![\"george](\"http:\/\/www.filmbuffonline.com\/FBOLNewsreel\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/george-kennedy-194x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
George Kennedy is what might be called a generational actor. One generation might remember him for his guest appearances on the TV shows of the late 1950s\/early 1960s. Another might remember him for his Oscar winning role in 1967s Cool Hand Luke <\/strong>and the disaster films of 1970s. The next generation might remember him from his supporting role in the Naked Gun <\/strong>series of films and on the Dallas <\/strong>TV show.\u00a0 The talented character actor whose career spanned over 50 years has passed away of natural causes. He was 91.<\/p>\n Kennedy entered the acting business in his thirties, after a consulting job on The Phil Silvers Show <\/strong>led to a recurring role on the series. Kennedy then made a number of guest appearance in TV shows such as Gunsmoke <\/strong>and The Virginian<\/strong> and films such as Charade<\/strong>, Hush…Hush Sweet Charlotte<\/strong>, and The Sons of Katie Elder<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Kennedy won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as Dragline, a prison rival who becomes a friend to Paul Newman’s titular Cool Hand Luke.<\/strong> Kennedy parlayed his Oscar win into a number of high-profile film roles, including Airport<\/strong>, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot<\/strong>, Airport 1975<\/strong>, Earthquake, Airport ’77 <\/strong>and The Concorde…Airport ’79<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In 1988, Kennedy replaced Alan North as Ed Hocken when the TV series Police Squad<\/strong> made the leap to the big screen as The Naked Gun<\/strong>. Kennedy would reprise the role in the two following sequels.<\/p>\n Kennedy made his last film performance in 2014’s The Gambler<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"