Gifted supporting player and occasional leading man, discovered by James Cagney while performing on stage. Kennedy made his screen debut in "City for Conquest" (1940), playing Cagney's kid brother, and subsequently appeared in over 60 films through the late 1980s. His theater work included a Tony Award-winning performance as Biff in "Death of a Salesman" (1948).
Family
SON: Terrence Kennedy. Born 1943, mother Mary Cheffrey.
DAUGHTER: Laurie Kennedy. Actor. Born 1945, mother Mary Cheffrey.
Companion
WIFE: Mary Cheffrey. Actor. Married 1938 until her death in 1975.
Education
Carnegie Institute of Technology - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - drama - school later changed name to Carnegie-Mellon University
Born John Arthur Kennedy in Worcester, Massachusetts, he graduated from Worcester Academy in 1930, and acted both on the stage and screen, receiving a Tony Award for the role of Biff Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (1949). Kennedy also 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). He also received five Academy Award nominations, never winning. He and Claude Rains share the record of four losing nominations for Best Supporting Actor Oscar.
He portrayed good guys and bad guys equally, appearing in Western films and police dramas. He also turned in a worthy performance as a surgeon in 1966's Fantastic Voyage.
He starred in several well-received films in the late 1940s and the 1950s, including High Sierra, They Died with Their Boots On, Boomerang, Champion, The Window, The Glass Menagerie, Bright Victory, Bend of the River, The Lusty Men, Rancho Notorious, The Desperate Hours, Lawrence of Arabia, The Man From Laramie, The Naked Dawn, Trial, Peyton Place, Some Came Running, A Summer Place and Elmer Gantry.
-- Submitted by: albatros1
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michael york
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