George Kennedy

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George Kennedy
in Charade(1963) Born February 18, 1925(1925-02-18) (age 83)
New York, New YorkAwards won Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor
1967 Cool Hand LukeOther Awards Golden Boot Award
1990 Lifetime Archievement

George Harris Kennedy, Jr.[1] (born February 18, 1925) is an Academy-Award winning American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as Dragline in Cool Hand Luke and Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s.

1 Biography
2 Filmography
3 Television series
4 References
5 External links

Biography

Early life

Kennedy was born in New York into a show business family. His father, George Harris Kennedy, a musician and orchestra leader, died when Kennedy was four years old.[2] He was raised by his mother, Helen A. (née Kieselbach), a ballet dancer.[1][3] He made his stage debut at the age of two, later becoming a radio performer. Kennedy put aside show business during World War II and spent sixteen years in the United States Army, seeing combat and working in the Armed Forces radio. he was involved with the opening of the first Army Information Office,[4] which provided provided technical assistance to films and TV shows.[4] After retiring from the military (reportedly because of a back injury), Kennedy found his way back to the entertainment industry.

Work

The handprints of George Kennedy in front of The Great Movie Ride at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

Kennedy became a technical advisor for the television series Sergeant Bilko, where his acting career began with a few one-line parts.[4] Kennedy began his film career in 1961 in The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come. He then appeared in several successful films, including 1963's'Charade opposite Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau, and James Coburn, 1964's Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte, opposite Bette Davis, and 1965's In Harm's Way, opposite John Wayne. He also made numerous television appearances, on The Andy Griffith Show, Perry Mason, Bonanza, McHale's Navy, and Gunsmoke. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Cool Hand Luke (1967). He followed with films such as The Dirty Dozen,Bandolero! and The Boston Strangler. In 1970 he appeared in the Academy-Award-winning film Airport, in which he played one of the film's lead characters, Joe Patroni. He reprised this role four years later in Airport 1975 and again in two further sequels. In 1984, he starred opposite Bo Derek in the Hollywood disaster Bolero. Kennedy also appeared in the television series The Love Boat in 1984, playing the character Erik Larsen. He then appeared in several less successful films including Savage Dawn, The Delta Force, and Creepshow 2 before appearing in the comedy hit The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! in 1988, playing Captain Ed Hocken. The film had two sequels in which Kennedy co-starred.

On television, Kennedy played Carter McKay in the CBS prime time serial Dallas (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 Cater McKay in the television films Dallas: JR Returns and Dallas: War of the Ewings. In 1998, he voiced Brick Bazooka for the film Small Soldiers. He then made several independent films before making a 2003 comeback to television in the soap opera The Young and the Restless, playing the character Albert Miller. In 2005, he made a cameo appearance in the small film Don't Come Knocking, where he played the director of an ill-fated Western.

Kennedy received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to motion pictures, located at 6352 Hollywood Blvd.

Personal life

Kennedy resides in Eagle, Idaho. He is married to Joan McCarthy and has a daughter, Shaunna, who has struggled with substance abuse. The couple adopted their granddaughter, Taylor,[4] after her mother's incarceration.

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes 1960 SpartacusRebel soldier uncredited 1961The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come Nathan Dillon 1962The Silent Witness Gus Jordan Lonely are the BraveDeputy Sheriff Gutierrez 1963 The Man from the Diner's ClubGeorge CharadeHerman Scobie 1964 McHale's NavyHenri Le Clerc Island of the Blue DolphinsAleut Captain Strait-JacketLeo Krause Hush… Hush, Sweet CharlotteForeman 1965Mirage Willard In Harm's WayColonel Gregory The Flight of the PhoenixMike Bellamy ShenandoahCol. Fairchild The Sons of Katie ElderCurley 1967 The Dirty DozenMajor Max Armbruster Hurry SundownSheriff Coombs Cool Hand LukeDragline Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion PictureThe Ballad of Josie Arch Ogden 1968 The Pink JungleSammy Ryderbeit The Legend of Lylah Clare Matt Burke uncredited The Boston StranglerPhil DiNatale Bandolero!Sheriff Johnson 1969The Good Guys and the Bad Guys Big John McKay Gaily, Gaily Johanson Guns of the Magnificent SevenChris 1970 Dirty Dingus MageeHerkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill ...tick...tick...tick...John Little AirportJoe Patroni Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture 1971 Fools' Parade'Doc' Council 1973 Lost HorizonSam Cornelius Cahill U.S. MarshalAbe Fraser 1974Sonic Boom Thunderbolt and LightfootRed Leary Airport 1975Joe Patroni EarthquakeSgt. Lew Slade 1975 The Eiger SanctionBen Bowman The 'Human' FactorJohn Kinsdale 1977 Airport '77Joe Patroni Ningen no shômei Ken Shuftan 1978Mean Dog Blues Captain Omar Kinsman Brass TargetGen. George S. Patton Death on the NileAndrew Pennington 1979 The Concorde: Airport '79Capt. Joe Patroni The Double McGuffinChief Talasek Search and Destroy Anthony Fusqua Steel Big Lew Cassidy 1980 VirusAdmiral Conway Death ShipAshland Hotwire Farley & Harley Fontenot 1981 Just Before DawnRoy McLean 1983Wacko Mr. Doctor Graves 1984A Rare Breed Nathan Hill Chattanooga Choo Choo Bert BoleroCotton Nominated - Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor 1985 Radioactive DreamsSpade Chandler Savage DawnTick Rand 1986 The Delta ForceFather O'Malley Rigged 1987 Creepshow 2Ray Spruce segment "Old Chief Wood'nhead" 1988Top Line Heinrich Holzmann Born to Race Vincent Duplain Nightmare at Noon Sheriff Hanks Uninvited Mike Harvey Escuadrón Vince Colby The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!Capt. Ed Hocken Demonwarp Bill Crafton 1989Ministry of Vengeance Rev. Hughes La Bahía esmeralda Wilson The Terror WithinHal 1990 Brain DeadVance Hired to Kill Thomas Mayumi 1991Intensive Care Dr. Bruckner Hangfire Warden Driving Me Crazy McCready The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of FearCaptain Ed Hocken 1992Distant Justice Tom Bradfield 1994River of Stone Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final InsultCaptain Ed Hocken 1997Bayou Ghost Officer Lowe Cats Don't DanceL.B. Mammoth voice 1998 Small SoldiersBrick Bazooka voice 2003 View from the TopPassenger Requesting Vodka uncredited 2005Three Bad Men Ed Fiske Truce Dr. Peter Gannon Don't Come KnockingDirector 2008The Man Who Came Back Judge Duke

Television series

Year Title Role Other notes 1971 SargeSarge Swanson 1975 The Blue KnightBumper Morgan 6 episodes 1988-1991 DallasCarter McKay 18 episodes 1996 WingsHimself 1 episode

Awards Preceded by
Walter Matthau
for The Fortune Cookie Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1967
for Cool Hand LukeSucceeded by
Jack Albertson
for The Subject Was Roses

References

^ a b George Kennedy genealogy. Rootsweb.com.
^ Interview with George Kennedy Actor & Movie Star. Healthy Hearing.com. 21 March 2005.
^ George Kennedy Biography. Film Reference.com.
^ a b c d George Kennedy. Hollywood.com.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: George Kennedy

George Kennedy at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

George Chakiris (1961) · Ed Begley (1962) · Melvyn Douglas (1963) · Peter Ustinov (1964) · Martin Balsam (1965) · Walter Matthau (1966) · George Kennedy (1967) · Jack Albertson (1968) · Gig Young (1969) John Mills (1970) · Ben Johnson (1971) · Joel Grey (1972) · John Houseman (1973) · Robert De Niro (1974) · George Burns (1975) · Jason Robards (1976) · Jason Robards (1977) · Christopher Walken (1978) · Melvyn Douglas (1979) · Timothy Hutton (1980)

Complete list · (1936–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)

v • d • e The Naked Gun seriesTV series Police Squad!Films The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!• The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear• Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final InsultCast Leslie Nielsen• Alan North• Peter Lupus• William Duell• Ed Williams• Priscilla Presley• George Kennedy • O. J. Simpson• "Weird Al" Yankovic• Ricardo Montalbán• Robert Goulet• Fred Ward• Anna Nicole SmithCrew Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker(Jerry Zucker· Jim Abrahams· David Zucker) • Pat Proft• Peter Segal• Robert K. WeissCharacters Lieutenant Frank Drebin

PersondataNAME Kennedy, George ALTERNATIVE NAMES SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor DATE OF BIRTH 1925-2-18 PLACE OF BIRTH New York, New YorkDATE OF DEATH PLACE OF DEATH