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Oscar winner and Tough Guy Actor George Kennedy Dies at 91, his grandson Cory Schenkel confirmed that his grandfather passed in Boise, Idaho!!!
CelebNMusic247.com says goodbye to one of Hollywood’s greatest Tough Guy Actor George Kennedy on the flip…
George Kennedy was best known for his portrayal of a savage chain-gang convict in the 1960s classic “Cool Hand Luke”!
Kennedy was a tough guy on screen and off screen, he had undergone emergency triple bypass surgery in 2002. The same year, he and his late wife moved to Idaho to be closer to their daughter and her family, though he still was involved in occasional film projects.
Mr. Kennedy played opposite of Paul Newman in the 1967 “Cool Hand Luke.” In the 80s and early 90s George Kennedy starred in the Naked Gun franchise with the late Leslie Nielsen and OJ Simpson. His last role was in the remake of “The Gambler” starring Mark Wahlberg. Kennedy’s acting credits span over 6 decades. He leaves behind a wide range of movie roles from the western era, disaster pictures, tough guy films to comedy and con men films. He also starred in the hit “Dallas” as J.R. Ewing’s business rival in the final seasons on CBS.
After the critical and commercial success of “Cool Hand Luke,” Kennedy carved out a niche as one of Hollywood’s most recognizable supporting actors. He had parts in several action flicks in the 1970s including films like “Airport,” “Airport ’75”, “Airport ’77”, “Earthquake”, “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot”, and one of our personal favorites, “Lost Horizon”.
One of his strongest supporting roles was in the hit 1970 film “Airport,” which spurred the run of 1970s disaster pictures. Kennedy played Joe Patroni, a no-nonsense, cigar-chomping troubleshooter who stubbornly guides a jetliner stuck on a snow-clogged runway out of harm’s way.
The film spawned several sequels (Kennedy was in all of them) and landed Kennedy a Golden Globe nomination.
In the 60s Kennedy starred in “Guns of the Magnificent Seven”, “The Dirty Dozen”, “McHale’s Navy”, “Charade” and more…
RIP Mr. George Kennedy and thank you for your work in film.
