John Arthur Kennedy (February 17, 1914January 5, 1990) was an American stage and film 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 Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

plays on Broadway.James C. McKinley Jr., "Arthur Kennedy, Actor, 75, Dies; Was Versatile in Supporting Roles", ''The New York Times'', 7 Jan 1990, p. 30, The New York Times (1851–2007) He won the 1949

Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality supporting roles in a Broadway theatre, Broa ...

for Miller's ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by the American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a ...

''. He also won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for the 1955 film ''

Trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

'', and was a five-time

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

nominee.

Early life and education

Kennedy was born on February 17, 1914, in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

, 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 Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, graduating with a B.A. in 1934.Melissa Vickery-Bareford
"Kennedy, John Arthur"
''American National Biography Online'', (Feb. 2000), accessed 13 Nov 13 2011.

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 ''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the Battle of H ...

''. Kennedy's first film role was of

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He won acclaim and maj ...

's younger brother in '' City for Conquest'' in 1940. He appeared in many

Western film The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Calif ...

s 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'', ''

'', '' Peyton Place'', '' Some Came Running'', '' A Summer Place'', '' Elmer Gantry'', '' The Man from Laramie'', ''

Barabbas According to the New Testament, Barabbas () was a Jewish bandit and rabble-rouser who was imprisoned by the Judaea (Roman province), Roman occupation in Jerusalem, only to be chosen over Jesus by a crowd to be pardoned by Roman governor Pontius ...

'', '' Lawrence of Arabia'', '' Nevada Smith'' and ''

Fantastic Voyage ''Fantastic Voyage'' is a 1966 American science fiction adventure film directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Harry Kleiner, based on a story by Otto Klement and Jerome Bixby. The film is about a submarine crew who is shrunk to microsco ...

''. Of Kennedy's film work, he is perhaps best-remembered for his collaborations with director

Anthony Mann Anthony Mann (born Emil Anton Bundsmann; June 30, 1906 – April 29, 1967) was an American film director and stage actor. He came to prominence as a skilled director of ''Film noirs, film noir'' and Western film, Westerns, and for his Epic film ...

and co-star

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

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 The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for his role of Biff Loman in

's ''

'' (1949). He inaugurated three other major characters in Miller plays: Chris Keller in ''

All My Sons ''All My Sons'' is a three-act play written in 1946 by Arthur Miller. It opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947, and ran for 328 performances. It was directed by Elia Kazan ...

'' (1947), John Proctor in ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...

'' (1953) and Walter Franz in '' The Price'' (1968). In 1961 he played the title role in '' Becket'', opposite

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

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''. In 1974, Kennedy was a regular on the short-lived ABC

police drama The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agencies as the protagonists, as ...

'' Nakia'', as Sheriff Sam Jericho.

Waning interest, ill-health, then comeback

With the death of his wife in 1975, failing eyesight, alcoholism, and thyroid cancer, Kennedy was reported as having lost interest in filmmaking. After '' Covert Action'' (1978), his next films were '' The Humanoid'' (1979) and '' Signs of Life'' (1989).Glenn Collins, "Arthur Kennedy: Comeback for a Curmudgeon", ''The New York Times'', 30 Apr 1989, p H24, The New York Times (1851–2007).

Awards and honors

In 1949, Kennedy won a

for best supporting actor as Biff in Arthur Miller's ''Death of a Salesman'' at the

Morosco Theatre The Morosco Theatre was a Broadway theatre near Times Square in New York City from 1917 to 1982. It housed many notable productions and its demolition, along with four adjacent theaters, was controversial. History Located at 217 West 45th Stre ...

. The New York Film Critics named him Best Actor for ''

Bright Victory ''Bright Victory'' is a 1951 American drama romance war film directed by Mark Robson, and starring Arthur Kennedy and Peggy Dow. Plot During World War II, American sergeant Larry Nevins is blinded by a German sniper while fighting in North ...

'' (1951). His performance in ''

'' won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. His portrayal of the newspaper reporter in '' Elmer Gantry'' (1960) gained him a Film Daily Award and a Limelight Award.

Oscar nominations

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

* '' City for Conquest'' (1940) as Eddie Kenny * '' High Sierra'' (1941) as Red * ''

Knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

'' (1941) as Johnny Rocket * ''

Strange Alibi ''Strange Alibi'' is a 1941 American film noir directed by D. Ross Lederman, written by Kenneth Gamet, Leslie T. White and Fred Niblo Jr., and starring Arthur Kennedy, Joan Perry, Jonathan Hale, John Ridgely, Florence Bates and Charles Tr ...

'' (1941) as Joe Geary * '' Bad Men of Missouri'' (1941) as Jim Younger * ''

Highway West ''Highway West'' is a 1941 American crime film directed by William C. McGann and starring Brenda Marshall, Arthur Kennedy and William Lundigan. It is a remake of the 1934 film ''Heat Lightning''.Goble p.1 It was produced and distributed by War ...

'' (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 A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

'' (1947) as John Waldron * ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

'' (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 * ''

'' (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 * ''

'' (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 * ''The Ten Commandments'' (1959, TV Movie) * '' 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 * ''

'' (1961) as Pontius Pilate * '' Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man'' (1962) as Dr. Adams * '' Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962) as Jackson Bentley (a character based on the writer

Lowell Thomas Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, Television presenter, broadcaster, and documentary filmmaker. He authored more than fifty non-fiction books, mostly travel narratives and popular biographies of ex ...

) * '' 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 * ''

'' (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 Anzio (, also ; ) is a town and ''comune'' on region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside resorts, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands of Ponza, Palmarola, and Ve ...

'' (1968) as Maj. Gen. Jack Lesley * '' Hail, Hero!'' (1969) as Albert Dixon * '' Shark!'' (1969) as Doc * ''The Movie Murderer'' (1970, TV Movie) as Angus MacGregor * '' My Old Man's Place'' (1971) as Walter Pell * ''A Death of Innocence'' (1971, TV Movie) as Mark Hirsch * ''Crawlspace'' (1972, TV Movie) as Albert Graves * '' I Kiss the Hand'' (1973) as Don Angelino Ferrante * '' Ricco the Mean Machine'' (1973) as Don Vito * '' The President's Plane Is Missing'' (1973, TV Movie) as Gunther Damon * '' The Man from Independence'' (1974) as Tom Pendergast * '' 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 Il nonno * '' Bermuda: Cave of the Sharks'' (1978) as Mr. Jackson * ''

Cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

'' (1978) as The Priest * ''Porco mondo'' (1978) as Senator Merelli * '' Covert Action'' (1978) as CIA Chief of Station, Athens * '' The Humanoid'' (1979) as Dr. Kraspin * '' Signs of Life'' (1989) as Owen Coughlin * ''I figli del vento'' (1989, TV Movie) * ''Grandpa'' (1990) (final film role)

References

External links

* *
Arthur Kennedy
at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

*
Photographs
of Arthur Kennedy tombstone, Nova Scotia.
Literature on Arthur Kennedy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Arthur 1914 births 1990 deaths American male film actors American male stage actors Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Deaths from brain cancer in Connecticut Donaldson Award winners Male actors from Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester Academy alumni Tony Award winners Male Western (genre) film actors United States Army Air Forces soldiers First Motion Picture Unit personnel 20th-century American male actors Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni South High Community School alumni