George Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who has appeared in over 200 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from Pearce's 1965 novel of the same name. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D...
(for which he won an Academy Award), airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s (The only actor to star in all four movies) and as Captain Ed Hocken in the Naked Gun series of comedy films.
Early life
Kennedy was born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, into a show business
Show business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
family. His father, George Harris Kennedy, a musician and orchestra leader, died when Kennedy was four years old. He was raised by his mother, Helen A. (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Kieselbach), a ballet dancer. He made his stage debut at the age of two, later becoming a radio performer. Kennedy put aside show business during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and served in the United States Army for 16 years, seeing combat and working in the Armed Forces radio. He was involved with the opening of the first Army Information Office, which provided technical assistance to films and TV shows. After retiring from the military (reportedly because of a back injury), Kennedy found his way back to the entertainment industry.
Career
Kennedy became a technical advisor for the television series Sergeant BilkoThe Phil Silvers Show
The Phil Silvers Show is a comedy television series which ran on CBS from 1955 to 1959 for 142 episodes, plus a 1959 special. The series starred Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G...
, where his acting career began with a few one-line parts. After a very brief appearance in the 1960 blockbuster Spartacus, his film career began in 1961
1961 in film
The year 1961 in film involved some significant events, with West Side Story winning 10 Academy Awards.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:* Atlantis, the Lost ContinentB...
in The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come. He then appeared in several prominent Hollywood movies, including Charade (1963) opposite Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
, Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau
Walter Matthau was an American actor best known for his role as Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple and his frequent collaborations with Odd Couple star Jack Lemmon, as well as his role as Coach Buttermaker in the 1976 comedy The Bad News Bears...
, and James Coburn
James Coburn
James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
; 1964's Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, opposite Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
, and in such popular 1965 films as the crash-survivor drama The Flight of the Phoenix
The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film)
The Flight of the Phoenix is a 1965 American film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich and based on the 1964 novel The Flight of the Phoenix by Elleston Trevor...
with James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
and the war story In Harm's Way
In Harm's Way
In Harm's Way is a 1965 American epic war film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Stanley Holloway, Burgess Meredith, Brandon De Wilde, Jill Haworth, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda.It was the last black-and-white...
with John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
.
He made numerous television appearances on shows like The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
, Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
, Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, McHale's Navy
McHale's Navy
McHale's Navy is an American television sitcom series which ran for 138 half-hour episodes from October 11,1962, to August 31, 1966, on the ABC network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated in a one-hour drama called Seven Against the Sea, broadcast on April 3, 1962...
and Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
. He portrayed the character "Blodgett" in a 1966 episode "Return to Lawrence" of the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series The Legend of Jesse James
The Legend of Jesse James (TV series)
The Legend of Jesse James is a 34-episode western television series starring Christopher Jones in the tile role of notorious outlaw Jesse James which aired on ABC from September 13, 1965, to May 9, 1966...
, starring Christopher Jones
Christopher Jones (actor)
William "Billy" Frank Jones, better known as Christopher Jones, is an American character actor, born August 18, 1941 in Jackson, Tennessee....
in the title role.
Then came a career-changing performance as Kennedy won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
for Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from Pearce's 1965 novel of the same name. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D...
(1967
1967 in film
The year 1967 in film involved some significant events. It is widely considered as one of the most ground-breaking years in film.-Events:* December 26 - The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour airs on British television....
). He played "Dragline", a chain-gang convict who at first resents the new prisoner in camp played by Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
, then comes to idolize the rebellious Luke.
He followed with films such as The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen
The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 film directed by Robert Aldrich and released by MGM. It was filmed in England and features an ensemble cast, including Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, and Robert Webber. The film is based on E. M...
, Bandolero!
Bandolero!
Bandolero! is a 1968 western directed by Andrew V. McLaglen starring James Stewart, Dean Martin, Raquel Welch and George Kennedy.-Plot:Posing as a hangman, Mace Bishop arrives in town with the intention of freeing his brother Dee from the gallows. Dee and his gang have been arrested for a bank...
and The Boston Strangler. In 1970, he appeared in the Academy Award-winning disaster story Airport in which he played one of its key characters, airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni. He reprised this role in Airport 1975
Airport 1975
Airport 1975 is a 1974 disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 film Airport. It stars Charlton Heston and Karen Black and is directed by Jack Smight....
and in two sequels.
Continuing to work with some of the biggest names in the business, Kennedy co-starred with Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
in a pair of films, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is a 1974 American crime film written and directed by Michael Cimino and starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy, and Geoffrey Lewis.-Plot:...
and The Eiger Sanction
The Eiger Sanction
The Eiger Sanction is a 1972 thriller novel by Rodney William Whitaker, written under the pseudonym Trevanian. The story was made into a film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood in 1975.Whitaker wrote a sequel entitled The Loo Sanction....
and with an ensemble cast including Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
and Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
in the disaster film Earthquake
Earthquake (film)
Earthquake is a 1974 American disaster film that achieved huge box-office success, continuing the disaster film genre of the 1970s where recognizable all-star casts attempt to survive life or death situations...
. He was part of an all-star cast in the Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
mystery Death on the Nile
Death on the Nile
Death on the Nile is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 1, 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.00.The book...
in 1978, joining the likes of David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
, Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
, Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
and Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
.
In 1984, Kennedy starred opposite Bo Derek
Bo Derek
Mary Cathleen Collins , better known as Bo Derek, is an American film and television actress, model, and sex symbol, known for her role as Jenny Hanley in the 1979 comedy film 10. However, Derek's film career soon faltered; her later films, including, Bolero and Ghosts Can't Do It , were poorly...
in the box-office bomb Bolero
Bolero (1984 film)
Bolero is a 1984 film starring Bo Derek, and written and directed by her husband John Derek. The film centers on the protagonist's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to pursue an ideal first lover who will take her virginity....
. He made other minor films including Savage Dawn
Savage Dawn
Savage Dawn is a 1985 action and drama film. The Fifth Chapter Motorcycle Club made an appearance in the film. The film was directed by Simon Nuchtern.-Plot:...
, The Delta Force
The Delta Force (film)
The Delta Force is a 1986 American action film starring Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin as leaders of an elite squad of Special Forces troops based on the real life U.S. Army Delta Force unit. It was directed by Menahem Golan and featured Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Robert Vaughn, Steve James, Robert...
, and Creepshow 2
Creepshow 2
Creepshow 2 is an American horror comedy anthology film directed by Michael Gornick, who was George A. Romero's cinematographer on the original Creepshow. Released in 1987, the screenplay for Creepshow 2 was penned by Romero , and once again based upon stories by Stephen King...
before connecting in the comedy hit The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! in 1988, playing Captain Ed Hocken opposite Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
's comical cop Frank Drebin. There were two sequels in which Kennedy co-starred.
On television, Kennedy portrayed Carter McKay in the CBS prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
serial
Serial (radio and television)
Serials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
(1978–1991), appearing from 1988-1991. In the late 1990s, he promoted Breathasure tablets in television commercials with the quote, "I never go anywhere without my Breathasure." Around this time, he reprised his role as McKay in the television films Dallas: JR Returns and Dallas: War of the Ewings. In 1996, he played himself on Wings. He was asked to reprise his role from Airport (much to his annoyance) by Brian Hackett (Steven Weber
Steven Weber
Steven Weber is the name of:* Steven Weber , American actor* Steven Weber , professor at the University of California, Berkeley, studying open source...
).
In 1998, he voiced Brick Bazooka for the film Small Soldiers
Small Soldiers
Small Soldiers is a 1998 American action/science fiction film directed by Joe Dante starring Gregory Smith and Kirsten Dunst. The film revolves around two teenagers , who get caught in the middle of a war between two factions of sentient action figures, the Gorgonites and the Commando...
. He then made several independent films before making a 2003 comeback to television in the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
, playing the character Albert Miller, the biological father to legendary character Victor Newman. In 2005, he made a cameo appearance in the small film Don't Come Knocking
Don't Come Knocking
Don't Come Knocking is a 2005 film, a comedy-drama road movie directed by German director Wim Wenders and written by Wenders and actor/playwright Sam Shepard. The two had previously collaborated on the film Paris, Texas...
, playing the director of an ill-fated Western.
Kennedy received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
for his contributions to motion pictures, located at 6352 Hollywood Blvd.
Personal life
Kennedy resides in Eagle, IdahoEagle, Idaho
Eagle is a city in Ada County, Idaho, United States. The population was 19,908 at the 2010 census. Due to growth in the Boise metropolitan area, Eagle has become increasingly suburban in recent years.-Geography:...
. He is married to Joan McCarthy and has a daughter, Shaunna. The couple adopted their granddaughter, Taylor, after her mother's incarceration.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Spartacus Spartacus (film) Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast... |
Rebel soldier | uncredited |
| 1961 | The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come is a 1961 film directed by Andrew McLaglen. It stars Jimmie Rodgers and Luana Patten. It is based on the 1903 novel of the same title by John Fox, Jr.-Cast:*Jimmie Rodgers as Chad*Luana Patten as Melissa Turner... |
Nathan Dillon | |
| 1962 | The Silent Witness The Silent Witness The Silent Witness is a 1932 American mystery film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Lionel Atwill, Greta Nissen and Helen Mack. It was adapted from a play by Jack DeLeon and Jack Celestin.-Cast:* Lionel Atwill - Sir Austin Howard... |
Gus Jordan | |
| Lonely are the Brave Lonely are the Brave Lonely are the Brave is a 1962 film adaptation of the Edward Abbey novel The Brave Cowboy. It stars Kirk Douglas as cowboy Jack Burns, Gena Rowlands as his best friend's wife, and Walter Matthau as a sheriff who sympathizes with Burns but must do his job and chase him down... |
Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez | ||
| 1963 | The Man from the Diner's Club The Man from the Diner's Club The Man from the Diner's Club is a 1963 comedy film made by Ampersand and Dena Productions and released by Columbia Pictures.-Production:... |
George | |
| Charade | Herman Scobie | ||
| 1964 | McHale's Navy McHale's Navy McHale's Navy is an American television sitcom series which ran for 138 half-hour episodes from October 11,1962, to August 31, 1966, on the ABC network. The series was filmed in black and white and originated in a one-hour drama called Seven Against the Sea, broadcast on April 3, 1962... |
Henri Le Clerc | |
| Island of the Blue Dolphins Island of the Blue Dolphins Island of the Blue Dolphins is a 1960 American children's novel written by Scott O'Dell. The story of a young girl stranded for years on an island off the California coast, it is based on the true story of Juana Maria, a Nicoleño Indian left alone for 18 years on San Nicolas Island in the 19th... |
Aleut Captain | ||
| Strait-Jacket Strait-Jacket Strait-Jacket is a 1964 American thriller film starring Joan Crawford and Diane Baker in a macabre mother and daughter tale about a series of axe-murders. Released by Columbia Pictures, the film was directed and produced by William Castle, and co-produced by Dona Holloway... |
Leo Krause | ||
| Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte is a 1964 American thriller film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, and starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, and Agnes Moorehead.... |
Foreman | ||
| 1965 | Mirage | Willard | |
| In Harm's Way In Harm's Way In Harm's Way is a 1965 American epic war film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Stanley Holloway, Burgess Meredith, Brandon De Wilde, Jill Haworth, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda.It was the last black-and-white... |
Colonel Gregory | ||
| The Flight of the Phoenix The Flight of the Phoenix (1965 film) The Flight of the Phoenix is a 1965 American film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich and based on the 1964 novel The Flight of the Phoenix by Elleston Trevor... |
Mike Bellamy | ||
| Shenandoah Shenandoah (film) Shenandoah is a 1965 American Civil War film starring James Stewart, Doug McClure, Glenn Corbett, Patrick Wayne, and Katharine Ross. The picture was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. Though set during the American Civil War, the film's strong antiwar and humanitarian themes resonated with audiences... |
Col. Fairchild | ||
| The Sons of Katie Elder The Sons of Katie Elder The Sons of Katie Elder is a 1965 Technicolor western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. The movie was filmed principally in Mexico.... |
Curley | ||
| 1967 | The Dirty Dozen The Dirty Dozen The Dirty Dozen is a 1967 film directed by Robert Aldrich and released by MGM. It was filmed in England and features an ensemble cast, including Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Telly Savalas, and Robert Webber. The film is based on E. M... |
Major Max Armbruster | |
| Hurry Sundown Hurry Sundown (film) Hurry Sundown is a 1967 American drama film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Jane Fonda and Michael Caine. The screenplay by Horton Foote and Thomas C. Ryan is based on the 1965 novel of the same title by K.B... |
Sheriff Coombs | ||
| Cool Hand Luke Cool Hand Luke Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from Pearce's 1965 novel of the same name. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D... |
Dragline | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year.... |
|
| The Ballad of Josie The Ballad of Josie The Ballad of Josie is a 1967 Technicolor American comedy western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring Doris Day, Peter Graves and George Kennedy... |
Arch Ogden | ||
| 1968 | The Pink Jungle The Pink Jungle The Pink Jungle is a 1968 film thriller starring James Garner, George Kennedy and Eva Renzi. The film was directed by Delbert Mann and written by Charles Williams, adapting the 1965 novel Snake Water by Alan Williams.-Plot:... |
Sammy Ryderbeit | |
| The Legend of Lylah Clare The Legend of Lylah Clare The Legend of Lylah Clare is a 1968 Metrocolor film directed by Robert Aldrich. The film stars Peter Finch, Kim Novak, Ernest Borgnine, Michael Murphy and Valentina Cortese. The film was based on a 1962 Dupont Show of the Week TV drama co-written by Wild in the Streets creator Robert Thom.-Plot... |
Matt Burke | uncredited | |
| The Boston Strangler The Boston Strangler (film) The Boston Strangler is a 1968 film based on the true story of the Boston Strangler and the book by Gerold Frank. It was directed by Richard Fleischer, and stars Tony Curtis as Albert DeSalvo, the strangler, and Henry Fonda as John S... |
Phil DiNatale | ||
| Bandolero! Bandolero! Bandolero! is a 1968 western directed by Andrew V. McLaglen starring James Stewart, Dean Martin, Raquel Welch and George Kennedy.-Plot:Posing as a hangman, Mace Bishop arrives in town with the intention of freeing his brother Dee from the gallows. Dee and his gang have been arrested for a bank... |
Sheriff Johnson | ||
| 1969 | The Good Guys and the Bad Guys The Good Guys and the Bad Guys The Good Guys and the Bad Guys is a 1969 film directed by Burt Kennedy. It stars Robert Mitchum and George Kennedy.-Cast:*Robert Mitchum as Flagg*George Kennedy as McKay*Martin Balsam as Mayor Wilker*David Carradine as Waco*Tina Louise as Carmel... |
Big John McKay | |
| Gaily, Gaily Gaily, Gaily Gaily, Gaily is a 1969 comedy film directed by Norman Jewison. It is based on the Autobiographical novel by Ben Hecht and stars Beau Bridges, Melina Mercouri, Brian Keith, and George Kennedy.... |
Johanson | ||
| Guns of the Magnificent Seven Guns of the Magnificent Seven Guns of the Magnificent Seven is a Zapata Western and the second sequel to the 1960 western film, The Magnificent Seven .... |
Chris | ||
| 1970 | Dirty Dingus Magee Dirty Dingus Magee Dirty Dingus Magee is a comic 1970 anti-western film starring Frank Sinatra as the title outlaw and George Kennedy as a sheriff out to capture him... |
Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill | |
| ...tick...tick...tick... ...tick...tick...tick... ...tick...tick...tick... is an American movie made in 1970 directed by Ralph Nelson. Racially provocative for its time, it stars Jim Brown in the role of an African-American man elected as the sheriff of a rural county in the American South... |
John Little | ||
| Zigzag Zigzag (1970 film) ZigZag is a 1970 film directed by Richard A. Colla and starring George Kennedy.Kennedy plays an insurance executive who finds out he is dying. His family will receive nothing under his current policies, but there is a huge reward for information leading to the arrest of the murderer of a businessman... |
Paul R. Cameron | ||
| Airport | Joe Patroni | Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year.... |
|
| 1971 | Fools' Parade Fools' Parade Fools' Parade is a 1971 drama film directed by Andrew McLaglen and starring James Stewart, George Kennedy, Kurt Russell, and Strother Martin. It was based on the novel of the same name by Davis Grubb... |
'Doc' Council | |
| 1973 | Lost Horizon Lost Horizon (1973 film) Lost Horizon is a 1973 musical film directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Peter Finch, John Gielgud, Liv Ullmann, Michael York, Sally Kellerman, Bobby Van, George Kennedy, Olivia Hussey, James Shigeta and Charles Boyer.... |
Sam Cornelius | |
| Cahill U.S. Marshal Cahill U.S. Marshal Cahill U.S. Marshal is a 1973 American Western film in Technicolor. It stars John Wayne as a driven lawman in a black hat. The movie was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and filmed on location in Durango, Mexico.-Plot:... |
Abe Fraser | ||
| 1974 | Sonic Boom | ||
| Thunderbolt and Lightfoot Thunderbolt and Lightfoot Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is a 1974 American crime film written and directed by Michael Cimino and starring Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, George Kennedy, and Geoffrey Lewis.-Plot:... |
Red Leary | ||
| Airport 1975 Airport 1975 Airport 1975 is a 1974 disaster film and the first sequel to the successful 1970 film Airport. It stars Charlton Heston and Karen Black and is directed by Jack Smight.... |
Joe Patroni | ||
| Earthquake Earthquake (film) Earthquake is a 1974 American disaster film that achieved huge box-office success, continuing the disaster film genre of the 1970s where recognizable all-star casts attempt to survive life or death situations... |
Sgt. Lew Slade | ||
| 1975 | The Eiger Sanction The Eiger Sanction (film) The Eiger Sanction is a 1975 American action thriller based on the novel The Eiger Sanction by Trevanian, a pseudonym for the American author, Dr. Rodney William Whitaker. The film was directed by Clint Eastwood, who also starred as Dr. Jonathan Hemlock.-Plot:Dr... |
Ben Bowman | |
| The 'Human' Factor The 'Human' Factor The 'Human' Factor is a 1975 film directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring George Kennedy and John Mills.-Synopsis:John Kinsdale works in Naples, Italy as a NATO computer specialist. He returns home from work one day to find his beloved family brutally murdered... |
John Kinsdale | ||
| 1977 | Airport '77 Airport '77 Airport '77 is a 1977 disaster film and second sequel in the Airport franchise.The film stars a number of veteran actors, including Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Joseph Cotten, Christopher Lee and Olivia de Havilland. Like its predecessors, Airport '77 was a box office hit earning US$30 million and... |
Joe Patroni | |
| Ningen no shômei | Ken Shuftan | ||
| 1978 | Mean Dog Blues Mean Dog Blues Mean Dog Blues is a 1978 drama film directed by Mel Stuart. It stars Gregg Henry and Kay Lenz.-Cast:*Gregg Henry as Paul Ramsey*Kay Lenz as Linda Ramsey*Scatman Crothers as Mudcat*Tina Louise as Donna Lacey*Felton Perry as Jake Turner... |
Captain Omar Kinsman | |
| Brass Target Brass Target Brass Target is a 1978 American war film, based on the novel The Algonquin Project by Frederick Nolan and directed by John Hough. It stars John Cassavetes, Robert Vaughn, George Kennedy, Patrick McGoohan and Max von Sydow.... |
Gen. George S. Patton | ||
| Death on the Nile Death on the Nile Death on the Nile is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 1, 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.00.The book... |
Andrew Pennington | ||
| 1979 | The Concorde ... Airport '79 | Capt. Joe Patroni | |
| The Double McGuffin The Double McGuffin The Double McGuffin is a 1979 children's film directed by Joe Camp. It starred Ernest Borgnine and George Kennedy, alongside a group of young actors, some of whom later became quite famous, including Lisa Whelchel, who would go on to star in the sitcom The Facts of Life. Elke Sommer and NFL stars... |
Chief Talasek | ||
| Search and Destroy | Anthony Fusqua | ||
| Steel | Big Lew Cassidy | ||
| 1980 | Virus | Admiral Conway | |
| Death Ship Death Ship (1980 film) Death Ship is a 1980 horror film directed by Alvin Rakoff. The cast includes Academy Award winner George Kennedy, Richard Crenna, Sally Ann Howes, and Black Christmas actor Nick Mancuso.-Plot:... |
Ashland | ||
| Hotwire | Farley & Harley Fontenot | ||
| 1981 | Just Before Dawn Just Before Dawn (1981 film) Just Before Dawn is a 1981 slasher film from director Jeff Lieberman. Though the film came and went quietly upon its theatrical release the film has now developed a devoted cult following among horror fans. It is praised for its eerie atmosphere, lush cinematography, and above-average cast... |
Roy McLean | |
| Modern Romance Modern Romance -Cast:* Albert Brooks .... Robert Cole* Kathryn Harrold .... Mary Harvard* Bruno Kirby .... Jay-Plot:Robert Cole is a Hollywood film editor right in the middle of cutting a new science fiction film with George Kennedy. His relationship with very patient bank executive Mary Harvard is caught... |
Himself | ||
| 1983 | Wacko Wacko (film) Wacko is a 1982 horror film parody directed by Greydon Clark and starring Joe Don Baker and George Kennedy.-Plot:It all started exactly 13 years ago, when Mary Graves' older sister was murdered on Halloween prom night by a power-mowing maniac. Poor Mary...since then she has experienced horror,... |
Mr. Doctor Graves | |
| 1984 | A Rare Breed | Nathan Hill | |
| Chattanooga Choo Choo Chattanooga Choo Choo (film) Chattanooga Choo Choo is a 1984 film featuring the eponymous train released as a light summer comedy in 1984, starring Barbara Eden and George Kennedy.... |
Bert | ||
| Bolero Bolero (1984 film) Bolero is a 1984 film starring Bo Derek, and written and directed by her husband John Derek. The film centers on the protagonist's sexual awakening and her journey around the world to pursue an ideal first lover who will take her virginity.... |
Cotton | ||
| 1985 | Radioactive Dreams Radioactive Dreams Radioactive Dreams is a 1985 post-apocalyptic science fiction-comedy film. The film was directed by Albert Pyun, and stars Michael Dudikoff, Don Murray, and Lisa Blount... |
Spade Chandler | |
| Savage Dawn Savage Dawn Savage Dawn is a 1985 action and drama film. The Fifth Chapter Motorcycle Club made an appearance in the film. The film was directed by Simon Nuchtern.-Plot:... |
Tick Rand | ||
| 1986 | The Delta Force The Delta Force (film) The Delta Force is a 1986 American action film starring Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin as leaders of an elite squad of Special Forces troops based on the real life U.S. Army Delta Force unit. It was directed by Menahem Golan and featured Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Robert Vaughn, Steve James, Robert... |
Father O'Malley | |
| Rigged | |||
| 1987 | Creepshow 2 Creepshow 2 Creepshow 2 is an American horror comedy anthology film directed by Michael Gornick, who was George A. Romero's cinematographer on the original Creepshow. Released in 1987, the screenplay for Creepshow 2 was penned by Romero , and once again based upon stories by Stephen King... |
Ray Spruce | segment "Old Chief Wood'nhead" |
| 1988 | Top Line | Heinrich Holzmann | |
| Born to Race Born to Race Born to Race is a 1988 film directed by James Fargo. It stars Joseph Bottoms and Marla Heasley.-Cast:*Joseph Bottoms as Al Pagura*Marla Heasley as Andrea Lombardo*Robert Logan as Theo Jennings*George Kennedy as Vincent Duplain... |
Vincent Duplain | ||
| Nightmare at Noon | Sheriff Hanks | ||
| Uninvited Uninvited (1988 film) -Plot:A sinister corporation loses control of a house-cat, infected with a malignant genetically-engineered virus. As the death-toll rises during its savage rampage, the feline-abomination is brought aboard the ship of a criminal king-pin by two sexy co-eds... |
Mike Harvey | ||
| Escuadrón | Vince Colby | ||
| The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | Capt. Ed Hocken | ||
| Demonwarp Demonwarp Demonwarp is a 1987 science fiction/horror film directed by Emmett Alston and starring George Kennedy.-Plot:The film begins with Kennedy's character talking to his daughter inside their cabin. Suddenly a Bigfoot-like animal brakes in and takes away the girl. Some teenage campers arrive and they too... |
Bill Crafton | ||
| 1989 | Ministry of Vengeance | Rev. Hughes | |
| La Bahía esmeralda | Wilson | ||
| The Terror Within The Terror Within The Terror Within is a 1989 science fiction/horror film starring George Kennedy, Andrew Stevens, Starr Andreeff and Terri Treas. The film was directed by Thierry Notz.-Plot:... |
Hal | ||
| 1990 | Brain Dead Brain Dead (1990 film) Brain Dead is a 1990 horror/psychological thriller starring Bill Pullman, Bill Paxton and George Kennedy and written by Charles Beaumont.-Plot:... |
Vance | |
| Hired to Kill | Thomas | ||
| Mayumi | |||
| 1991 | Intensive Care | Dr. Bruckner | |
| Hangfire | Warden | ||
| Driving Me Crazy | McCready | ||
| The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear is a 1991 comedy film starring Leslie Nielsen as the comically bumbling Police Lt. Frank Drebin of Police Squad!. Priscilla Presley plays the role of Jane, with O.J. Simpson as Nordberg and George Kennedy as police captain Ed Hocken... |
Captain Ed Hocken | ||
| 1992 | Distant Justice | Tom Bradfield | |
| 1994 | River of Stone | ||
| Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult | Captain Ed Hocken | ||
| 1997 | Bayou Ghost | Officer Lowe | |
| Cats Don't Dance Cats Don't Dance Cats Don't Dance is a 1997 animated musical comedy film, notable as the only fully animated feature produced by Turner Entertainment's feature animation unit . The film was distributed by Warner Bros. Family Entertainment... |
L.B. Mammoth | voice | |
| 1998 | Small Soldiers Small Soldiers Small Soldiers is a 1998 American action/science fiction film directed by Joe Dante starring Gregory Smith and Kirsten Dunst. The film revolves around two teenagers , who get caught in the middle of a war between two factions of sentient action figures, the Gorgonites and the Commando... |
Brick Bazooka | voice |
| Dennis the Menace Strikes Again Dennis the Menace Strikes Again Dennis the Menace Strikes Again is a 1998 direct-to-video sequel to the 1993 theatrical feature Dennis the Menace. It was produced by Outlaw Productions and released by Warner Bros... |
Grandpa Johnson | ||
| 2003 | View from the Top View from the Top View from the Top is a 2003 romantic comedy film about a young woman from a small town who sets out to fulfill her dream of becoming a flight attendant... |
Passenger Requesting Vodka | uncredited |
| 2005 | Three Bad Men | Ed Fiske | |
| Truce | Dr. Peter Gannon | ||
| Don't Come Knocking Don't Come Knocking Don't Come Knocking is a 2005 film, a comedy-drama road movie directed by German director Wim Wenders and written by Wenders and actor/playwright Sam Shepard. The two had previously collaborated on the film Paris, Texas... |
Director | ||
| 2007 | Sands of Oblivion Sands of Oblivion Sands of Oblivion is a 2007 Sci-Fi Channel original movie starring Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Victor Webster, George Kennedy, Richard Kind and Dan Castellaneta... |
John Tevis | |
| 2008 | The Man Who Came Back The Man Who Came Back (2008 film) The Man Who Came Back is a 2008 western film directed by Glen Pitre. It stars Eric Braeden, Billy Zane, George Kennedy, and Armand Assante.-Plot:... |
Judge Duke | |
Television series
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Have Gun Will Travel | Tarnitzer | Episode: THE LEGACY |
| 1961 | The Untouchables The Untouchables (1959 TV series) The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a... |
Birdie | s2E58 |
| 1964 | Gunsmoke Gunsmoke Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West.... |
Warden Stryker | 1 episode "The Warden" |
| 1966 | Gunsmoke Gunsmoke Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West.... |
Ben Payson | 1 episode |
| 1971 | Sarge Sarge (TV series) Sarge was a Universal Television / Harbour Productions television series starring George Kennedy as Samuel Patrick Cavanaugh, a San Diego police detective sergeant who decides to retire and enter the priesthood after his wife is murdered... |
Sarge Swanson | |
| 1975 | The Blue Knight The Blue Knight (TV series) The Blue Knight was a CBS Crime TV series, running in 1975 and 1976, starring George Kennedy as Officer Bumper Morgan. The show was a based on a novel by author Joseph Wambaugh and produced by Lorimar Productions.- Plot :... |
Bumper Morgan | 6 episodes |
| 1979 | Backstairs at the White House | President Warren G. Harding | 1 episode |
| 1988–1991; 1996; 1998 | Dallas Dallas (TV series) Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing... |
Carter McKay | 67 episodes + 2 TV Movies |
| 1996 | Wings | Himself | 1 episode |
| 2003 | The Young and the Restless The Young and the Restless The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin... |
Albert Miller | 3 episodes |
| 2010 | The Young and the Restless The Young and the Restless The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin... |
Albert Miller (ghost) | 1 episode |