Tom Kennedy ( 1948 – December 7, 2011) was an American film trailer producer, film director,

voice-over artist Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

, author, writer and film editor. Kennedy was raised in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York City, and graduated from the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, where he studied film. Kennedy worked as an editor for the PBS children's show, ''

Big Blue Marble ''Big Blue Marble'' is a half-hour children's television program that was aired from 1974 to 1983 in syndication including on PBS television stations. Overview Distinctive content included stories about children around the world and a pen-pal ...

'', during his early career. In 1977, he moved from New York City to Los Angeles. He soon became a project director, editor and writer for became the Kaleidoscope Films, one of Hollywood's major creators of film trailers. Kennedy oversaw the audiovisual creative advertising for the clients of Kaleidoscope Film and worked on the

advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...

s for numerous films during the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. His portfolio at Kaleidoscope included ''

The Empire Strikes Back ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a stor ...

'', '' Return of the Jedi'', ''

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' is a 1984 American action- adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise, and a prequel to the 1981 film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark'', ...

'', ''

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action- adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise and a s ...

'', ''

The Terminator ''The Terminator'' is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor ( Linda Hamilton), wh ...

'', '' The Year of Living Dangerously'', '' Star Trek: The Motion Picture'', '' Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'', '' Star Trek III: The Search for Spock'' and '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home''. Kennedy directed one feature film, '' Time Walker'', a low budget movie released in 1982 by New World Entertainment, which was owned by

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

. Kennedy left Kaleidoscope in 1992 and joined Cimarron/Bacon/O'Brien that same year as a partner and executive producer in the firm. Kennedy oversaw the audiovisual advertising and film trailer campaigns at Cimarron/Bacon/O'Brien for the 1990s major studio films '' Basic Instinct'', ''

Home Alone ''Home Alone'' is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The first film in the ''Home Alone'' franchise, the film stars Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Hea ...

'', ''

Home Alone 2 ''Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'' is a 1992 American Christmas comedy film directed by Chris Columbus and written and produced by John Hughes. The sequel to the 1990 film ''Home Alone'' and the second film in the ''Home Alone'' franchise, t ...

'', ''

Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American Revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, ...

'', ''

The Mask The Mask may refer to: Books and comics * ''The Mask'' (comics), a comic book series by publisher Dark Horse Comics * Mask (DC Comics), an opponent of Wonder Woman * ''The Mask'' (novel), a 1981 novel written by Dean Koontz under the pseudonym ...

'', ''

Get Shorty ''Get Shorty'' is a 1990 novel by American novelist Elmore Leonard. In 1995, the novel was adapted into a film of the same name, and in 2017 it was adapted into a television series of the same name. Plot summary The story centers on Ernesto ...

'', ''

True Lies ''True Lies'' is a 1994 American spy action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Art Malik, Tia Carrere, Bill Paxton, Eliza Dushku, Grant Heslov and Charlton Heston. I ...

'' and '' Broken Arrow''. Kennedy became the senior Vice President of creative advertising at MGM/ UA in 1997. He oversaw the relaunch of the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

film franchise, beginning with ''

Tomorrow Never Dies ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay ...

'' in 1997. He further established his own production studio, Technical Knock Out Pictures, in 2000. Additionally, Kennedy performed voice over work for numerous film trailers and promos for television networks, including Showtime and ABC. Tom Kennedy died in

West Hills, California West Hills is a suburban / residential community in the western San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. The percentage of residents aged 35 and older is among the highest in Los Angeles County. The neighborhood was for ...

, on December 7, 2011, at the age of 63. He was survived by his three children:

Jesse Kennedy Jesse may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible. * Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jesse (surname), a list of people Music * ''Jesse'' (a ...

, a film producer; Shane Kennedy, a musician; and Samantha Kennedy, an actress; and three grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Tom 2011 deaths Film commercial directors American film studio executives American film editors Year of birth uncertain People from the Bronx School of Visual Arts alumni Death in California Film directors from New York City Film directors from Los Angeles 1948 births