Actor known for his roles in frigid Hand Luke,the bare Gun trilogy and AirportGeorge Kennedy, who has died aged 91, and was known mainly for three film roles,each of which represented a different aspect of his career: as heavy, hero and clown. They were the bullying convict Dragline in frigid Hand Luke (1967) for which he won the Oscar for best supporting actor – aviation expert Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s, and Captain Ed Hocken,the none-too-bright sidekick of bumbling cop Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) in the spoof bare Gun trilogy (1988-94).
In the early to mid-60s, the tall, or bulky Kennedy (he was 6ft 4in) appeared as imperfect guys in dozens of TV western series such as Rawhide,Gunsmoke and Bonanza. In films, he continued in the same vein, and as the sadistic jailhouse guard who beats up Kirk Douglas in Lonely Are the Brave (1962); the one-armed hitman who chases Cary Grant over the Paris rooftops in Charade (1963); and the menacing hired gunfighter – “I don’t care what I have to do,as long as I collect my money” – in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965). In the latter, John Wayne slams a piece of wood into Kennedy’s face.
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Source: theguardian.com