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IMDbPro

Brian Dennehy(1938-2020)

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Director
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,00068
Brian Dennehy in F/X2 (1991)
The Game of Football all started on the campuses of the Ivy League. "The League": 8 Schools, 3 Centuries, 1 Sport, is the true story of the American identity. No other sport is so particular to our nation, to our self-image, and to our way of life than football.
Play trailer4:54
The League (undefined)
65 Videos
99+ Photos
Imposing, barrel-chested and often silver-haired Brian Dennehy was a prolific US actor, well respected on both screen and stage over many decades. He was born in July 1938 in Bridgeport, CT, and attended Columbia University in New York City on a football scholarship. Brian majored in history, before moving on to Yale to study dramatic arts. He first appeared in minor screen roles in such fare as Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), Semi-Tough (1977) and Foul Play (1978) and proved popular with casting directors, leading to regular work. However, he really got himself noticed by movie audiences in the box-office hit First Blood (1982) as the bigoted sheriff determined to run Vietnam veteran "John Rambo" (played by Sylvester Stallone) out of his town. Dennehy quickly escalated to stronger supporting or co-starring roles in films including the Cold War thriller Gorky Park (1983), as a benevolent alien in Cocoon (1985), a corrupt sheriff in the western Silverado (1985), a tough but smart cop in F/X (1986) and a cop-turned-writer alongside hit man James Woods in Best Seller (1987). In 1987, Dennehy turned in one of his finest performances as cancer-ridden architect "Stourley Kracklite" in Peter Greenaway's superb The Belly of an Architect (1987), for which he won the Best Actor Award at the 1987 Chicago Film Festival. More strong performances followed. He reprised prior roles for Cocoon: The Return (1988) and F/X2 (1991), and turned in gripping performances in three made-for-TV films: a sadistic small-town bully who gets his grisly comeuppance in In Broad Daylight (1991), real-life serial killer John Wayne Gacy in the chilling To Catch a Killer (1992) and a corrupt union boss in Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992). In 1993, Dennehy appeared in the role of police "Sgt. Jack Reed" in the telemovie Jack Reed: Badge of Honor (1993), and reprised the role in four sequels, which saw him for the first time become involved in co-producing, directing and writing screen productions! Demand for his services showed no signs of abating, and he put in further memorable performances in Romeo + Juliet (1996), as bad-luck-ridden "Willy Loman" in Death of a Salesman (2000) (which earned him a Golden Globe Award), he popped up in the uneven Spike Lee film She Hate Me (2004) and appears in the remake Assault on Precinct 13 (2005). The multi-talented Dennehy also had a rich theatrical career and appeared both in the United States and internationally in dynamic stage productions including "Death of a Salesman" (for which he picked up the 1999 Best Actor Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award), "A Touch of the Poet", "Long Day's Journey into Night" (for which he picked up another Tony Award in 2003) and in Eugene O'Neill's heart-wrenching "The Iceman Cometh."
BornJuly 9, 1938
DiedApril 15, 2020(81)
BornJuly 9, 1938
DiedApril 15, 2020(81)
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,00068
  • Nominated for 6 Primetime Emmys

Photos223

Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Brian Dennehy
Christian Bale and Brian Dennehy in Knight of Cups (2015)
Brian Dennehy in Knight of Cups (2015)
Sylvester Stallone and Brian Dennehy in First Blood (1982)

Known for

Sylvester Stallone in First Blood (1982)
First Blood
7.7
  • Teasle
  • 1982
Silverado (1985)
Silverado
7.2
  • Cobb
  • 1985
Cocoon (1985)
Cocoon
6.7
  • Walter
  • 1985
Patton Oswalt in Ratatouille (2007)
Ratatouille
8.1
  • Django(voice)
  • 2007

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Long Day Journey
    • Post-production
  • The Adventures of Buddy Thunder
    • Pre-production
  • Cedric the Entertainer, Lucas Till, Lucy Hale, and Lex Scott Davis in Son of the South (2020)
    Son of the South
  • Natalie Dormer and Daniel Zovatto in Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (2020)
    Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
  • The Blacklist (2013)
    The Blacklist
  • Tom Arnold, Brian Dennehy, Larry Clarke, Mo Gaffney, J.K. Simmons, and Julie Ann Emery in 3 Days with Dad (2019)
    3 Days with Dad
  • Lorraine Bracco, Brian Dennehy, Chris Henry Coffey, Neil Jain, Matthew Bonifacio, and Julianna Gelinas Bonifacio in Master Maggie (2019)
    Master Maggie
  • Brian Dennehy, Hong Chau, and Lucas Jaye in Driveways (2019)
    Driveways
  • Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner, Ed Helms, Jake Johnson, and Hannibal Buress in Tag (2018)
    Tag
    • (uncredited)
  • Annette Bening, Brian Dennehy, Mare Winningham, Elisabeth Moss, Glenn Fleshler, Jon Tenney, Corey Stoll, Saoirse Ronan, Michael Zegen, and Billy Howle in The Seagull (2018)
    The Seagull
  • The Song of Sway Lake (2018)
    The Song of Sway Lake
  • Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez in A Very Merry Toy Store (2017)
    A Very Merry Toy Store
  • Hap and Leonard (2016)
    Hap and Leonard
  • The Ultimate Legacy (2016)
    The Ultimate Legacy
  • Edward Burns in Public Morals (2015)
    Public Morals
  • Christian Bale in Knight of Cups (2015)
    Knight of Cups
  • Jason Lee and Sam Trammell in Cocked (2015)
    Cocked

Producer

  • Brian Dennehy in Three Blind Mice (2001)
    Three Blind Mice
  • Warden of Red Rock (2001)
    Warden of Red Rock
  • Brian Dennehy, Connie Britton, Dakota Fanning, Louis Ferreira, Christopher Moynihan, and Jon Patrick Walker in The Fighting Fitzgeralds (2001)
    The Fighting Fitzgeralds
  • Brian Dennehy in Death of a Salesman (2000)
    Death of a Salesman
  • Indefensible: The Truth About Edward Brannigan (1997)
    Indefensible: The Truth About Edward Brannigan
  • Brian Dennehy in Jack Reed: Death and Vengeance (1996)
    Jack Reed: Death and Vengeance
  • Brian Dennehy in Shadow of a Doubt (1995)
    Shadow of a Doubt
  • Brian Dennehy in Jack Reed: One of Our Own (1995)
    Jack Reed: One of Our Own
  • Brian Dennehy in Jack Reed: A Search for Justice (1994)
    Jack Reed: A Search for Justice
  • Brian Dennehy in Jack Reed: Badge of Honor (1993)
    Jack Reed: Badge of Honor

Director

  • Paul Guilfoyle and Henry Rollins in Night Visions (2001)
    Night Visions
    • (segment Renovation)
  • Indefensible: The Truth About Edward Brannigan (1997)
    Indefensible: The Truth About Edward Brannigan
  • Brian Dennehy in Jack Reed: Death and Vengeance (1996)
    Jack Reed: Death and Vengeance
  • Jack Reed: A Killer Among Us
  • Brian Dennehy in Shadow of a Doubt (1995)
    Shadow of a Doubt
  • Brian Dennehy in Jack Reed: One of Our Own (1995)
    Jack Reed: One of Our Own
  • Brian Dennehy in Jack Reed: A Search for Justice (1994)
    Jack Reed: A Search for Justice

Videos66

Ratatouille
Clip 0:57
Ratatouille
Ratatouille
Clip 0:38
Ratatouille
Meet Monica Velour
Clip 1:38
Meet Monica Velour
Ratatouille
Clip 0:41
Ratatouille
Ratatouille
Clip 1:20
Ratatouille
Ratatouille
Clip 0:54
Ratatouille
Ratatouille
Clip 1:05
Ratatouille
Ratatouille
Clip 1:11
Ratatouille
Ratatouille
Clip 2:04
Ratatouille
Ratatouille
Clip 1:05
Ratatouille
Ratatouille
Clip 1:11
Ratatouille
Ratatouille
Clip 0:36
Ratatouille

Personal details

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  • Official sites
    • Encyclopedia
    • France's national library catalogue
    • July 9, 1938
    • Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA
    • April 15, 2020
    • New Haven, Connecticut, USA(sepsis)
    • July 17, 1988 - April 15, 2020 (his death, 2 children)
    • Kathleen Dennehy
    • (Adopted Child)
  • Other works
    Stage: Starred (as "Willy Loman") in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York, 1999. Won Tony Award for Best Actor.
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Interviews
    • 4 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Used to work as a stockbroker at the same firm as Martha Stewart. The two remain good friends.
  • Quotes
    [in 1993, on his quitting drinking] I used to be a pretty serious drinker. Heavy in defiance of knowing my family situation, which is chock-full of alcoholism. For a long time I was a functional alcoholic, though it never got in the way of my work. But it affected relationships. I never killed anybody, but I made people unhappy, including myself and people who are extremely important to me, like my kids. It's easy to say I had a wonderful time and a lot of great years, and I did. There were some bad times, too. So that was not a major give-up. That time was due.
    • Playing men of power who in addition to being corrupt, are just plain mean

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