George Kennedy

star 9.2

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  • group Other Names:
    George Harris Kennedy Jr.

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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.

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  • wc Gender: Male
  • calendar_month Birth Date: 1925-02-18
  • event Death Date 2016-02-28
  • school Known for: Acting
  • star Popularity: 9.2
  • info Birth Place New York City, New York, USA
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smart_display Movies and TV shows by George Kennedy

7.7

Cool Hand Luke

1967-11-01

7.6

The Dirty Dozen

1967-06-15

7.2

The Flight of the Phoenix

1965-12-15

7.3

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte

1964-12-15

6.5

Airport

1970-03-25

7.2

Death on the Nile

1978-09-29

7.7

Charade

1963-12-01

6.1

The Eiger Sanction

1975-05-21

6.1

Earthquake

1974-11-15

6.8

Shenandoah

1965-06-03

3.4

Bolero

1984-08-31

5.7

Brain Dead

1990-01-16

6.1

Cahill: United States Marshal

1973-07-11

6.6

Small Soldiers

1998-07-10

4.7

Sands of Oblivion

2007-07-28

6.3

Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette

1978-01-01

6.8

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

1974-05-23

5.7

Airport '77

1977-03-11

5.7

The Human Factor

1975-11-19

6

Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'

2006-01-01

5.3

Death Ship

1980-03-07

5.2

Guns of the Magnificent Seven

1969-07-14

6.8

The Boston Strangler

1968-10-08

5.7

Airport 1975

1974-10-18

6.3

Don't Come Knocking

2005-08-25

4.4

Demonwarp

1988-03-01

4.4

The Terror Within

1989-01-20

4.8

The Concorde... Airport '79

1979-08-17

6.5

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

1994-03-18

6.5

Strait-Jacket

1964-01-19

6.5

Bandolero!

1968-06-01

6.4

Virus

1980-06-26

5.6

Another Happy Day

2011-11-18

7.3

Lonely Are the Brave

1962-05-24

7.3

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

1988-12-02

6.8

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear

1991-06-28

5.9

The Delta Force

1986-02-14

7.1

The Sons of Katie Elder

1965-06-23

5.4

Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!

1998-07-14

6.3

Creepshow 2

1987-05-01

5

Uninvited

1988-08-24

5

The Man Who Came Back

2008-02-08

5.2

Radioactive Dreams

1986-09-19

6.8

Fools' Parade

1971-08-18

6.1

Just Before Dawn

1981-10-14

4.7

Dirty Dingus Magee

1970-11-18

7

Mirage

1965-10-29

5.4

The Good Guys and the Bad Guys

1969-10-10

5.8

The Ballad of Josie

1968-02-01

4.7

Nightmare at Noon

1988-06-29

5.5

The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire

1981-04-12

5.6

Brass Target

1978-12-22

7.5

Zig Zag

1970-05-01

6.8

Search and Destroy

1979-07-05

5

Wacko

1982-11-12

6.6

Tick... Tick... Tick...

1970-01-09

4

The Gunfighters

1987-01-01

4.3

Savage Dawn

1986-05-22

0

A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke'

2008-12-16

4.8

Hired to Kill

1990-11-10

5.3

The Double McGuffin

1979-06-01

5.4

Lost Horizon

1973-03-14

5.3

Steel

1979-10-21

4.9

Born to Race

1988-01-29

4

The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come

1961-06-01

2.5

Monster Makers

2003-10-26

3.9

Top Line

1988-08-16

5.3

The Bull of the West

1972-05-04

4

Gaily, Gaily

1969-12-16

2

Intensive Care

1991-10-31

6.5

Hurry Sundown

1967-02-09

4.9

Mean Dog Blues

1978-03-03

5.5

The Man from the Diners' Club

1963-04-17

5

Hotwire

1980-09-01

4.5

Private Road: No Trespassing

1988-06-15

7.3

Deliver Us from Evil

1973-09-11

5.9

The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues

1987-11-22

3

Ministry of Vengeance

1989-11-03

5.5

The Jupiter Menace

1982-11-19

6

A Cry in the Wilderness

1974-03-26

5.4

Dallas - War of The Ewings

1998-04-23

0

Liberty

1986-06-23

6.1

The Pink Jungle

1968-10-16

7

A Great American Tragedy

1972-10-18

7

See How They Run

1964-10-07

4.7

Counterforce

1988-02-05

4.4

Esmeralda Bay

1989-05-18

0

Sarge: The Badge or the Cross

1971-02-22

6.6

In Harm's Way

1965-04-06

6.1

The Legend of Lylah Clare

1968-08-21

4.2

Hangfire

1991-01-11

7.9

The Jesse Owens Story

1984-07-09

6.2

Island of the Blue Dolphins

1964-09-10

7.3

Proof of the Man

1977-10-08

0

The Blue Knight

1975-05-09

5

International Airport

1985-05-25

6

The Gambler

2014-12-25

4.5

Hollyweird

1998-01-01

0

Half Nelson

1985-03-24

0

Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story

1992-04-01

5.4

Dallas: J.R. Returns

1996-11-14

6.9

Modern Romance

1981-03-13

3.7

Truce

2005-01-01

4.9

McHale's Navy

1964-06-25

0

What Price Victory

1988-01-18

1

Three Bad Men

2005-01-15

5.5

View from the Top

2003-03-21

6.6

2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift

2010-08-03

5

Distant Justice

1992-12-01

3.7

Driving Me Crazy

1991-05-16

5

Chattanooga Choo Choo

1984-05-18

3.6

Men in White

1998-08-16

5

Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist

1990-06-09

9.7

Rigged

1985-05-15

5.6

Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon

1961-10-17

4

The Cops Are Robbers

1990-12-09

7.3

Cats Don't Dance

1997-03-26

0

Rare Breed

1984-10-10

4.5

Sonic Boom

1974-01-01

5.4

The Boneyard Collection

2008-01-01

8

WWE SummerSlam 1994

1994-08-29

0

The Lion Roars Again

1975-01-01

7.6

The Andy Griffith Show

1960-10-03

0

The Great Adventure

1963-09-27

6.7

77 Sunset Strip

1958-10-10

5.8

Cheyenne

1955-09-20

6.4

Route 66

1960-10-07

6.9

Wings

1990-04-19

5

Surfside 6

1960-10-06

6.6

Gunsmoke

1955-09-10

7.7

Perry Mason

1957-09-21

7.5

The Rogues

1964-09-13

6.4

The Tall Man

1960-09-10

6.4

Laredo

1965-09-16

5

Going My Way

1962-10-03

6.2

Outlaws

1960-09-26

7

Rawhide

1959-01-09

7.4

Have Gun, Will Travel

1957-09-14

6.9

Daniel Boone

1964-09-24

6.5

The Virginian

1962-09-19

6.3

Thriller

1960-09-13

5

Sarge

1971-09-21

6.5

Peter Gunn

1958-09-22

6.1

The Big Valley

1965-09-15

6.7

Tarzan

1966-09-08

5.5

Grindl

1963-09-15

5.4

Lawman

1958-10-05

6.4

Bat Masterson

1958-10-08

6.3

Riverboat

1959-09-13

4.8

The Legend of Jesse James

1965-09-13

5.4

Dr. Kildare

1961-09-27

7

The Oscars

1953-03-19

5

The Asphalt Jungle

1961-04-02

6

Kraft Mystery Theatre

1961-06-14

6.9

Maverick

1957-09-22

7

Saturday Night Live

1975-10-11

2

The Blue Knight

1975-05-09

5.4

Dr. Kildare

1961-09-27

6.5

The Virginian

1962-09-19

6.6

Gunsmoke

1955-09-10

6.6

Gunsmoke

1955-09-10

6.5

The Virginian

1962-09-19

6.6

Gunsmoke

1955-09-10

6.6

Gunsmoke

1955-09-10

6.6

Gunsmoke

1955-09-10

6.6

Gunsmoke

1955-09-10

0

Santo Bugito

1995-01-01

7.5

Bonanza

1959-09-12

7.5

Bonanza

1959-09-12

7.2

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

1996-08-26

7.4

Have Gun, Will Travel

1957-09-14

5.2

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

1963-10-04

6.6

The Phil Silvers Show

1955-09-20

7.3

The Commish

1991-09-28

6.7

Dallas

1978-04-02

6.9

Ironside

1967-03-28

5.3

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts

1973-09-14

5.9

Backstairs at the White House

1979-01-29

7.8

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

1962-09-20