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Brian Manion Dennehy (; July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of stage, television, and film. He won two Tony Awards, an Olivier Award, and a Golden Globe, and received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Dennehy had roles in over 180 films and in many television and stage productions. His film roles included First Blood (1982), Gorky Park (1983), Silverado (1985), Cocoon (1985), F/X (1986), Presumed Innocent (1990), Tommy Boy (1995), Romeo + Juliet (1996), Ratatouille (2007), and Knight of Cups (2015). Dennehy won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film for his role as Willy Loman in the television film Death of a Salesman (2000). Dennehy's final film was Driveways (2019), in which he plays a veteran of the Korean War, living alone, who befriends a young, shy boy who has come with his mother to clean out his deceased aunt's hoarded home.
According to Variety, Dennehy was "perhaps the foremost living interpreter" of playwright Eugene O'Neill's works on stage and screen. He had a decades-long relationship with Chicago's Goodman Theatre where much of his O'Neill work originated. He also regularly played Canada's Stratford Festival, especially in works by William Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett. He once gave credit for his award-winning performances to the plays’ authors: "When you walk with giants, you learn how to take bigger steps." Dennehy was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2010.
He entered Columbia University in New York City on a football scholarship in the fall of 1956. He paused his college education to serve five years in the U.S. Marines, stationed in the U.S., Japan, and Korea. He returned to Columbia in 1960 and graduated in 1965 with a B.A. in history. While acting in regional theater he supported his family by working blue-collar jobs including driving a taxi and bartending. He hated his brief stint as a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch in their Manhattan office in the mid-1970s. He later described how working odd hours allowed him to attend matinee theater performances that provided his acting education: "I never went to acting school—I was a truck driver and I used to go see everything I could see—Wednesday afternoons". In the 1970s, stage performances in New York led to television and film work.
His earlier films included several comedies, like Semi-Tough (1977) with Burt Reynolds (in which he portrayed a pro football player), Foul Play (1978) with Chevy Chase, and 10 (1979) with Dudley Moore (as a Manzanillo bartender). He appeared in the 1983 thriller Gorky Park as William Kirwill opposite William Hurt and Lee Marvin. He later portrayed a corrupt sheriff in the western Silverado and an alien in Cocoon, both released in 1985.
Dennehy had memorable supporting parts in such films as Split Image (1982), Never Cry Wolf (1983), Legal Eagles (1986), (1988), F/X: Murder By Illusion (1986), Presumed Innocent (1990), F/X2: The Deadly Art of Illusion (1991) and Prophet of Evil (1993).
Dennehy gradually became a valuable character actor but also achieved leading-man status in the thriller Best Seller (1987) co-starring James Woods. That same year, he also starred in the Peter Greenaway film The Belly of an Architect, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the 1987 Chicago International Film Festival. Commenting upon this unusual venture, Dennehy said, "I've been in a lot of movies but this is the first film I've made."
He went on to star as Harrison in the Australian film The Man from Snowy River II in 1988.
One of his most well-known roles came in the 1995 Chris Farley-David Spade comedy Tommy Boy as Big Tom Callahan. He also was reunited with his 10 co-star Bo Derek in Tommy Boy, in which she played his wife. The following year, he played Romeo's father in Romeo + Juliet.
Dennehy had a voice role in the 2007 animated movie Ratatouille as Django, father of the rat chef Remy. He appeared as the superior officer of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in the 2008 cop drama Righteous Kill and as the father of Russell Crowe in the 2010 suspense film The Next Three Days.
Dennehy starred as Clarence Darrow in Alleged, a film based on the Scopes Monkey Trial, the famous court battle over the teaching of evolution in American public schools.
Dennehy portrayed Sergeant Ned T. "Frozen Chosen" Coleman in the television movie A Rumor of War (1980) opposite Brad Davis. He continued to appear in such high-profile television films as Skokie (1981), Split Image (1982), Day One (1989), and A Killing in a Small Town (1990) opposite Barbara Hershey. He also played the title role in HBO's .
Dennehy had a lead role as fire chief/celebrity dad Leslie "Buddy" Krebs in the short-lived 1982 series Star of the Family. Despite his star power, that show was cancelled after a half-season. He starred in the crime drama Jack Reed TV movies.
Dennehy was nominated for Emmy Awards six times for his television movies. In 1992, he was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie for his performance as John Wayne Gacy in To Catch a Killer, and he was nominated that same year in a different category, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie, for The Burden of Proof. Dennehy's other Emmy nominations were for his work in A Killing in a Small Town, Murder in the Heartland (1993) and his work in the Showtime cable TV movie Our Fathers (2005), which was about the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. In 2000, Dennehy was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie for a television presentation for his performance as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman which he had performed on Broadway theatre. While not gaining the actor an Emmy win, the performance did, however, win him a Golden Globe Award. He also appeared as a recurring character in the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me!.
A cartoon version of Dennehy appeared in the 1999 film as well as in an episode of The Simpsons.
In January 2007, he starred in the episode "" of as a retired criminal who wants to reconnect with his daughter and admit his crimes before dying of a terminal disease thus eventually clearing a wrongfully imprisoned inmate. In April 2008, Dennehy guest-starred as a Teamster boss in "Sandwich Day", an episode of the TV series 30 Rock. He guest-starred in a 2009 episode of Rules of Engagement as the father of the main character, Jeff.
Dennehy starred as Elizabeth Keen's grandfather on the NBC series The Blacklist since the third season until his death from sepsis. He is replaced by actor Ron Raines during the show's eighth season.
In 2015 Dennehy co-starred in the Amazon Studios pilot Cocked with Jason Lee, Dreama Walker, Diora Baird, and Sam Trammell.
Dennehy also narrated many television programs including the Canadian-Irish docudrama Death or Canada.
On stage, Dennehy frequently performed in the Chicago theater world, and made his Broadway debut in 1995 in Brian Friel's Translations. In 1999, he was the first male performer to be voted the Sarah Siddons Award for his work in Chicago theater. He made a return to Broadway in 2007 as Matthew Harrison Brady in Inherit the Wind opposite Christopher Plummer, then returned again opposite Carla Gugino in a 2009 revival of Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms.
In fall 1992, he played the lead role of Hickey in Robert Falls's production of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
In 2008, Dennehy appeared at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, in Stratford, Ontario, appearing in All's Well That Ends Well as the King of France, and a double bill of plays, Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape and Eugene O'Neill's Hughie, where Dennehy reprised the role of Erie Smith. In 2010, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame. In December 2010, he returned to Ireland to play Bull McCabe in the Olympia Theatre of Dublin's stage version of John B. Keane's The Field.
In 2011, Dennehy returned to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in the role of Sir Toby Belch in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. He also played Max in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, the first Pinter work to be produced there.
In April through June 2012, he played the role of Larry Slade in the Eugene O'Neill play The Iceman Cometh at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, which he reprised in 2015 when the production, with most of the Goodman Theater production cast, was revived at the BAM Harvey Theater in Brooklyn, New York, New York.
In 1999, he apologized for misrepresenting his military record, stating: "I lied about serving in Vietnam, and I'm sorry. I did not mean to take away from the actions and the sacrifices of the ones who did really serve there... I did steal valor. That was very wrong of me. There is no real excuse for that."
Early life
Brian Manion Dennehy was born on July 9, 1938, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Hannah (Manion), a nurse, and Edward Dennehy, a News agency editor for the Associated Press. He had two brothers, Michael and Edward. He was of Irish people ancestry and was raised Catholic Church. The family relocated to Long Island, New York, where Dennehy attended Chaminade High School in the village of Mineola.
Career
Film
Dennehy was primarily known as a dramatic actor. His breakthrough role was as the overzealous sheriff Will Teasle in First Blood (1982) opposite Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo.
Television
Dennehy's early professional acting career included small guest roles in such 1970s and 1980s series as Kojak, M*A*S*H, Lou Grant, Dallas, Dynasty, and Hunter. He also appeared in an episode of Miami Vice during the 1987–88 season.
Theater
Dennehy won two Tony Awards, both times for Best Lead Actor in a Play. His first win was for Death of a Salesman (for which he also won a Laurence Olivier Award for the production's London run), in 1999, and the second was for Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night in 2003. Both productions were directed by Robert Falls and were originally produced at the Goodman Theatre company in Chicago, Illinois. His acting in the "Salesman" was called "the performance of Dennehy's career".
Military service
Dennehy enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving from 1958 to 1963, including playing football on Okinawa. In several interviews, he described being wounded in combat and repeatedly claimed to have served in Vietnam.
Personal life
Dennehy married for the first time while in the Marines in 1959. Before he finished college he and his first wife had three daughters. Two of them became actresses, including Elizabeth Dennehy. After his first marriage ended in divorce in 1987, he married Jennifer Arnott, an Australian, in 1988, they had two children, a son and a daughter.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Brian Dennehy, Tony Award-Winning Actor, Dies at 81 The New York Times via Internet Archive. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
Death
Dennehy died on April 15, 2020, of cardiac arrest due to sepsis in New Haven, Connecticut. He was survived by his wife and his five children.
Filmography
Film
1977 Looking for Mr. Goodbar Surgeon Semi-Tough T.J. Lambert 1978 F.I.S.T. Frank Vasko Foul Play Inspector "Fergie" Ferguson 1979 O.C. Hanks 10 Don, The Bartender 1980 Little Miss Marker Herbie 1982 Split Image Kevin Stetson First Blood Sheriff Will Teasle 1983 Never Cry Wolf Rosie Little Gorky Park William Kirwill 1984 Finders Keepers Mayor Frizzoli The River Rat "Doc" Cole 1985 Cocoon Walter Silverado Sheriff Cobb Twice in a Lifetime Nick 1986 F/X Leo McCarthy The Check Is in the Mail Richard Jackson Legal Eagles C.J. Cavanaugh 1987 The Belly of an Architect Stourley Kracklite Best Seller Lieutenant Dennis Meechum 1988 The Man from Snowy River II Harrison Miles from Home Frank Roberts Sr. Walter Uncredited role 1989 Indio Whytaker Seven Minutes Wagner 1990 Blue Heat Detective Lieutenant Frank Daly aka The Last of the Finest Presumed Innocent Raymond Horgan 1991 F/X2 Leo McCarthy 1992 Gladiator Jimmy Horn 1995 Tommy Boy Tom "Big Tom" Callahan II The Stars Fell on Henrietta Dave "Big Dave" McDermot 1996 Romeo + Juliet Ted Montague 1999 Out of the Cold David Bards Silicon Towers Tom Warner 2000 Dish Dogs Frost 2001 Summer Catch John Schiffner 2002 Stolen Summer Father Kelly Code Yellow: Hospital at Ground Zero The Narrator Drawing First Blood Himself Short 2004 She Hate Me Chairman Billy Church 2005 Assault on Precinct 13 Officer Jasper O'Shea Tommy Boy: Behind the Laughter Himself Short 10th and Wolf FBI Agent Horvath 2006 Everyone's Hero Babe Ruth Voice The Ultimate Gift Gus Caldwell 2007 Ratatouille Django Voice Welcome to Paradise Bobby Brown War Eagle, Arkansas Pop 2008 Cat City Harold Vogessor Righteous Kill Lieutenant J.D. Hingus 2010 Every Day Ernie Freed Meet Monica Velour "Pop Pop" The Next Three Days George Brennan Alleged Clarence Darrow 2011 The Big Year Raymond Harris 2012 Twelfth Night Sir Toby Belch 2015 Knight of Cups Joseph 2018 The Seagull Sorin Arkadin Tag Mr. Cilliano, Randy's Father Uncredited The Song of Sway Lake Hal Sway 2019 Driveways Del Master Maggie Himself Short 3 Days with Dad Bob Mills 2020 Son of the South J.O. Zellner Posthumous release TBA Long Day Journey Post-production, Posthumous release; Final film role
Television films
1977 Bumpers Ernie Stapp Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye Longshoreman It Happened at Lakewood Manor Fire Chief 1978 A Real American Hero Buford Pusser Ruby and Oswald George Paulsen A Death in Canaan Barney Parsons 1979 Dummy Ragoti The Jericho Mile Dr. D Mr. O'Neil 1980 A Rumor of War Sergeant Ned Coleman Miniseries The Seduction of Miss Leona Bliss Dawson 1981 Skokie Chief Arthur Buchanan Fly Away Home Tim Arnold 1983 I Take These Men Phil Zakarian Blood Feud Edward Grady Partin 1984 Off Sides (Pigs vs. Freaks) Sergeant Cheever 1986 Acceptable Risks Don Sheppard 1987 The Lion of Africa Sam Marsh 1988 A Father's Revenge Paul Hobart 1989 Day One General Leslie Groves Perfect Witness James Falcon 1990 A Killing in a Small Town Ed Reivers Rising Son Gus Robinson Pride and Extreme Prejudice Bruno Morenz 1991 In Broad Daylight Len Rowan 1992 The Diamond Fleece Lieutenant Merritt Outlaw Jackie Presser To Catch a Killer John Wayne Gacy The Burden of Proof Dixon Hartnell Miniseries Deadly Matrimony Sergeant Jack Reed 1993 Foreign Affairs Chuck Mumpson Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story Ervil LeBaron Film Hearst Final Appeal Perry Sundquist Sergeant Jack Reed Murder in the Heartland John McCarthur Miniseries 1994 Leave of Absence Sam Midnight Movie James Boyce Jack Reed: A Search for Justice Sergeant Jack Reed 1995 Jack Reed: One of Our Own Shadow of a Doubt Charlie Sloan 1996 Jack Reed: A Killer Among Us Sergeant Jack Reed Jack Reed: Death and Vengeance A Season in Purgatory Gerald Bradley Undue Influence Paul Madriani 1997 Eddie Brannigan 1998 Voyage of Terror U.S. President Thanks of a Grateful Nation Senator Riegle 1999 Netforce Lowell Davidson Sirens Lieutenant Denby Louis Bromfield 2000 Fail Safe General Bogan Death of a Salesman Willy Loman 2001 Warden of Red Rock Sheriff Church Three Blind Mice Matthew Hope 2002 A Season on the Brink Bobby Knight 2003 Mr. Blue The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone Tom Stone 2004 Andy Goodman Miniseries 2005 Our Fathers Father Dominic Spagnolia The Exonerated Gary Gauger 2007 Marco Polo Kublai Khan 2013 The Challenger Disaster Chairman William Rogers 2015 The Ultimate Legacy Gus Caldwell Hallmark movie 2017 A Very Merry Toy Store Joe Haggarty
Television series
1977 Kojak Peter Connor Episode: "The Godson" Serpico Jody Episode: "Sanctuary" Lanigan's Rabbi Burton Tree Episode: "Corpse of the Year" Police Woman Burrows Episode: "Shadow of Doubt" Lou Grant Wilson Episode: "Nazi" M*A*S*H Military Police Sergeant Ernie Connors Episode: "Souvenirs" Lucan Fisher Episode: "Listen to the Heart Beat" The Fitzpatricks Coach Hatfield Episode: "Superman" 1978 Pearl Sergeant Otto Chain 3 episodes Dallas Luther Frick Episode: "Winds of Vengeance" The Tony Randall Show Brian Sr. Episode: "Bobby and Brian" 1979 Big Shamus, Little Shamus Arnie Sutter 2 episodes Knots Landing James Cargill Episode: "Chance of a Lifetime" 1981 Dynasty District Attorney Jake Dunham 5 episodes Darkroom Roland Episode: "Make-Up" 1982 Star of the Family Leslie Krebs 10 episodes 1984 Cagney & Lacey Michael MacGruder Episode: "The Bounty Hunter" Hunter Dr. Bolin Episode: "Hunter" 1985 Evergreen Matthew Malone 3 episodes The Last Place on Earth Frederick Cook 2 episodes Tall Tales & Legends Buffalo Bill Episode: "Annie Oakley" 1987 Miami Vice Reverend Billy Bob Proverb Episode: "Amen...Send Money" Faerie Tale Theatre King Neptune (Narrator) Voice, Episode: "The Little Mermaid" 1994 Birdland Dr. Brian McKenzie 4 episodes 1996 Dead Man's Walk Major Chvallie 2 episodes Nostromo Joshua C. Holyrod 4 episodes 1998–2003 Just Shoot Me 'Red' Finch 2001 The Fighting Fitzgeralds Fitzgerald 10 episodes 2005 The West Wing Senator Rafe Framhagen Episode: "Ninety Miles Away" 2006 The 4400 Mitch Baldwin Episode: "Blink" 2007 Judson Tierney Episode: "Scheherezade" Masters of Science Fiction Bedzyk Episode: "The Discarded" 2008 30 Rock Mickey J. Episode: "Sandwich Day" 2009 Rules of Engagement Roy Episode: "Dad's Visit" 2010 Rizzoli & Isles Detective Kenny Leahy Episode: "Boston Strangler Redux" 2012 The Good Wife 'Bucky' Stabler 2 episodes 2013 The Big C Mr. Tolkey Episode: "The Finale" 2015 Public Morals Joe Patton 8 episodes 2016–2020 The Blacklist Dominic Wilkinson 9 episodes (dedicated to Dennehy's memory in his 9th episode) 2017 Hap and Leonard Sheriff Valentine Otis 6 episodes 2020 Jerome Townsend Episode: "Sing, Sing, Sing" (dedicated to Dennehy's memory)
Video games
2007 Ratatouille Django 2012 Django
Awards and nominations
1993 American Television Awards Best Actor in a Miniseries To Catch a Killer 2020 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Supporting Actor Driveways 1991 Actor in a Movie or Miniseries Perfect Witness 1994 Foreign Affairs 2020 Chlotrudis Awards Best Supporting Actor Driveways 1999 Drama Desk Awards Outstanding Actor in a Play Death of a Salesman 2003 Long Day's Journey into Night 1996 Edgar Awards Best Television Feature of Miniseries Shadow of a Doubt 2020 Florida Film Critics Circle Awards Best Supporting Actor Driveways 2000 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Death of a Salesman 2000 Grammy Awards Best Spoken Word Album The Complete Shakespeare Sonnets 2020 Greater Western New York Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actor Driveways 2002 Online Film & Television Association Awards Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone 1990 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special A Killing in a Small Town 1992 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special To Catch a Killer Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special The Burden of Proof 1993 Murder in the Heartland 2000 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Death of a Salesman 2005 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Our Fathers 2020 Producers Guild of America Awards David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television Death of a Salesman 2020 San Diego Film Critics Society Awards Best Actor Driveways 1996 Satellite Awards Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television A Season in Purgatory 1998 Thanks of a Grateful Nation 2005 Our Fathers 2020 Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Motion Picture Driveways 2000 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Death of a Salesman 2020 Kinotavr Best Actor Driveways 1999 Tony Awards Best Leading Actor in a Play Death of a Salesman 2003 Long Day's Journey into Night
Notes
External links
Categories: 1938 Births, 2020 Deaths, 20th-century American Male Actors, 21st-century American Male Actors, American Male Film Actors, American Male Stage Actors, American Male Television Actors, American People Of Irish Descent, Best Miniseries Or Television Movie Actor Golden Globe Winners, Chaminade High School Alumni, Columbia Lions Football Players, Columbia College Alumni, Deaths From Sepsis In The United States, Drama Desk Award Winners, Laurence Olivier Award Winners, Male Actors From Bridgeport, Connecticut, Military Personnel From Bridgeport, Connecticut, People From Mineola, New York, Tony Award Winners, United States Marines
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