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George Kennedy

George Kennedy

Actor · 1925 – 2016 · New York City, New York, USA

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.

Movies24

  • Movie7.3
  • Movie6.8
  • Movie6.5
  • Movie6.6

    Small Soldiers

    1998 · 2.4K votes

  • Movie7.2

    Death on the Nile

    1978 · 952 votes

  • Movie7.7

    Cool Hand Luke

    1967 · 1.7K votes

  • Movie7.6

    The Dirty Dozen

    1967 · 1.4K votes

  • Movie6.0

    The Delta Force

    1986 · 542 votes

  • Movie6.0

    The Gambler

    2014 · 1.6K votes

  • Movie5.6

    View from the Top

    2003 · 620 votes

  • Movie7.7

    Charade

    1963 · 1.6K votes

  • Movie6.5
  • Movie7.0

    The Sons of Katie Elder

    1965 · 314 votes

  • Movie5.4
  • Movie7.2

    Cats Don't Dance

    1997 · 210 votes

  • Movie6.6

    In Harm's Way

    1965 · 167 votes

  • Movie6.2

    Creepshow 2

    1987 · 673 votes

  • Movie6.5

    Airport

    1970 · 467 votes

  • Movie4.7
  • Movie6.2

    Earthquake

    1974 · 383 votes

  • Movie6.9

    Shenandoah

    1965 · 166 votes

  • Movie7.2

    The Flight of the Phoenix

    1965 · 389 votes

  • Movie5.4
  • Movie6.6

    Bandolero!

    1968 · 135 votes

Series24

  • TV6.9

    Saturday Night Live

    1975 · 527 votes

  • TV5.8

    The Mike Douglas Show

    1961 · 11 votes

  • TV7.3
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    Perry Mason

    1957 · 139 votes

  • TV6.8

    The Merv Griffin Show

    1962 · 12 votes

  • TV7.5

    Bonanza

    1959 · 500 votes

  • TV6.8

    Ironside

    1967 · 71 votes

  • TV6.9

    Dallas

    1978 · 249 votes

  • TV7.0

    Maverick

    1957 · 43 votes

  • TV7.6

    The Andy Griffith Show

    1960 · 175 votes

  • TV7.9
  • TV5.7

    Dr. Kildare

    1961 · 19 votes

  • TV6.9

    Wings

    1990 · 147 votes

  • TV7.3

    Have Gun, Will Travel

    1957 · 44 votes

  • TV6.5

    The Virginian

    1962 · 35 votes

  • TV7.0

    Daniel Boone

    1964 · 34 votes

  • TV6.2

    Cheyenne

    1955 · 26 votes

  • TV5.9
  • TV6.2

    The Big Valley

    1965 · 59 votes

  • TV7.0

    The Oscars

    1953 · 84 votes

  • TV6.7

    Route 66

    1960 · 20 votes

  • TV7.2

    Rawhide

    1959 · 49 votes

  • TV6.7

    Gunsmoke

    1955 · 119 votes

  • TV6.0

    Lawman

    1958 · 13 votes