George Kennedy
Acting
Born: February 18, 1925 · New York City, New York, USA
Died: February 28, 2016 (aged 91)
Highest Rated
Biography
George Kennedy (February 18, 1925 — February 28, 2016) was a European-American businessman, entrepreneur, A World War II veteran, actor, adviser, radio dj, and author. 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
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
1988
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
1991
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1994
Small Soldiers
1998
Cool Hand Luke
1967
The Gambler
2014
Charade
1963
The Dirty Dozen
1967
Death on the Nile
1978
Creepshow 2
1987
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
1974
View from the Top
2003
Photos (5)
Movies (120)
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Ed Hocken
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
Ed Hocken
Small Soldiers
Brick Bazooka (voice)
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
Ed Hocken
Death on the Nile
Andrew Pennington
Cool Hand Luke
Dragline
The Dirty Dozen
Major Max Armbruster
The Gambler
Ed
The Delta Force
Father O'Malley
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Red Leary
Charade
Herman Scobie
The Eiger Sanction
Ben Bowman
Earthquake
Sgt. Lew Slade
The Concorde... Airport '79
Joe Patroni
The Boston Strangler
Det. Phil DiNatale
Creepshow 2
Ray Spruce
Airport
Joe Patroni
The Flight of the Phoenix
Bellamy
Cats Don't Dance
L.B. Mammoth (voice)
View from the Top
Passenger Requesting Vodka (uncredited)
The Sons of Katie Elder
Curley
Airport '77
Joe Patroni
Bandolero!
Sheriff July Johnson
Airport 1975
Joe Patroni
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Foreman
In Harm's Way
Colonel Gregory
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
Chris
Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!
Mr. Johnson
Cahill: United States Marshal
Abe Fraser
Death Ship
Captain Ashland
Proof of the Man
Ken Shuftan
Shenandoah
Col. Fairchild
Mirage
Willard
Lonely are the Brave
Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez
Driving Me Crazy
John McCready
Bolero
Cotton
Fools' Parade
Dallas 'Doc' Council
Just Before Dawn
Roy McLean
Men in White
Army
The Legend of Lylah Clare
Matt Burke
The Ballad of Josie
Arch Ogden
Lost Horizon
Sam Cornelius
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
McKay
Virus
Admiral Conway
Another Happy Day
Joe Baker
… tick… tick… tick…
John Little
Strait-Jacket
Leo Krause
Don't Come Knocking
Director
Demonwarp
Bill Crafton
Brain Dead
Vance
Top Line
Heinrich Holzmann
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
(archive footage)
Savage Dawn
Tick Rand
Brass Target
Gen. George S. Patton
Bayou Ghost
Officer Lowe
Sands of Oblivion
John Tevis
McHale's Navy
Henri Le Clerc
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
Hawk
Hurry Sundown
Sheriff Coombs
Uninvited
Mike Harvey
The Blue Knight
Bumper Morgan
Airports
2025
Nightmare at Noon
Sherrif Hanks
Dirty Dingus Magee
Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill
Steel
Big Lew Cassidy
The Man Who Came Back
Judge Duke
Good Cops, Bad Cops
1990
Intensive Care
Dr. Bruckner
The Human Factor
John Kinsdale
Modern Romance
George Kennedy / Zeron
Ministry of Vengeance
Rev. Hughes
The Jesse Owens Story
Charles 'Charley' Riley
The Terror Within
Hal
The Gambler: The Legend Continues
General Nelson Miles
The Priest Killer
Father Samuel Cavanaugh
Wacko
Mr. Doctor Graves
Hired to Kill
Thomas
The Pink Jungle
Sammy Ryderbeit
Radioactive Dreams
Spade Chandler
Monster Makers
Dexter Brisbane
Half Nelson
Parsons
The Bull of the West
'Bear' Suchette
The Man from the Diners' Club
George
Mean Dog Blues
Captain Omar Kinsman
The Double McGuffin
Chief Talasek
Dallas: War of The Ewings
Carter McKay
The Boneyard Collection
Professor Zebediah Jones (segment "The Devil's Due at Midnight")
Hangfire
Warden Barles
The Gunfighters
Deke Turner
The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire
Brakus
Hotwire
Farley & Harley Fontenot
Counterforce
Vince Colby
Sonic Boom
Ben Dover
Liberty
Seamus Reilly
Gaily, Gaily
Axel P. Johanson
Zig Zag
Paul R. Cameron
Born to Race
Vincent Duplain
What Price Victory
Big Buck Brayton
Hollyweird
George Kennedy
Island of the Blue Dolphins
Aleut Captain
Dallas: J.R. Returns
Carter McKay
Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist
Bahraini Investigator
A Great American Tragedy
Brad Wilkes
Three Bad Men
Ed Fiske
Sarge: The Badge or the Cross
Sarge Swanson
Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story
Father Dave Hagan
International Airport
Rudy Van Leuven
Esmeralda Bay
Wilson
A Rare Breed
1984
Deliver Us from Evil
Walter 'Cowboy' McAdams
See How They Run
Rudy
Chattanooga Choo Choo
Bert
A Cry in the Wilderness
Sam Hadley
Six Days in Paradise
Monty Crenshaw
The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
Nathan Dillon
Distant Justice
Tom Bradfield
Search and Destroy
Anthony Fusqua
Rigged
Ben Wheeler
Truce
Dr. Peter Gannon
Private Road: No Trespassing
Sam Milshaw
TV Shows (59)
Perry Mason
George Spangler · 1 eps
Dallas
Carter McKay · 52 eps
The Andy Griffith Show
State Police Detective · 1 eps
Ironside
Father Samuel Cavanaugh · 1 eps
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
George Martin · 1 eps
Bonanza
Waldo Watson · 1 eps
Bonanza
Peter Long · 1 eps
Wings
George Kennedy · 1 eps
Peter Gunn
1 eps
The Virginian
Jack Marshman · 1 eps
The Virginian
Tom 'Bear' Suchette · 1 eps
The Virginian
Huck Harkness · 1 eps
Have Gun, Will Travel
4 eps
Have Gun, Will Travel
Deke - Killer · 1 eps
Have Gun, Will Travel
Big Jim · 1 eps
Have Gun, Will Travel
Sam Tarnitzer · 1 eps
Maverick
Deputy Jones · 1 eps
Dr. Kildare
Joe Cramer · 2 eps
Dr. Kildare
Sergeant Hensley · 2 eps
Cheyenne
Lee Nelson · 1 eps
Rawhide
George Wales · 1 eps
Daniel Boone
Zach Morgan · 1 eps
Tarzan
1 eps
The Big Valley
Thatcher · 1 eps
Lawman
1 eps
Route 66
1 eps
Thriller
John Paterson · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Emil · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Bayloe · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Swarner · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Hug · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Stark · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Cyrus · 1 eps
Gunsmoke
Ben Payson · 1 eps
Surfside 6
Gabe Buchanan · 1 eps
Bat Masterson
Sheriff Zeke Armitage · 1 eps
Duckman
Movie Director (voice) · 1 eps
The Phil Silvers Show
Kennedy (uncredited) · 2 eps
The Commish
Al Scali · 1 eps
77 Sunset Strip
1 eps
Sugarfoot
Ross Kuhn · 1 eps
Sugarfoot
Sykes · 1 eps
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
General Axton (voice) · 1 eps
Laredo
1 eps
Riverboat
Gunner Slagle · 1 eps
Outlaws
1 eps
The Tall Man
2 eps
The Rogues
Major Vyx · 1 eps
The Great Adventure
Sergeant Muldaney · 1 eps
The Legend of Jesse James
Blodgett · 1 eps
Santo Bugito
Ralph (voice) · 1 eps
Kraft Mystery Theatre
1 eps
Gunslinger
Sheriff · 1 eps
Sarge
Samuel Cavanaugh · 15 eps
Going My Way
1 eps
Grindl
1 eps
The Asphalt Jungle
2 eps
Backstairs at the White House
Pres. Warren G. Harding · 4 eps
The Blue Knight
Officer Bumper Morgan · 24 eps
Self / Appearances (10)
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host · 1 eps
The Mike Douglas Show
Self · 1 eps
The Merv Griffin Show
Self · 1 eps
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest · 1 eps
The Oscars
Self · 3 eps
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Self · 1 eps
WWE SummerSlam 1994
Himself
Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
Self
The Jupiter Menace
Himself
A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke'
Self