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Biography
He enlisted in the 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.
He and his wife Joan adopted their granddaughter in 1998, after their daughter was ruled unfit.
As the no-nonsense, cigar-chomping troubleshooter Joe Patrone in Airport (1970) and its three sequels, this beefy, fair-haired supporting actor chewed scenery as well as stogies and stole most of the scenes he was in. The role wasn't much of a stretch for Kennedy-he'd made a career of playing loutish heavies and sympathetic "big lug" characters-but it solidified his following and won him flashier roles.
The son of show-biz parents, Kennedy first appeared on stage at age two and later moved into radio. After a 16-year stint in the Army, he decided on acting as a full-time career. Debuting on film in The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come in 1961, he worked steadily thereafter in the likes of Lonely Are the Brave (1962) , The Man from the Diner's Club, Charade (both 1963) , Strait-Jacket, McHale's Navy (both 1964) , In Harm's Way (1965) , The Dirty Dozen (1967) , and Cool Hand Luke (also 1967) , in which he played the prisoner Dragline (earning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in the bargain) . In the 1970s he appeared in Earthquake (1974) , The Eiger Sanction (1975) , and Death on the Nile (1978) , to name a few, and hit the airwaves as star of Sarge (1971-72) and The Blue Knight (1976) . During the 1980's Kennedy continued to appear regularly onscreen, but in less memorable movies, of which Bolero (1984) , Radioactive Dreams (1986) , and Nightmare at Noon (1988) are, sadly, all too representative. He gently spoofed his own straightforward screen image as Leslie Nielsen's police squad colleague in the comedy hits The Naked Gun (1988) , The Naked Gun 2: The Smell of Fear (1991) , and The Naked Gun 33: The Final Insult (1994).
Movie Roles:
- Small Soldiers (1998) (voice) .... Brick Bazooka
- Bayou Ghost (1997) .... Officer Lowe
- Cats Don't Dance (1997) (voice) .... L.B. Mammoth
- Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) .... Captain Ed Hocken
- Magic Kid (1993) .... Surfer #3
- Distant Justice (1992) .... Tom Bradfield
- Driving Me Crazy (1992) .... McCready
- Intensive Care (1992) .... Dr. Bruckner
- Hangfire (1991) .... Warden
- Hired to Kill (1991) .... Thomas
- Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991) .... Captain Ed Hocken
- Brain Dead (1990) .... Vance
- Mayumi Virgin Terrorist (1990)
- Nightmare at Noon (1990) .... Sheriff Hanks
- Bah’a esmeralda, La (1989) .... Wilson
- Ministry of Vengeance (1989) .... Reverend Hughes
- Born to Race (1988) .... Vincent Duplain
- Demonwarp (1988) .... Bill Crafton
- The Terror Within (1988) .... Hal
- Top Line (1988)
- Uninvited (1988) .... Mike
- Naked Gun: The From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) .... Captain Ed Hocken
- Escuadr—n (1987) .... Vince Colby
- Creepshow 2 (1987) .... Ray Spruce
- Radioactive Dreams (1986) .... Spade Chandler
- The Delta Force (1986) .... Father O'Malley
- Savage Dawn (1985) .... Tick Rand
- Bolero (1984) .... Cotton
- Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984) .... Bert
- The Jupiter Menace (1981) .... Main Narrator
- Modern Romance (1981) .... Himself and Zeron
- A Rare Breed (1981) .... Nathan Hill
- Wacko (1981) .... Mr. Doctor Graves
- Just Before Dawn (1981) .... Roy McLean
- Fukkatsu no hi (1980) .... Admiral Conway
- Hotwire (1980) .... Farley & Harley Fontenot
- Death Ship (1980) .... Ashland
- Steel (1980) .... Big Lew Cassidy
- The Double McGuffin (1979) .... Chief Talasek
- The Concorde: Airport '79 (1979) .... Capt. Joe Patroni
- Search and Destroy (1979) .... Anthony Fusqua
- Brass Target (1978) .... General George S. Patton
- Death on the Nile (1978) .... Andrew Pennington
- Mean Dog Blues (1978) .... Captain Omar Kinsman
- Ningen no shomei (1977)
- Airport '77 (1977) .... Joe Patroni
- The Human Factor (1975) .... John Kinsdale
- The Eiger Sanction (1975) .... Ben Bowman
- Sonic Boom (1974)
- Earthquake (1974) .... Lew Slade
- Airport 1975 (1974) .... Joe Patroni
- Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) .... Red Leary
- Cahill: United States Marshal (1973) .... Abe Fraser
- Lost Horizon (1973) .... Sam Cornelius
- Fools' Parade (1971) .... "Doc" Council
- Dirty Dingus Magee (1970) .... Herkimer "Hoke" Birdsill
- Zigzag (1970) .... Paul R. Cameron
- ....tick...tick...tick... (1970) .... John Little
- Airport (1970) .... Joe Patroni
- .Gaily, Gaily (1969) .... Axel P. Johanson
- The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969) .... Big John McKay
- Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969) .... Chris
- The Boston Strangler (1968) .... Detective Phil DiNatale
- The Pink Jungle (1968) .... Sammy Ryderbeit
- The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968) (uncredited) .... Matt Burke
- Bandolero! (1968) .... Sheriff Johnson
- Cool Hand Luke (1967) .... Dragline
- The Dirty Dozen (1967) .... Major Max Armbruster
- Hurry Sundown (1967) .... Sheriff Coombs
- The Ballad of Josie (1967) .... Arch Ogden
- The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) .... Bellamy
- Mirage (1965) .... Willard
- The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) .... Curley
- Shenandoah (1965) .... Colonel Fairchild
- In Harm's Way (1965) .... Colonel Gregory
- Island of the Blue Dolphins (1964) .... Aleut Captain
- McHale's Navy (1964) .... Henri Le Clerc
- Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) .... Foreman
- Strait-Jacket (1964) .... Leo Krause
- Charade (1963) .... Herman Scobie
- The Man from the Diner's Club (1963) .... George
- The Silent Witness (1962) .... Gus Jordan
- Lonely Are the Brave (1962) .... Deputy Sheriff Gutierrez
- The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come (1961) .... Nathan Dillon
Television Appearances:
- Men In White (1998) (TV) .... General Vice
- Dennis the Menace Strikes Again (1998) (TV) .... Grandpa
- Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998) (TV) .... Carter McKay
- Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (1997) playing "Bones Duvalier"(voice) in episode: "Oh, Can I Go Now?!"
- Dallas: J.R. Returns (1996) (TV) .... Carter McKay
- Santo Bugito (1996) TV Series (voice) .... Ralph
- The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (1996) playing "General Axton"(voice) in episode: "DNA Doomsday"
- Wings (1996) playing "Himself" in episode: "What About Larry?"
- Duckman (1995) playing "Movie Director"(voice) in episode: "In the Nam of the Father"
- The Commish (1995) playing "Alan Scali" in episode: "The Golden Years"
- Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story (1992) (TV) .... Father Dave
- Lonesome Dove: The Series (1992) playing "Judge J.T. "Rope" Calder" in episode: "Judgement Day"
- Good Cops, Bad Cops (1990) (TV) .... Kirkland
- What Price Victory (1988) (TV) .... "Big Buck" Brayton
- Dallas (1988-1991) TV Series .... Carter McKay
- Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (1987) (TV) .... Gen. Nelson Miles
- Private Road: No Trespassing (1987) (V) .... Sam Milshaw
- The Gunfighters (1987) (TV) .... Deke Turner
- Liberty (1986) (TV) .... Seamus Reilly
- International Airport (1985) (TV) .... Rudy Van Leuven
- The Jesse Owens Story (1984) (TV) .... Charles 'Charley' Riley
- Counterattack: Crime in America (1982) TV Series .... Host
- Archer: The Fugitive from the Empire (1981) (TV) .... Brakus
- Backstairs at the White House (1979) (mini) TV Series .... President Warren G. Harding
- The Blue Knight (1975 - 1976) TV Series .... Bumper Morgan
- Match Game PM (1975) TV Series .... Panelist
- A Cry in the Wilderness (1974) (TV) .... Sam Hadley
- Deliver Us From Evil (1973) (TV) .... Walter 'Cowboy' McAdams
- A Great American Tragedy (1972) (TV) .... Brad Wilkes
- Sarge (1971 - 1972) TV Series .... The Rev. Samuel Patrick 'Sarge' Cavanaugh (1971-72)
- The Priest Killer (1971) (TV) .... Sarge Swanson
- Sarge (1971) (TV) .... Sarge Swanson
- The Bull of the West (1971) (TV) .... 'Bear' Suchette
- The Virginian (1966) in episode: "Trail to Ashley Mountain"
- Gunsmoke (1966) playing "Ben Payson" in episode: "Harvest"
- The Big Valley (1966) playing "Jack Thatcher" in episode: "Barbary Red"
- The Legend of Jesse James (1966) in episode: "Return to Lawrence"
- Laredo (1965) in episode: "Pride of the Rangers"
- A Man Called Shenandoah (1965) in episode: "Special Talent for Killing"
- Daniel Boone (1965) in episode: "A Rope for Mingo"
- The Virginian (1965) in episode: "Nobility of Kings"
- See How They Run (1964) (TV) .... Rudy
- The Rogues (1964) in episode: "The Computer Goes West"
- The Virginian (1964) in episode: "A Gallows for Sam Horn"
- Bonanza (1964) in episode: "The Scapegoat"
- Gunsmoke (1964) playing "Cyrus Degler" in episode: "Crooked Mile"
- Gunsmoke (1964) playing "Stark" in episode: "The Warden"
- McHale's Navy (1964) playing "Big Frenchy" in episode: "The Return of Big Frenchy"
- The Andy Griffith Show (1963) playing "State Police Detective" in episode: "The Big House"
- Perry Mason (1963) playing "George Spangler" in episode: "The Case of the Greek Goddess"
- McHale's Navy (1963) playing "Big Frenchy" in episode: "French Leave for McHale"
- Gunsmoke (1962) playing "Hug Eliot" in episode: "The Boys"
- Rawhide (1962) playing "George Wales" in episode: "The Peddler"
- Gunfight in Black Horse Canyon (1961) (TV)
- Have Gun Will Travel (1961) playing "Deke" in episode: "The Vigil"
- The Untouchables (1961) playing "Birdie" in episode: "The King of Champagne"
- Gunsmoke (1961) playing "Pat Swarner" in episode: "Big Man"
- Gunsmoke (1961) playing "Jake Baylor" in episode: "Kitty Shot"
- Klondike (1961) in episode: "Swing Your Partner"
- Bonanza (1961) playing "Peter Long" in episode: "The Infernal Machine"
- Maverick (1960) playing "Deputy Jones" in episode: "Hadley's Hunters"
- Gunsmoke (1960) playing "Emil Wolheter" in episode: "The Blacksmith"
- Laramie (1960) in episode: "Duel at Alta Mesa"
- Thriller (1960) playing "John Paterson" in episode: "The Innocent Bystanders"
- Cheyenne (1959) in episode: "Prisoner of Moon Mesa"
- Colt .45 (1959) in episode: "The Rival Gun"
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