Oscar-winning actor George Kennedy, star of Cool Hand Luke and the Naked Gun films, has died aged 91 after suffering from deteriorating health for just over a year.
Appearing over 180 film and television productions, Kennedy became a household name playing a range of roles including gruff, blue-collar workers and deadpan comedic characters.
Kennedy explored his funny side in the Naked Gun films – a crime comedy based on the earlier TV series Police Squad.
Playing Detective Captain Ed Hocken alongside Leslie Nielsen's bumbling Detective Frank Drebin, Kennedy starred in many memorable scenes.
It was playing Florida work camp inmate Dragline opposite Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke that Kennedy first burst into the public consciousness.
The role earned him an Oscar as well as giving him one of his most quoted lines - “Nobody can eat 50 eggs”.
He beat Michael J. Pollard and Gene Hackman to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Cool Hand Luke in 1968. In his acceptance speech he called receiving the award “the greatest moment of my life.”
Kennedy became a fixture in 1970s disaster films and played the cigar-chomping mechanic Joe Patroni in all four of the Airport films.
He also gave a powerful performance in 1975’s Earthquake as the understanding police sergeant Slade, who provides help in the wake of the devastating natural disaster.
In addition to his many film roles, Kennedy also starred in a number of television series, including Dallas, in which he played rancher Carter McKay between 1988 and 1991. He also appeared in the reunion episodes Dallas: JR Returns (1996) and Dallas: War of the Ewings (1998).
