George Harris Kennedy Jr.[1] (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" in Cool Hand Luke (1967), winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role and being nominated for the corresponding Golden Globe. He received a second Golden Globe nomination for portraying Joe Patroni in Airport (1970).
Kennedy was the only actor to appear in all four films in the Airport series, reprising 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.
Early life, education and military service
Kennedy was born on February 18, 1925, in New York City,[1] into a show business family. His father, George Harris Kennedy, a musician and orchestra leader, died when Kennedy was four years old.[2] He was raised by his mother, Helen A. (née Kieselbach), a ballet dancer.[1] His maternal grandfather was a German immigrant; his other ancestry was Irish and English.[1]
Kennedy made his stage debut at age 2 in a touring company of Bringing Up Father, and by age 7, he was a New York City radio DJ.[3]
Kennedy enlisted in the United States Army during World War II in 1943. He served 16 years, reaching the rank of captain. Kennedy served in the infantry under George S. Patton, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and earned two Bronze Stars. He re-enlisted after the war, and he was discharged in the late 1950s due to a back injury.[2][3][5]
His first notable screen role was a military policeman on the TV sitcom The Phil Silvers Show,[3] where he also served as a technical adviser to ensure accuracy for the show's military base setting. Kennedy later described the Silvers show as "a great training ground".[2]
The Airport franchise helped inspire the Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker satire Airplane!, in which the filmmakers hoped to cast Kennedy as the bumbling plane dispatcher. The role went to Lloyd Bridges because Kennedy "couldn't kill off his Airport cash-cow", Jerry Zucker said in 2010.[6]
He also starred in two television series: Sarge, which aired from 1971 to 1972 and The Blue Knight from 1975 to 1976.
Kennedy starred in two Japanese productions, Junya Satō'sProof of the Man in 1977 and Kinji Fukasaku's Virus in 1980. Both films were produced by Haruki Kadokawa and featured extensive international casts and shooting locations. Although Proof of the Man was only released theatrically in Japan and Virus saw a financially unsuccessful truncated cut in the U.S., Kennedy was highly enthusiastic about his involvement.[7]
In 1990, Kennedy appeared in the Korean film Mayumi directed by Shin Sang-ok. Despite featuring Kennedy, it saw no wide release outside of South Korea and was ultimately a box-office failure.[8]
On television, Kennedy starred as Carter McKay in the Tv series Dallas (1978–1991), appearing from 1988 to 1991. From the mid- to late-1990s, he promoted "BreathAsure" tablets in radio and television commercials.[9][10] Around this time, he reprised his role as McKay in the television films Dallas: J.R. Returns and Dallas: War of the Ewings. In the late 1970s, Kennedy also appeared as a celebrity guest on the game show Match Game.
In 1998, he voiced Brick Bazooka for the film Small Soldiers. He then made several independent films, before making a 2003 comeback to television in The Young and the Restless, playing the character Albert Miller, the biological father to character Victor Newman. In 2005, he made a cameo in the film Don't Come Knocking, playing the director of an ill-fated western.
Kennedy made his final film appearance in The Gambler (2014) as Ed, the dying grandfather of Mark Wahlberg's Jim Bennett. His role lasts for less than two minutes during the film's opening scene, wherein Ed (moments before his death) bequeaths the responsibilities of patriarch to a heartbroken Jim.
Personal life
Marriages and children
Kennedy was married four times, to three women. In the 1940s, he married Dorothy Gillooly, who had served in the Women's Army Corps.[11] They were divorced in the 1950s; Dorothy returned to her hometown Buffalo, New York. In 1959, Kennedy married Norma Wurman,[11] also known as Revel Wurman.[12] The couple had two children, son Christopher and daughter Karianna. Kennedy and Norma divorced the first time in 1971, remarried in 1973, and divorced a second and final time in 1978.[11] The same year, Kennedy married Joan McCarthy (née Castagna),[12] daughter of John Castagna and former wife of William James McCarthy. They remained married until her death in September 2015.[13] The couple adopted three children, including Shaunna Kennedy, who later developed drug-abuse problems. In 1998, after Shaunna was declared unfit to raise her daughter Taylor, Kennedy and Joan also adopted this grandchild.[5]
Kennedy resided in Eagle, Idaho, at the time of his death. He died on the morning of February 28, 2016, of a heart ailment at an assisted living facility in Middleton, Idaho, 10 days after his 91st birthday.[12][5] He had a history of heart disease.[13][5]
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.[73]
Notes
^Trevanian is a pseudonym used by the American author Dr. Rodney William Whitaker.
^ abcErickson, Hal. "George Kennedy". AllMovie. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
^McFadden, Robert D.; Slotnik, Daniel E. (March 1, 2016). "George Kennedy Dies at 91; Versatile Actor Won Oscar for 'Cool Hand Luke'; Hollywood's Leading Sidekick". The New York Times. p. B12. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved November 23, 2020. After graduating from Chaminade High School in Mineola, New York, he joined the Army, fought in the infantry in Europe in World War II and spent 16 years in the service.[...] Correction: March 3, 2016 An obituary on Tuesday about the actor George Kennedy misidentified the high school from which he graduated. It is Chaminade High School in Mineola, N.Y. — not W. C. Mepham High School in Bellmore, N.Y.
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