1925-02-18 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.
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Airports | 2025-09-17 | |
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The Gambler | Ed | 2014-12-25 |
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Another Happy Day | Joe Baker | 2011-11-18 |
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2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift | (archive footage) | 2010-08-03 |
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Six Days in Paradise | Monty Crenshaw | 2010-08-05 |
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The Man Who Came Back | Judge Duke | 2008-02-08 |
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A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke' | Self | 2008-12-16 |
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The Boneyard Collection | Professor Zebediah Jones (segment "The Devil's Due at Midnight") | 2008-01-01 |
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Sands of Oblivion | John Tevis | 2007-07-28 |
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Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen' | Self | 2006-01-01 |
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Three Bad Men | Ed Fiske | 2005-01-15 |
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Don't Come Knocking | Director | 2005-08-25 |
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Truce | Dr. Peter Gannon | 2005-01-01 |
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View from the Top | Passenger Requesting Vodka (uncredited) | 2003-03-21 |
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Monster Makers | Dexter Brisbane | 2003-10-26 |
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Hollyweird | George Kennedy | 1998-01-01 |
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Dennis the Menace Strikes Again! | Mr. Johnson | 1998-07-14 |
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Small Soldiers | Brick Bazooka (voice) | 1998-07-10 |
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Men in White | Army | 1998-08-16 |
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Dallas: War of The Ewings | Carter McKay | 1998-04-24 |
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Bayou Ghost | Officer Lowe | 1997-01-01 |
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Cats Don't Dance | L.B. Mammoth (voice) | 1997-03-26 |
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Dallas: J.R. Returns | Carter McKay | 1996-11-15 |
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Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult | Ed Hocken | 1994-03-18 |
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WWE SummerSlam 1994 | Himself | 1994-08-29 |
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Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story | Father Dave Hagan | 1992-04-01 |
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Distant Justice | Tom Bradfield | 1992-12-01 |
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Intensive Care | Dr. Bruckner | 1991-10-31 |
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Driving Me Crazy | John McCready | 1991-05-16 |
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Hangfire | Warden Barles | 1991-01-11 |
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The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear | Ed Hocken | 1991-06-28 |
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Hired to Kill | Thomas | 1990-04-28 |
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The Cops Are Robbers | 1990-12-09 | |
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마유미 | Bahraini Investigator | 1990-06-09 |
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Brain Dead | Vance | 1990-01-16 |
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La bahía esmeralda | Wilson | 1989-05-18 |
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Ministry of Vengeance | Rev. Hughes | 1989-11-03 |
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The Terror Within | Hal | 1989-01-20 |
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Nightmare at Noon | Sherrif Hanks | 1988-06-29 |
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What Price Victory | Big Buck Brayton | 1988-01-18 |
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Top Line | Heinrich Holzmann | 1988-08-16 |
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Escuadrón | Vince Colby | 1988-02-05 |
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Private Road: No Trespassing | Sam Milshaw | 1988-06-15 |
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Born to Race | Vincent Duplain | 1988-01-29 |
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Demonwarp | Bill Crafton | 1988-03-01 |
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The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | Ed Hocken | 1988-12-02 |
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Uninvited | Mike Harvey | 1988-08-24 |
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Creepshow 2 | Ray Spruce | 1987-05-01 |
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The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues | General Nelson Miles | 1987-11-22 |
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The Gunfighters | Deke Turner | 1987-01-01 |
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The Delta Force | Father O'Malley | 1986-02-14 |
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Liberty | Seamus Reilly | 1986-06-23 |
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Radioactive Dreams | Spade Chandler | 1986-09-19 |
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Rigged | Ben | 1985-05-15 |
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Savage Dawn | Tick Rand | 1985-12-21 |
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International Airport | Rudy Van Leuven | 1985-05-25 |
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Half Nelson | Parsons | 1985-03-24 |
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Chattanooga Choo Choo | Bert | 1984-05-18 |
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Rare Breed | 1984-10-10 | |
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The Jesse Owens Story | Charles 'Charley' Riley | 1984-07-09 |
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Bolero | Cotton | 1984-08-31 |
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The Jupiter Menace | Himself | 1982-11-19 |
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Wacko | Mr. Doctor Graves | 1982-11-12 |
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The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire | Brakus | 1981-04-12 |
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Just Before Dawn | Roy McLean | 1981-10-14 |
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Modern Romance | George Kennedy / Zeron | 1981-03-13 |
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Death Ship | Captain Ashland | 1980-03-07 |
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Hotwire | Farley & Harley Fontenot | 1980-09-01 |
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復活の日 | Admiral Conway | 1980-06-26 |
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The Concorde... Airport '79 | Joe Patroni | 1979-08-17 |
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The Double McGuffin | Chief Talasek | 1979-06-01 |
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Search and Destroy | Anthony Fusqua | 1979-07-05 |
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Steel | Big Lew Cassidy | 1979-10-21 |
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Death on the Nile | Andrew Pennington | 1978-09-29 |
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Mean Dog Blues | Captain Omar Kinsman | 1978-03-03 |
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Brass Target | Gen. George S. Patton | 1978-12-22 |
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Airport '77 | Joe Patroni | 1977-03-11 |
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人間の証明 | Ken Shuftan | 1977-10-08 |
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The Eiger Sanction | Ben Bowman | 1975-05-21 |
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The 'Human' Factor | John Kinsdale | 1975-11-19 |
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The Blue Knight | Bumper Morgan | 1975-05-09 |
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The Lion Roars Again | Self | 1975-01-01 |
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Thunderbolt and Lightfoot | Red Leary | 1974-05-23 |
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Sonic Boom | Ben Dover | 1974-01-01 |
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Earthquake | Sgt. Lew Slade | 1974-11-15 |
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Airport 1975 | Joe Patroni | 1974-10-18 |
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A Cry in the Wilderness | Sam Hadley | 1974-03-26 |
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Lost Horizon | Sam Cornelius | 1973-03-14 |
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Deliver Us from Evil | Walter 'Cowboy' McAdams | 1973-09-11 |
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Cahill: United States Marshal | Abe Fraser | 1973-07-11 |
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A Great American Tragedy | Brad Wilkes | 1972-10-18 |
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The Bull of the West | 'Bear' Suchette | 1972-05-04 |
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The Priest Killer | Father Samuel Cavanaugh | 1971-09-14 |
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Fools' Parade | Dallas 'Doc' Council | 1971-08-18 |
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Sarge: The Badge or the Cross | Sarge Swanson | 1971-02-22 |
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… tick… tick… tick… | John Little | 1970-01-09 |
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Zig Zag | Paul R. Cameron | 1970-05-01 |
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Dirty Dingus Magee | Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill | 1970-11-18 |
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Airport | Joe Patroni | 1970-03-25 |
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Guns of the Magnificent Seven | Chris | 1969-07-14 |
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The Good Guys and the Bad Guys | McKay | 1969-10-10 |
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Gaily, Gaily | Axel P. Johanson | 1969-12-16 |
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Bandolero! | Sheriff July Johnson | 1968-06-01 |
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The Pink Jungle | Sammy Ryderbeit | 1968-10-16 |
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The Ballad of Josie | Arch Ogden | 1968-02-01 |
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The Legend of Lylah Clare | Matt Burke | 1968-08-21 |
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The Boston Strangler | Det. Phil DiNatale | 1968-10-08 |
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The Dirty Dozen | Major Max Armbruster | 1967-06-15 |
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Hurry Sundown | Sheriff Coombs | 1967-02-09 |
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Cool Hand Luke | Dragline | 1967-11-01 |
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Shenandoah | Col. Fairchild | 1965-06-03 |
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The Sons of Katie Elder | Curley | 1965-06-23 |
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The Flight of the Phoenix | Bellamy | 1965-12-15 |
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Mirage | Willard | 1965-10-29 |
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In Harm's Way | Colonel Gregory | 1965-04-06 |
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Strait-Jacket | Leo Krause | 1964-01-19 |
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Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte | Foreman | 1964-12-16 |
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McHale's Navy | Henri Le Clerc | 1964-06-25 |
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See How They Run | Rudy | 1964-10-07 |
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Island of the Blue Dolphins | Aleut Captain | 1964-09-10 |
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The Man from the Diners' Club | George | 1963-04-17 |
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Charade | Herman Scobie | 1963-12-01 |
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Lonely are the Brave | Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez | 1962-04-26 |
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The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come | Nathan Dillon | 1961-06-01 |
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Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon | Hawk | 1961-10-17 |
