Arthur Kennedy

Q: When did Arthur Kennedy die?

Arthur Kennedy died on January 5, 1990.

Q: How old was Arthur Kennedy when they died?

Arthur Kennedy was 75 years old at the time of death.

Q: What was Arthur Kennedy's cause of death?

The cause of death of Arthur Kennedy was brain cancer.

John Arthur Kennedy (February 17, 1914 – January 5, 1990) was an American actor, known for his versatility in supporting film roles and his ability to create "an exceptional honesty and naturalness on stage", especially in the original casts of Arthur Miller plays on Broadway.

Over his career, Kennedy was nominated for five Academy Awards (four for Best Supporting Actor, once for Best Actor). He won the 1949 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Miller's Death of a Salesman, and the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for the 1955 film Trial.

Early life and education

Kennedy was born on February 17, 1914, in Worcester, Massachusetts, the son of Helen (née Thompson) and John Timothy "J.T." Kennedy, a dentist. He attended South High School, Worcester, and graduated from Worcester Academy. He studied drama at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, graduating with a B.A. in 1934.

Career

Kennedy moved to New York City and, billed as John Kennedy, joined the Group Theatre. He then toured with a classical repertory company. In September 1937, he made his Broadway debut as Bushy in Maurice Evans' Richard II at the St. James Theatre. In 1939 he played Sir Richard Vernon in Evans' Henry IV, Part 1.

Kennedy's first film role was of James Cagney's younger brother in City for Conquest in 1940. He appeared in many Western films and police dramas.

Kennedy appeared in many notable films from the early 1940s through mid-1960s, including High Sierra, Champion, They Died with Their Boots On, The Glass Menagerie, The Desperate Hours, Trial, Peyton Place, Some Came Running, A Summer Place, Elmer Gantry, The Man from Laramie, Barabbas, Lawrence of Arabia, Nevada Smith and Fantastic Voyage.

Of Kennedy's film work, he is perhaps best-remembered for his collaborations with director Anthony Mann and co-star James Stewart on Bend of the River (1952) and The Man from Laramie (1955), in both of which he played sympathetic villains.

He also enjoyed a distinguished stage career over the same period, receiving a Tony Award for his role of Biff Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (1949). He inaugurated three other major characters in Miller plays: Chris Keller in All My Sons (1947), John Proctor in The Crucible (1953) and Walter Franz in The Price (1968). In 1961 he played the title role in Becket, opposite Laurence Olivier as Henry II.

On February 5, 1959, Kennedy appeared on the episode "Make It Look Good" of CBS's Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre.^{[citation needed]}

In 1974, Kennedy was a regular on the short-lived ABC police drama Nakia, as Sheriff Sam Jericho.

With the death of his wife in 1975, failing eyesight, alcoholism, and thyroid cancer, Kennedy was reported as having lost interest in acting. After 1979's The Humanoid, Kennedy retired from acting for a decade, until 1989's Signs of Life.

Honors

Kennedy has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for Motion Pictures at 6681 Hollywood Boulevard and one for Television at 1620 Vine Street.

Personal life

Kennedy married Mary Cheffey in March 1938. They had two children: actress Laurie Kennedy and Terence.

Death

During the last years of his life, Kennedy had thyroid cancer and eye disease. He spent much of his later life in Savannah, Georgia, out of the public eye. He died of cancer on January 5, 1990 at age 75.

Filmography

Film

City for Conquest (1940) as Eddie Kenny
High Sierra (1941) as Red
Knockout (1941) as Johnny Rocket
Strange Alibi (1941) as Joe Geary
Bad Men of Missouri (1941) as Jim Younger
Highway West (1941) as George Foster
They Died with Their Boots On (1941) as Ned Sharp
Desperate Journey (1942) as Flying Officer Jed Forrest
Reconnaissance Pilot (1943, documentary short) as Decoration Announcer (voice, uncredited)
Resisting Enemy Interrogation (1944) as Sgt. Alfred Mason (uncredited)
Ditch and Live (1944, Short) as Captain Scott H. Reynolds (uncredited)
Time to Kill (1945, Short) as Narrator (uncredited)
Target – Invisible (1945, documentary short) as Narrator (uncredited)
Devotion (1946) as Branwell Brontë
It's Your America (1946, Short) as Soldier (uncredited)
Boomerang (1947) as John Waldron
Cheyenne (1947) as Chalk
The Walking Hills (1949) as Chalk
Champion (1949) as Connie
The Window (1949) as Ed Woodry
Too Late for Tears (1949) as Alan Palmer
Chicago Deadline (1949) as Tommy Ditman
The Glass Menagerie (1950) as Tom Wingfield
Bright Victory (1951) as Larry Nevins
Red Mountain (1951) as Lane Waldron
Bend of the River (1952) as Emerson Cole
Rancho Notorious (1952) as Vern Haskell
The Girl in White (1952) as Dr. Ben Barringer
The Lusty Men (1952) as Wes Merritt
Impulse (1954) as Alan Curtis
Crashout (1955) as Joe Quinn
The Man From Laramie (1955) as Vic Hansbro
The Desperate Hours (1955) as Deputy Sheriff Jesse Bard
Trial (1955) as Barney
The Naked Dawn (1955) as Santiago
The Rawhide Years (1956) as Rick Harper
Peyton Place (1957) as Lucas Cross
Twilight for the Gods (1958) as First Mate Ramsay
Some Came Running (1958) as Frank Hirsh
Home Is the Hero (1959) as Willie O'Reilly
A Summer Place (1959) as Bart Hunter
Elmer Gantry (1960) as Jim Lefferts
Claudelle Inglish (1961) as Clyde Inglish
Murder, She Said (1961) as Dr. Quimper
Barabbas (1961) as Pontius Pilate
Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962) as Dr. Adams
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) as Jackson Bentley
Attack and Retreat (1964) as Ferro Maria Ferri
Cheyenne Autumn (1964) as Doc Holliday
Murieta (1965) as Capt. Love
Joy in the Morning (1965) as Patrick Brown
Nevada Smith (1966) as Bill Bowdre
Fantastic Voyage (1966) as Dr. Duval
Monday's Child (1967) as Peter Richardson
Day of the Evil Gun (1968) as Owen Forbes
A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die (1968) as Tuscosa Marshal Roy W. Colby
Anzio (1968) as Maj. Gen. Jack Lesley
Hail, Hero! (1969) as Albert Dixon
Shark! (1969) as Doc
My Old Man's Place (1971) as Walter Pell
I Kiss the Hand (1973) as Don Angelino Ferrante
Ricco the Mean Machine (1973) as Don Vito
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974) as The Inspector
The Antichrist (1974) as Bishop Ascanio Oderisi
Killer Cop (1975) as Armando Di Federico
The Tough Ones (1976) as Ruini
As of Tomorrow (1976) as Mike Jannacone
La spiaggia del desiderio (1976) as Antonio
The Sentinel (1977) as Monsignor Franchino
Nine Guests for a Crime (1977) as Uberto
Gli ultimi angeli (1978) as Uncle
Bermuda: Cave of the Sharks (1978) as Mr. Jackson
Cyclone (1978) as The Priest
Porco mondo (1978) as Senator Merelli
Covert Action (1978) as Maxwell
The Humanoid (1979) as Dr. Kraspin
Signs of Life (1989) as Owen Coughlin
Grandpa (1990) (final film role)

Television

Ford Theatre (1954, 1 episode) as Larry Morton
Ethel Barrymore Theatre (1956, 1 episode)
Schilling Playhouse (1958, 1 episode)
The Ten Commandments (1959, TV Movie)
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre (1959, 1 episode) as Sam Carter
Our American Heritage (1959-60, 2 episodes) as Alexander Hamilton
General Electric Theater (1960, 1 episode) as Whitney Barton)
Playhouse 90 (1960, 1 episode) as Paul Heller
NBC Sunday Showcase (1960, 1 episode) as Alexander Hamilton
Alcoa Premiere (1961, 1 episode) as Dr. Harry A. Wilmer
The DuPont Show of the Week (1962-64, 2 episodes) as Hans Maasdijk, Colin Ryan
Espionage (1963, 1 episode) as Ed Pierce
Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964, 1 episode) as Dr. Walter Meade Taylor
Suspense (1964, 1 episode) as Sgt. Mike Kenny
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1964, 1 episode) as Keith Hollands
ABC Stage 67 (1966, 2 episodes) as Lt. Hammond, Narrator
CBS Playhouse (1969, 1 episode) as Rome
The Movie Murderer (1970, TV Movie) as Angus MacGregor
A Death of Innocence (1971, TV Movie) as Mark Hirsch
Crawlspace (1972, TV Movie) as Albert Graves
The Man from Independence (1974, TV Movie) as Tom Pendergast
The President's Plane Is Missing (1973, TV Movie) as Gunther Damon
Nakia (1974, 14 episodes) as Sheriff Sam Jericho
I figli del vento (1989, TV Movie)