1925-02-18 New York City, New York, USA
George Kennedy (February 18, 1925 — February 28, 2016) was an American actor. 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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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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The Boneyard Collection | Professor Zebediah Jones (segment "The Devil's Due at Midnight") | 2008-01-01 |
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A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke' | Self | 2008-12-16 |
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The Man Who Came Back | Judge Duke | 2008-02-08 |
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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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Truce | Dr. Peter Gannon | 2005-01-01 |
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Don't Come Knocking | Director | 2005-08-25 |
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Three Bad Men | Ed Fiske | 2005-01-15 |
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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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Dennis the Menace Strikes Again! | Mr. Johnson | 1998-07-14 |
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Dallas: War of The Ewings | Carter McKay | 1998-04-24 |
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Men in White | Army | 1998-08-16 |
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Hollyweird | George Kennedy | 1998-01-01 |
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Small Soldiers | Brick Bazooka (voice) | 1998-07-10 |
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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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Distant Justice | Tom Bradfield | 1992-12-01 |
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Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story | Father Dave Hagan | 1992-04-01 |
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The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear | Ed Hocken | 1991-06-28 |
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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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Intensive Care | Dr. Bruckner | 1991-10-31 |
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Hired to Kill | Thomas | 1990-04-28 |
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Brain Dead | Vance | 1990-01-16 |
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마유미 | Bahraini Investigator | 1990-06-09 |
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The Cops Are Robbers | 1990-12-09 | |
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The Terror Within | Hal | 1989-01-20 |
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Ministry of Vengeance | Rev. Hughes | 1989-11-03 |
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La bahía esmeralda | Wilson | 1989-05-18 |
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Top Line | Heinrich Holzmann | 1988-08-16 |
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Private Road: No Trespassing | Sam Milshaw | 1988-06-15 |
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Nightmare at Noon | Sherrif Hanks | 1988-06-29 |
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Escuadrón | Vince Colby | 1988-02-05 |
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Born to Race | Vincent Duplain | 1988-01-29 |
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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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What Price Victory | Big Buck Brayton | 1988-01-18 |
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Demonwarp | Bill Crafton | 1988-03-01 |
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The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues | General Nelson Miles | 1987-11-22 |
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Creepshow 2 | Ray Spruce | 1987-05-01 |
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The Gunfighters | Deke Turner | 1987-01-01 |
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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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The Delta Force | Father O'Malley | 1986-02-14 |
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Rigged | Ben | 1985-05-15 |
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Savage Dawn | Tick Rand | 1985-12-21 |
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Half Nelson | Parsons | 1985-03-24 |
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International Airport | Rudy Van Leuven | 1985-05-25 |
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Chattanooga Choo Choo | Bert | 1984-05-18 |
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Bolero | Cotton | 1984-08-31 |
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The Jesse Owens Story | Charles 'Charley' Riley | 1984-07-09 |
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Rare Breed | 1984-10-10 | |
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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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Hotwire | Farley & Harley Fontenot | 1980-09-01 |
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Death Ship | Captain Ashland | 1980-03-07 |
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復活の日 | Admiral Conway | 1980-06-26 |
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Steel | Big Lew Cassidy | 1979-10-21 |
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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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Brass Target | Gen. George S. Patton | 1978-12-22 |
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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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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 Blue Knight | Bumper Morgan | 1975-05-09 |
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The 'Human' Factor | John Kinsdale | 1975-11-19 |
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The Eiger Sanction | Ben Bowman | 1975-05-21 |
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The Lion Roars Again | Self | 1975-01-01 |
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Sonic Boom | Ben Dover | 1974-01-01 |
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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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Thunderbolt and Lightfoot | Red Leary | 1974-05-23 |
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Earthquake | Sgt. Lew Slade | 1974-11-15 |
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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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Lost Horizon | Sam Cornelius | 1973-03-14 |
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The Bull of the West | 'Bear' Suchette | 1972-05-04 |
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A Great American Tragedy | Brad Wilkes | 1972-10-18 |
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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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The Priest Killer | Father Samuel Cavanaugh | 1971-09-14 |
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Airport | Joe Patroni | 1970-03-25 |
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Dirty Dingus Magee | Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill | 1970-11-18 |
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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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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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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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Bandolero! | Sheriff July Johnson | 1968-06-01 |
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The Boston Strangler | Det. Phil DiNatale | 1968-10-08 |
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The Pink Jungle | Sammy Ryderbeit | 1968-10-16 |
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Cool Hand Luke | Dragline | 1967-11-01 |
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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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Shenandoah | Col. Fairchild | 1965-06-03 |
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The Flight of the Phoenix | Bellamy | 1965-12-15 |
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In Harm's Way | Colonel Gregory | 1965-04-06 |
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The Sons of Katie Elder | Curley | 1965-06-23 |
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Mirage | Willard | 1965-10-29 |
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Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte | Foreman | 1964-12-15 |
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See How They Run | Rudy | 1964-10-07 |
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Strait-Jacket | Leo Krause | 1964-01-19 |
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McHale's Navy | Henri Le Clerc | 1964-06-25 |
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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 | 1962-05-24 |
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Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon | Hawk | 1961-10-17 |
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The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come | Nathan Dillon | 1961-06-01 |
