Amanda S. Stevenson
George Kennedy
Denise Cutrone Binder
Birthday remembrance
GEORGE KENNEDY
February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016 (91)
George Harris Kennedy Jr appeared in more than 200 film and television productions.
He graduated from Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York (1943) and John Tarleton Agricultural College (now Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas).
He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II and went on to serve 16 years, both in combat, and in his later years, as an Armed Forces Radio and Television officer.
His film career began in 1961 in The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come. He appeared in several Hollywood movies, including as a sadistic jail guard in the Kirk Douglas western Lonely Are the Brave (1962), a ruthless criminal in the Cary Grant film Charade (1963), and in a Joan Crawford thriller, Strait-Jacket (1964).
He is best remembered for portraying "Dragline" opposite Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke (1967), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the Golden Globe. He received a second Golden Globe nomination for portraying Joe Patroni in Airport (1970).
Among the notable films he had a significant role in are McHale's Navy, Shenandoah, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen, The Boston Strangler, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys, Airport 1975, Earthquake and The Eiger Sanction.
Kennedy was the only actor to appear in all four films in the Airport series, having reprised the role of Joe Patroni three times. He also played Police Captain Ed Hocken in the Naked Gun series of comedy films, and corrupt oil tycoon Carter McKay on the original Dallas television series.
He also starred in two television series, Sarge, which aired from 1971-72 on NBC, and The Blue Knight, a CBS series that ran for 24 episodes from 1975-76.
Kennedy made his final film appearance in The Gambler (2014) as Ed, the dying grandfather of Mark Wahlberg's Jim Bennett.
Kennedy wrote three books. In 1983, he wrote the murder mystery Murder On Location, set on a film shoot. A second novel, Murder on High, was released in 1984. In 2011, he wrote his autobiography, Trust Me.
Birthday remembrance
GEORGE KENNEDY
February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016 (91)
George Harris Kennedy Jr appeared in more than 200 film and television productions.
He graduated from Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York (1943) and John Tarleton Agricultural College (now Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas).
He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II and went on to serve 16 years, both in combat, and in his later years, as an Armed Forces Radio and Television officer.
His film career began in 1961 in The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come. He appeared in several Hollywood movies, including as a sadistic jail guard in the Kirk Douglas western Lonely Are the Brave (1962), a ruthless criminal in the Cary Grant film Charade (1963), and in a Joan Crawford thriller, Strait-Jacket (1964).
He is best remembered for portraying "Dragline" opposite Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke (1967), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the Golden Globe. He received a second Golden Globe nomination for portraying Joe Patroni in Airport (1970).
Among the notable films he had a significant role in are McHale's Navy, Shenandoah, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen, The Boston Strangler, Guns of the Magnificent Seven, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys, Airport 1975, Earthquake and The Eiger Sanction.
Kennedy was the only actor to appear in all four films in the Airport series, having reprised the role of Joe Patroni three times. He also played Police Captain Ed Hocken in the Naked Gun series of comedy films, and corrupt oil tycoon Carter McKay on the original Dallas television series.
He also starred in two television series, Sarge, which aired from 1971-72 on NBC, and The Blue Knight, a CBS series that ran for 24 episodes from 1975-76.
Kennedy made his final film appearance in The Gambler (2014) as Ed, the dying grandfather of Mark Wahlberg's Jim Bennett.
Kennedy wrote three books. In 1983, he wrote the murder mystery Murder On Location, set on a film shoot. A second novel, Murder on High, was released in 1984. In 2011, he wrote his autobiography, Trust Me.
Date & Place:
Not specified or unknown.
