WWII veteran, sandy haired, stocky actor who at one stage cornered the market at playing tough no-nonsense characters that were either quite crooked or possessed hearts of gold. Kennedy has notched up an impressive 200+ appearances in both TV & film productions, and is well respected within the Hollywood community. Started out in TV westerns in the late 1950s & early 1960s (Have Gun Will Travel, Rawhide, Maverick, Colt .45 etc ) before scoring minor roles in films including Lonely Are the Brave, The Sons of Katie Elder and The Flight of the Phoenix. The late 1960s was then a very busy period for Kennedy, and he was strongly in favor with casting agents appearing in Hurry Sundown, The Dirty Dozen and scoring an Oscar win as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Cool Hand Luke. The disaster film boom of the 1970s was kind to Kennedy too, and his talents were in demand for Airport and the three subsequent sequels, as a grizzled cop in Earthquake, plus the buddy/road film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot as vicious bank robber, Red Leary.

The 80s saw Kennedy appear in a mish mash 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!, and the two screen veterans hammed it up again in, _Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear, The (1991)_ , plus Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult.

George Kennedy has remained busy in Hollywood and has lent his distinctive voice to the animated Cats Don't Dance and the children's action film Small Soldiers. A Hollywod stalwart for nearly 50 years, he is one of the most enjoyable actors to watch on screen.


Has 4 adopted children He and Joan adopted their granddaughter in 1998, after their daughter was ruled unfit. In the early 1970s, Paramount had plans that were unrealized to remake Double Indemnity (1944) with Kennedy in the Edward G. Robinson role. Recently hosted the creation of a driving safety video. As a US Army officer in WWII, he served under Gen. George S. Patton, and later went on to portray Patton in Brass Target (1978). Graduate of John Tarleton Agricultural College (Now Tarleton State University at Stephenville, Texas). Has a daughter Betty who was also an actor.