Sandy-haired, tall and burly George Harris Kennedy, Jr. was born in New York City, to Helen A. (Kieselbach), a ballet dancer, and George Harris Kennedy, an orchestra leader and musician. He had German, Irish, and English ancestry. 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 Dont Dance (1997) and the childrens 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 Wahlbergs characters grandfather.George Kennedy died on February 28, 2016 in Middleton, Idaho.
Herman Scobie
Film 1963
Self / Andrew Pennington
Film 1978
John Kinsdale
Film 1975
Self
Film 2006
Bill Crafton
Film 1988
Hal
Film 1989
Sheriff July Johnson
Film 1968
Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez
Film 1962
Father O'Malley
Film 1986
Mike Harvey
Film 1988
Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill
Film 1970
Sherrif Hanks
Film 1988
Anthony Fusqua
Film 1979
Deke Turner
Film 1987
Tick Rand
Film 1986
Self
Film 2008
Chief Talasek
Film 1979
Big Lew Cassidy
Film 1979
Vincent Duplain
Film 1988
Nathan Dillon
Film 1961
Dexter Brisbane
Film 2003
Heinrich Holzmann
Film 1988
Dr. Bruckner
Film 1991
Sheriff Coombs
Film 1967
George
Film 1963
Farley & Harley Fontenot
Film 1980
Sam Milshaw
Film 1988
Walter 'Cowboy' McAdams
Film 1973
General Nelson Miles
Film 1987
Himself
Film 1982
Sam Hadley
Film 1974
Carter McKay
Film 1998
Sammy Ryderbeit
Film 1968
Brad Wilkes
Film 1972
Rudy
Film 1964
Sarge Swanson
Film 1971
Aleut Captain
Film 1964
Ken Shuftan
Film 1977
Bumper Morgan
Film 1975
Rudy Van Leuven
Film 1985
George Kennedy
Film 1998
Parsons
Film 1985
Father Dave Hagan
Film 1992
George Kennedy / Zeron
Film 1981
Dr. Peter Gannon
Film 2005
Henri Le Clerc
Film 1964
Big Buck Brayton
Film 1988
Ed Fiske
Film 2005
Passenger Requesting Vodka (uncredited)
Film 2003
(archive footage)
Film 2010
Tom Bradfield
Film 1992
Bert
Film 1984
Army
Film 1998
Bahraini Investigator
Film 1990
Ben
Film 1985
Hawk
Film 1961
Film 1990
Film 1984
Ben Dover
Film 1974
Professor Zebediah Jones (segment "The Devil's Due at Midnight")
Film 2008
Himself
Film 1994
Self
Film 1975
State Police Detective
Tv 1960
Tv 1958
Tv 1960
Tv 1960
Major Vyx
Tv 1964
Tv 1960
Tv 1965
Tv 1962
Tv 1960
Father Samuel Cavanaugh
Tv 1971
Tv 1958
Thatcher
Tv 1965
Tv 1966
Tv 1963
Tv 1958
Sheriff Zeke Armitage
Tv 1958
Self
Tv 1953
Tv 1961
Tv 1961
Tv 1957
Self - Host
Tv 1975
Ralph (voice)
Tv 1995
Der
Tv 1963
MP Sgt. Kennedy (uncredited)
Tv 1955
Father Samuel Cavanaugh
Tv 1967
Self
Tv 1973
George Martin
Tv 1962
Self
Tv 1961