George Kennedy
Known for Acting · 178 credits
- Born
- 1925-02-18
- Died
- 2016-02-28
- Place of birth
- New York City, New York, USA
- Also known as
- George Harris Kennedy Jr. · جورج کندی
Biography
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.
Known For
TV Shows (52)
Perry Mason
1957
as George Spangler
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
as Self
Saturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Host
Dallas
1978
as Carter McKay
Bonanza
1959
as Waldo Watson / Peter Long
The Andy Griffith Show
1960
as State Police Detective
Wings
1990
as George Kennedy
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
as Deke - Killer / Big Jim / Sam Tarnitzer
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
as Self - Guest
Ironside
1967
as Father Samuel Cavanaugh
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963
as Der
Maverick
1957
as Deputy Jones
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1962
as George Martin
The Virginian
1962
as Jack Marshman / Tom 'Bear' Suchette / Huck Harkness
Peter Gunn
1958
Rawhide
1959
as George Wales
Dr. Kildare
1961
as Joe Cramer / Sergeant Hensley
Cheyenne
1955
as Lee Nelson
Lawman
1958
Daniel Boone
1964
as Zach Morgan
Route 66
1960
Thriller
1960
as John Paterson
The Big Valley
1965
as Thatcher
Gunsmoke
1955
as Emil / Swarner / Bayloe / Hug / Stark / Cyrus / Ben Payson
Bat Masterson
1958
as Sheriff Zeke Armitage
Duckman
1994
as Movie Director (voice)
The Oscars
1953
as Self
77 Sunset Strip
1958
The Tall Man
1960
The Commish
1991
as Al Scali
Sugarfoot
1957
as Ross Kuhn / Sykes
Surfside 6
1960
as Gabe Buchanan
Laredo
1965
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
1996
as General Axton (voice)
The Phil Silvers Show
1955
as Kennedy (uncredited)
Tarzan
1966
Riverboat
1959
as Gunner Slagle
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
1973
as Self
The Great Adventure
1963
as Sergeant Muldaney
Outlaws
1960
The Rogues
1964
as Major Vyx
Going My Way
1962
Grindl
1963
The Legend of Jesse James
1965
as Blodgett
Gunslinger
1961
as Sheriff
Kraft Mystery Theatre
1961
Sarge
1971
as Samuel Cavanaugh
Santo Bugito
1995
as Ralph (voice)
The Asphalt Jungle
1961
Backstairs at the White House
1979
as Pres. Warren G. Harding
The Blue Knight
1975
as Officer Bumper Morgan
Movies (126)
The Dirty Dozen
1967
as Major Max Armbruster
Death on the Nile
1978
as Andrew Pennington
Small Soldiers
1998
as Brick Bazooka (voice)
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
1988
as Ed Hocken
Cool Hand Luke
1967
as Dragline
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1994
as Ed Hocken
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
1991
as Ed Hocken
Charade
1963
as Herman Scobie
The Delta Force
1986
as Father O'Malley
The Gambler
2014
as Ed
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
1974
as Red Leary
Airport
1970
as Joe Patroni
Bandolero!
1968
as Sheriff July Johnson
The Jesse Owens Story
1984
as Charles 'Charley' Riley
View from the Top
2003
as Passenger Requesting Vodka (uncredited)
Intensive Care
1991
as Dr. Bruckner
The Blue Knight
1975
as Bumper Morgan
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965
as Curley
Earthquake
1974
as Sgt. Lew Slade
… tick… tick… tick…
1970
as John Little
In Harm's Way
1965
as Colonel Gregory
Airport 1975
1974
as Joe Patroni
The Flight of the Phoenix
1965
as Bellamy
Airport '77
1977
as Joe Patroni
Demonwarp
1988
as Bill Crafton
Fools' Parade
1971
as Dallas 'Doc' Council
Cats Don't Dance
1997
as L.B. Mammoth (voice)
The Eiger Sanction
1975
as Ben Bowman
Creepshow 2
1987
as Ray Spruce
The Concorde... Airport '79
1979
as Joe Patroni
Another Happy Day
2011
as Joe Baker
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
1969
as Chris
Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!
1998
as Mr. Johnson
Bayou Ghost
1997
as Officer Lowe
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
1969
as McKay
The Boston Strangler
1968
as Det. Phil DiNatale
Top Line
1988
as Heinrich Holzmann
Don't Come Knocking
2005
as Director
Cahill: United States Marshal
1973
as Abe Fraser
Bolero
1984
as Cotton
Nightmare at Noon
1988
as Sherrif Hanks
Mirage
1965
as Willard
Hurry Sundown
1967
as Sheriff Coombs
The Legend of Lylah Clare
1968
as Matt Burke
The Boneyard Collection
2008
as Professor Zebediah Jones (segment "The Devil's Due at Midnight")
Ministry of Vengeance
1989
as Rev. Hughes
Driving Me Crazy
1991
as John McCready
Lonely are the Brave
1962
as Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez
Virus
1980
as Admiral Conway
Hotwire
1980
as Farley & Harley Fontenot
Lost Horizon
1973
as Sam Cornelius
Hired to Kill
1990
as Thomas
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964
as Foreman
The Bull of the West
1972
as 'Bear' Suchette
Just Before Dawn
1981
as Roy McLean
Airports
2025
Modern Romance
1981
as George Kennedy / Zeron
Proof of the Man
1977
as Ken Shuftan
The Priest Killer
1971
as Father Samuel Cavanaugh
Chattanooga Choo Choo
1984
as Bert
Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist
1990
as Bahraini Investigator
The Man Who Came Back
2008
as Judge Duke
The Double McGuffin
1979
as Chief Talasek
The Jupiter Menace
1982
as Himself
Shenandoah
1965
as Col. Fairchild
Wacko
1982
as Mr. Doctor Graves
Sands of Oblivion
2007
as John Tevis
The Man from the Diners' Club
1963
as George
The Gambler: The Legend Continues
1987
as General Nelson Miles
Savage Dawn
1985
as Tick Rand
Brain Dead
1990
as Vance
Uninvited
1988
as Mike Harvey
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
2010
as (archive footage)
Island of the Blue Dolphins
1964
as Aleut Captain
Men in White
1998
as Army
The Ballad of Josie
1968
as Arch Ogden
Brass Target
1978
as Gen. George S. Patton
The Terror Within
1989
as Hal
What Price Victory
1988
as Big Buck Brayton
Good Cops, Bad Cops
1990
Steel
1979
as Big Lew Cassidy
Monster Makers
2003
as Dexter Brisbane
Dirty Dingus Magee
1970
as Herkimer 'Hoke' Birdsill
Death Ship
1980
as Captain Ashland
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
1961
as Hawk
Strait-Jacket
1964
as Leo Krause
The Human Factor
1975
as John Kinsdale
Radioactive Dreams
1986
as Spade Chandler
Gaily, Gaily
1969
as Axel P. Johanson
Dallas: War of The Ewings
1998
as Carter McKay
Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette
1978
as Self
Mean Dog Blues
1978
as Captain Omar Kinsman
McHale's Navy
1964
as Henri Le Clerc
The Pink Jungle
1968
as Sammy Ryderbeit
Half Nelson
1985
as Parsons
Born to Race
1988
as Vincent Duplain
WWE SummerSlam 1994
1994
as Himself
Zig Zag
1970
as Paul R. Cameron
Deliver Us from Evil
1973
as Walter 'Cowboy' McAdams
The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire
1981
as Brakus
The Lion Roars Again
1975
as Self
A Rare Breed
1984
Hollyweird
1998
as George Kennedy
Esmeralda Bay
1989
as Wilson
The Gunfighters
1987
as Deke Turner
Dallas: J.R. Returns
1996
as Carter McKay
See How They Run
1964
as Rudy
International Airport
1985
as Rudy Van Leuven
Liberty
1986
as Seamus Reilly
Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story
1992
as Father Dave Hagan
Six Days in Paradise
2010
as Monty Crenshaw
Counterforce
1988
as Vince Colby
Hangfire
1991
as Warden Barles
Sarge: The Badge or the Cross
1971
as Sarge Swanson
Three Bad Men
2005
as Ed Fiske
A Great American Tragedy
1972
as Brad Wilkes
Search and Destroy
1979
as Anthony Fusqua
Distant Justice
1992
as Tom Bradfield
Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
2006
as Self
Sonic Boom
1974
as Ben Dover
About George Kennedy
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), Rawh… With 178 credits spanning from 1953 to 2025, George Kennedy has appeared in 126 films and 52 TV shows.
Fans searching for George Kennedy movies, George Kennedy filmography, or the latest projects starring George Kennedy can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular George Kennedy Movies
- The Dirty Dozen (1967) — as Major Max Armbruster
- Death on the Nile (1978) — as Andrew Pennington
- Small Soldiers (1998) — as Brick Bazooka (voice)
- The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) — as Ed Hocken
- Cool Hand Luke (1967) — as Dragline
Where to Watch George Kennedy Films
Most George Kennedy movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring George Kennedy, check our movies catalogue and browse page.