
1973
Farley & Harley Fontenot
1980
Anthony Fusqua
1979
Dr. Peter Gannon
2005