Kennedy won Oscar for his portrayal of a savage chain-gang convict in the 1960s classic “Cool Hand Luke”, starring Paul Newman in the lead role.
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George’s grandson Cory Schenke confirmed the news on Facebook and said the actor had been in hospice care for the last month.
After the critical and commercial success, Kennedy carved out a niche as one of Hollywood’s most recognisable supporting actors.
Schenkel says Mr. Kennedy continued to work on films even after joining his extended family in Boise, Idaho, where his Oscar sat on the fireplace mantle in the living room. His performance in the movie, which starred Paul Newman in the titular role, earned him a Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar. Sitting as cold as ice after the hand, Luke remarks that sometimes “nothing can be a real cool hand” to which Dragline replies: “cool hand Luke”.
Kennedy’s roles waned in recent years as the actor grew older. One of his strongest supporting roles was in the hit 1970 film “Airport”, which spurred the run of 1970s disaster movies.
Kennedy was born in New York City to parents in show business. In 1988, he took on the role of Captain Ed Hocken alongside Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
“If it had been the time of shorter heroes – Eddie Robinson, Alan Ladd, Bogart – I couldn’t have gotten arrested”, Kennedy said in a 1969 interview with The Times.
Kennedy’s acting career began with Spartacus in 1960 and included almost 200 films, such as Charade, In Harm’s Way, Earthquake, The Eiger Sanction, The Dirty Dozen and The Boston Strangler.
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The actor also wrote a few books: the murder mysteries “Murder on Location”, published in 1983, and “Murder on High, released in 1984”. He was married to first wife Dorothy Gillooly, was married twice to Normal Wurman, whom he had two children with, and lastly married Joan McCarthy who died in 2015.
