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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
February 18, 1925
Died
February 28, 2016
Place of Birth
New York City, New York, USA
Also Known As
- George Harris Kennedy Jr.
- جورج کندی
George Kennedy
2.3 Popularity
Biography
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.
Known For
0.0
Airports
2025
6.0
Ed
The Gambler
2014
5.5
Joe Baker
Another Happy Day
2011
6.1
(archive footage)
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
2010
0.0
Self
A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke'
2008
4.4
Judge Duke
The Man Who Came Back
2008
5.3
Professor Zebediah Jones (segment "The Devil's Due at Midnight")
The Boneyard Collection
2008
4.5
John Tevis
Sands of Oblivion
2007
6.0
Self
Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
2006
6.2
Director
Don't Come Knocking
2005
Credits
Airports
2025
0.0
The Gambler
as Ed
2014
6.0
Another Happy Day
as Joe Baker
2011
5.5
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
as (archive footage)
2010
6.1
A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke'
as Self
2008
0.0
The Man Who Came Back
as Judge Duke
2008
4.4
The Boneyard Collection
as Professor Zebediah Jones (segment "The Devil's Due at Midnight")
2008
5.3
Sands of Oblivion
as John Tevis
2007
4.5
Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
as Self
2006
6.0
Don't Come Knocking
as Director
2005
6.2
Three Bad Men
as Ed Fiske
2005
1.0
Truce
as Dr. Peter Gannon
2005
3.7
Monster Makers
as Dexter Brisbane
2003
3.0
View from the Top
as Passenger Requesting Vodka (uncredited)
2003
5.6
Men in White
as Army
1998
3.4
Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!
as Mr. Johnson
1998
5.4
Small Soldiers
as Brick Bazooka (voice)
1998
6.6
Dallas: War of The Ewings
as Carter McKay
1998
5.5
Hollyweird
as George Kennedy
1998
2.8
Cats Don't Dance
as L.B. Mammoth (voice)
1997
7.2
Bayou Ghost
as Officer Lowe
1997
0.0
Dallas: J.R. Returns
as Carter McKay
1996
5.5
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
as General Axton (voice)
1996
7.2
Santo Bugito
as Ralph (voice)
1995
0.0
WWE SummerSlam 1994
as Himself
1994
5.7
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
as Ed Hocken
1994
6.5
Duckman
as Movie Director (voice)
1994
7.1
Distant Justice
as Tom Bradfield
1992
3.0
Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story
as Father Dave Hagan
1992
0.0
Intensive Care
as Dr. Bruckner
1991
2.0
The Commish
as Al Scali
1991
7.1
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
as Ed Hocken
1991
6.8
Driving Me Crazy
as John McCready
1991
3.7
Hangfire
as Warden Barles
1991
4.0
The Cops Are Robbers
1990
3.0
Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist
as Bahraini Investigator
1990
5.0
Hired to Kill
as Thomas
1990
4.6
Wings
as George Kennedy
1990
6.9
Brain Dead
as Vance
1990
5.6
Ministry of Vengeance
as Rev. Hughes
1989
3.0
Esmeralda Bay
as Wilson
1989
4.4
The Terror Within
as Hal
1989
4.4
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
as Ed Hocken
1988
7.3
Uninvited
as Mike Harvey
1988
4.8
Top Line
as Heinrich Holzmann
1988
4.0
Nightmare at Noon
as Sherrif Hanks
1988
4.5
Private Road: No Trespassing
as Sam Milshaw
1988
4.0
Demonwarp
as Bill Crafton
1988
3.8
Counterforce
as Vince Colby
1988
5.3
Born to Race
as Vincent Duplain
1988
4.8
What Price Victory
as Big Buck Brayton
1988
0.0
The Gambler: The Legend Continues
as General Nelson Miles
1987
5.9
Creepshow 2
as Ray Spruce
1987
6.2
The Gunfighters
as Deke Turner
1987
4.0
Radioactive Dreams
as Spade Chandler
1986
5.3
Liberty
as Seamus Reilly
1986
5.0
The Delta Force
as Father O'Malley
1986
5.9
Savage Dawn
as Tick Rand
1985
4.1
International Airport
as Rudy Van Leuven
1985
5.0
Rigged
as Ben
1985
9.7
Half Nelson
as Parsons
1985
0.0
Rare Breed
1984
0.0
Bolero
as Cotton
1984
3.3
The Jesse Owens Story
as Charles 'Charley' Riley
1984
7.9
Chattanooga Choo Choo
as Bert
1984
5.0
The Jupiter Menace
as Himself
1982
5.5
Wacko
as Mr. Doctor Graves
1982
5.0
Just Before Dawn
as Roy McLean
1981
6.0
The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire
as Brakus
1981
5.6
Modern Romance
as George Kennedy / Zeron
1981
6.7
Hotwire
as Farley & Harley Fontenot
1980
5.0
Virus
as Admiral Conway
1980
6.3
Death Ship
as Captain Ashland
1980
5.2
Steel
as Big Lew Cassidy
1979
5.5
The Concorde... Airport '79
as Joe Patroni
1979
4.7
Search and Destroy
as Anthony Fusqua
1979
6.8
The Double McGuffin
as Chief Talasek
1979
5.0
Backstairs at the White House
as Pres. Warren G. Harding
1979
5.9
Brass Target
as Gen. George S. Patton
1978
5.4
Death on the Nile
as Andrew Pennington
1978
7.1
Dallas
as Carter McKay
1978
6.8
Mean Dog Blues
as Captain Omar Kinsman
1978
4.4
Proof of the Man
as Ken Shuftan
1977
7.6
Airport '77
as Joe Patroni
1977
5.6
The Human Factor
as John Kinsdale
1975
5.7
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Host
1975
7.0
The Eiger Sanction
as Ben Bowman
1975
6.1
The Blue Knight
as Bumper Morgan
1975
0.0
The Blue Knight
as Officer Bumper Morgan
1975
2.0
🎬
The Lion Roars Again
as Self
1975
0.0
Earthquake
as Sgt. Lew Slade
1974
6.1
Airport 1975
as Joe Patroni
1974
5.7
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
as Red Leary
1974
6.8
A Cry in the Wilderness
as Sam Hadley
1974
6.0
Sonic Boom
as Ben Dover
1974
4.5
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
as Self
1973
5.4
Deliver Us from Evil
as Walter 'Cowboy' McAdams
1973
7.3
Cahill: United States Marshal
as Abe Fraser
1973
6.1
Lost Horizon
as Sam Cornelius
1973
5.4
A Great American Tragedy
as Brad Wilkes
1972
6.7
The Bull of the West
as 'Bear' Suchette
1972
5.4
Sarge
as Samuel Cavanaugh
1971
5.0
The Priest Killer
as Father Samuel Cavanaugh
1971
0.0
Fools' Parade
as Dallas 'Doc' Council
1971
6.5
Sarge: The Badge or the Cross
as Sarge Swanson
1971
0.0
Dirty Dingus Magee
as Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill
1970
4.3
Zig Zag
as Paul R. Cameron
1970
7.5
Airport
as Joe Patroni
1970
6.5
… tick… tick… tick…
as John Little
1970
6.5
Gaily, Gaily
as Axel P. Johanson
1969
3.7
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
as McKay
1969
5.5
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
as Chris
1969
5.3
The Pink Jungle
as Sammy Ryderbeit
1968
6.6
The Boston Strangler
as Det. Phil DiNatale
1968
6.7
The Legend of Lylah Clare
as Matt Burke
1968
5.9
Bandolero!
as Sheriff July Johnson
1968
6.5
The Ballad of Josie
as Arch Ogden
1968
5.9
Cool Hand Luke
as Dragline
1967
7.7
The Dirty Dozen
as Major Max Armbruster
1967
7.6
Ironside
as Father Samuel Cavanaugh
1967
6.8
Hurry Sundown
as Sheriff Coombs
1967
6.4
Tarzan
1966
6.7
The Flight of the Phoenix
as Bellamy
1965
7.2
Mirage
as Willard
1965
7.0
Laredo
1965
6.3
The Big Valley
as Thatcher
1965
6.1
The Legend of Jesse James
as Blodgett
1965
4.8
The Sons of Katie Elder
as Curley
1965
7.0
Shenandoah
as Col. Fairchild
1965
6.9
In Harm's Way
as Colonel Gregory
1965
6.6
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
as Foreman
1964
7.3
See How They Run
as Rudy
1964
4.0
Daniel Boone
as Zach Morgan
1964
7.0
The Rogues
as Major Vyx
1964
7.2
Island of the Blue Dolphins
as Aleut Captain
1964
6.2
McHale's Navy
as Henri Le Clerc
1964
4.6
Strait-Jacket
as Leo Krause
1964
6.5
Charade
as Herman Scobie
1963
7.7
🎬
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
as Der
1963
5.7
The Great Adventure
as Sergeant Muldaney
1963
0.0
🎬
Grindl
1963
5.5
The Man from the Diners' Club
as George
1963
5.0
Going My Way
1962
5.7
The Merv Griffin Show
as Self
1962
6.2
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
as George Martin
1962
7.8
The Virginian
as Jack Marshman
1962
6.4
The Virginian
as Tom 'Bear' Suchette
1962
6.4
The Virginian
as Huck Harkness
1962
6.4
Lonely are the Brave
as Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez
1962
7.4
The Mike Douglas Show
as Self
1961
5.4
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
as Hawk
1961
5.6
Dr. Kildare
as Joe Cramer
1961
5.5
Dr. Kildare
as Sergeant Hensley
1961
5.5
Kraft Mystery Theatre
1961
6.0
The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
as Nathan Dillon
1961
3.3
The Asphalt Jungle
1961
5.0
Gunslinger
as Sheriff
1961
6.0
Route 66
1960
6.3
Surfside 6
as Gabe Buchanan
1960
5.0
The Andy Griffith Show
as State Police Detective
1960
7.6
Outlaws
1960
6.2
Thriller
as John Paterson
1960
6.6
The Tall Man
1960
6.3
Riverboat
as Gunner Slagle
1959
6.2
Bonanza
as Waldo Watson
1959
7.5
Bonanza
as Peter Long
1959
7.5
Rawhide
as George Wales
1959
7.2
77 Sunset Strip
1958
6.7
Bat Masterson
as Sheriff Zeke Armitage
1958
6.1
Lawman
1958
5.6
Peter Gunn
1958
6.4
Maverick
1957
6.9
Perry Mason
as George Spangler
1957
7.7
Sugarfoot
as Ross Kuhn
1957
4.8
Sugarfoot
as Sykes
1957
4.8
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
7.3
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Deke - Killer
1957
7.3
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Big Jim
1957
7.3
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Sam Tarnitzer
1957
7.3
Cheyenne
as Lee Nelson
1955
6.0
The Phil Silvers Show
as Kennedy (uncredited)
1955
7.0
Gunsmoke
as Emil
1955
6.6
Gunsmoke
as Swarner
1955
6.6
Gunsmoke
as Bayloe
1955
6.6
Gunsmoke
as Hug
1955
6.6
Gunsmoke
as Stark
1955
6.6
Gunsmoke
as Cyrus
1955
6.6
Gunsmoke
as Ben Payson
1955
6.6
The Oscars
as Self
1953
7.0