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.
126 movies · 52 shows
Airports
2025·0.0
The Gambler
2014·6.0
Another Happy Day
2011·5.5
Six Days in Paradise
2010·0.0
2Everything2Terrible2: Tokyo Drift
2010·6.1
A Natural Born World-Shaker: The Making of 'Cool Hand Luke'
2008·0.0
The Man Who Came Back
2008·4.3
The Boneyard Collection
2008·5.3
Sands of Oblivion
2007·4.4
Armed and Deadly: The Making of 'The Dirty Dozen'
2006·6.0
Don't Come Knocking
2005·6.2
Three Bad Men
2005·2.5
Truce
2005·5.3
Monster Makers
2003·4.0
View from the Top
2003·5.6
Men in White
1998·3.8
Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!
1998·5.4
Small Soldiers
1998·6.6
Dallas: War of The Ewings
1998·5.6
Hollyweird
1998·4.2
Cats Don't Dance
1997·7.2
Bayou Ghost
1997·10.0
Dallas: J.R. Returns
1996·5.7
WWE SummerSlam 1994
1994·6.7
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1994·6.5
Distant Justice
1992·5.3
Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story
1992·10.0
Intensive Care
1991·4.0
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear
1991·6.8
Driving Me Crazy
1991·3.8
Hangfire
1991·4.7
Good Cops, Bad Cops
1990·4.2
Mayumi: Virgin Terrorist
1990·6.5
Hired to Kill
1990·4.8
Brain Dead
1990·5.6
Ministry of Vengeance
1989·3.8
Esmeralda Bay
1989·5.2
The Terror Within
1989·4.5
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
1988·7.3
Uninvited
1988·4.8
Top Line
1988·4.5
Nightmare at Noon
1988·4.7
Private Road: No Trespassing
1988·4.5
Demonwarp
1988·4.2
Counterforce
1988·5.6
Born to Race
1988·5.5
What Price Victory
1988·0.0
The Gambler: The Legend Continues
1987·6.0
Creepshow 2
1987·6.2
The Gunfighters
1987·5.0
Radioactive Dreams
1986·5.4
Liberty
1986·6.0
The Delta Force
1986·6.0
Savage Dawn
1985·4.4
International Airport
1985·6.0
Rigged
1985·9.0
Half Nelson
1985·0.0
A Rare Breed
1984·7.0
Bolero
1984·3.5
The Jesse Owens Story
1984·8.1
Chattanooga Choo Choo
1984·6.7
The Jupiter Menace
1982·6.2
Wacko
1982·5.1
Just Before Dawn
1981·6.0
The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire
1981·6.0
Modern Romance
1981·6.8
Hotwire
1980·6.0
Virus
1980·6.3
Death Ship
1980·5.1
Steel
1979·5.6
The Concorde... Airport '79
1979·4.7
Search and Destroy
1979·7.1
The Double McGuffin
1979·5.0
Brass Target
1978·5.4
Death on the Nile
1978·7.1
Death on the Nile: Making of Featurette
1978·7.0
Mean Dog Blues
1978·4.8
Proof of the Man
1977·7.8
Airport '77
1977·5.6
The Human Factor
1975·5.8
The Eiger Sanction
1975·6.1
The Blue Knight
1975·7.0
The Lion Roars Again
1975·6.5
Earthquake
1974·6.1
Airport 1975
1974·5.8
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
1974·6.8
A Cry in the Wilderness
1974·6.5
Sonic Boom
1974·5.6
Deliver Us from Evil
1973·7.5
Cahill: United States Marshal
1973·6.1
Lost Horizon
1973·5.5
A Great American Tragedy
1972·7.5
The Bull of the West
1972·5.7
The Priest Killer
1971·0.0
Fools' Parade
1971·6.7
Sarge: The Badge or the Cross
1971·8.0
Dirty Dingus Magee
1970·4.7
Zig Zag
1970·7.7
Airport
1970·6.5
… tick… tick… tick…
1970·6.7
Gaily, Gaily
1969·4.3
The Good Guys and the Bad Guys
1969·5.5
Guns of the Magnificent Seven
1969·5.4
The Pink Jungle
1968·6.9
The Boston Strangler
1968·6.7
The Legend of Lylah Clare
1968·6.0
Bandolero!
1968·6.6
The Ballad of Josie
1968·6.0
Cool Hand Luke
1967·7.7
The Dirty Dozen
1967·7.6
Hurry Sundown
1967·6.4
The Flight of the Phoenix
1965·7.2
Mirage
1965·7.1
The Sons of Katie Elder
1965·7.0
Shenandoah
1965·6.9
In Harm's Way
1965·6.6
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964·7.3
See How They Run
1964·6.0
Island of the Blue Dolphins
1964·6.5
McHale's Navy
1964·5.3
Strait-Jacket
1964·6.5
Charade
1963·7.7
The Man from the Diners' Club
1963·5.9
Lonely are the Brave
1962·7.4
Gunfight at Black Horses Canyon
1961·5.8
The Little Shepherd Of Kingdom Come
1961·4.3