Brian Dennehy, the burly actor who started in films as a macho heavy and later in his career won plaudits for his stage work in plays by William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Eugene OB次元官网网址橬eill and Arthur Miller, has died. He was 81.
Dennehy died Wednesday night of natural causes in New Haven, Connecticut, according to Kate Cafaro of ICM Partners, the actorB次元官网网址檚 representatives.
Known for his broad frame, booming voice and ability to play good guys and bad guys with equal aplomb, Dennehy won two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe and was nominated for six Emmys. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2010.
Tributes came from Hollywood and Broadway, including from Lin-Manuel Miranda, who said he saw Dennehy twice onstage and called the actor B次元官网网址渁 colossus.B次元官网网址� Actor Michael McKean said Dennehy was B次元官网网址渂rilliant and versatile, a powerhouse actor and a very nice man as well.B次元官网网址� Dana Delany, who appeared in a movie with Dennehy, said: B次元官网网址淭hey donB次元官网网址檛 make his kind anymore.B次元官网网址�
Among his 40-odd films, he played a sheriff who jailed Rambo in B次元官网网址淔irst Blood,B次元官网网址� a serial killer in B次元官网网址淭o Catch a Killer,B次元官网网址� and a corrupt sheriff gunned down by Kevin Kline in B次元官网网址淪ilverado.B次元官网网址� He also had some benign roles: the bartender who consoles Dudley Moore in B次元官网网址�10B次元官网网址� and the levelheaded leader of aliens in B次元官网网址淐ocoonB次元官网网址� and its sequel.
Eventually Dennehy wearied of the studio life. B次元官网网址淢ovies used to be fun,B次元官网网址� he observed in an interview. B次元官网网址淭hey took care of you, first-class. Those days are gone.B次元官网网址�
Dennehy had a long connection with ChicagoB次元官网网址檚 Goodman Theater, which had a reputation for heavy drama. He appeared in Bertolt BrechtB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淕alileoB次元官网网址� in 1986 and later ChekhovB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淐herry OrchardB次元官网网址� at far lower salaries than he earned in Hollywood. In 1990 he played the role of Hickey in Eugene OB次元官网网址橬eillB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭he Iceman Cometh,B次元官网网址� a play he reprised at the Goodman with Nathan Lane in 2012 and in Brooklyn in 2013.
In 1998, Dennehy appeared on Broadway in the classic role of Willy Loman, the worn-out hustler in MillerB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淒eath of a SalesmanB次元官网网址� and won the Tony for his performance.
B次元官网网址淲hat this actor goes for is close to an everyman quality, with a grand emotional expansiveness that matches his monumental physique,B次元官网网址� wrote Ben Brantley in his review of the play for The New York Times. B次元官网网址淵et these emotions ring so unerringly true that Mr. Dennehy seems to kidnap you by force, trapping you inside WillyB次元官网网址檚 psyche.B次元官网网址�
He was awarded another Tony in 2003 for his role in OB次元官网网址橬eillB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淟ong DayB次元官网网址檚 Journey into Night.B次元官网网址� At the podium, after thanking his family, co-stars and producers and complementing his competitors, he said: B次元官网网址淭he words of Eugene OB次元官网网址橬eill B次元官网网址� theyB次元官网网址檝e got to be heard. TheyB次元官网网址檝e got to be heard, and heard and heard. And thank you so much for giving us the chance to enunciate them.B次元官网网址�
Dennehy was born July 9, 1938, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the first of three sons. His venture into acting began when he was 14 in New York City and a student at a Brooklyn high school. He acted the title role in B次元官网网址淢acbeth.B次元官网网址� He played football on a scholarship at Columbia University, and he served five years in the U.S. Marines.
Back in New York City in 1965, he pursued acting while working at side jobs. B次元官网网址淚 learned first-hand how a truck driver lives, what a bartender does, how a salesman thinks,B次元官网网址� he told The New York Times in 1989. B次元官网网址淚 had to make a life inside those jobs, not just pretend.B次元官网网址�
His parents B次元官网网址� Ed Dennehy, an editor for The Associated Press in New York, and Hannah Dennehy, a nurse B次元官网网址� could never understand why his son chose to act. B次元官网网址淎nyone raised in a first or second generation immigrant family knows that you are expected to advance the ball down the field,B次元官网网址� Dennehy told Columbia College Today in 1999. B次元官网网址淎cting didnB次元官网网址檛 qualify in any way.B次元官网网址�
The 6-foot-3-inch Dennehy went to Hollywood for his first movie, B次元官网网址淪emi-ToughB次元官网网址� starring Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson. Dennehy was paid $10,000 a week for 10 weekB次元官网网址檚 work, which he thought B次元官网网址渓ooked like it was all the money in the world.B次元官网网址�
Among his films: B次元官网网址淟ooking for Mr. Goodbar,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淔oul Play,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淟ittle Miss Marker,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淪plit Image,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淕orky Park,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淟egal Eagles,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淢iles from Home,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淩eturn to Snowy River,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淧resumed Innocent,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淩omeo and JulietB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淎ssault on Precinct 13.B次元官网网址� He played the father of Chris FarleyB次元官网网址檚 titular character in the 1995 comedy B次元官网网址淭ommy Boy.B次元官网网址�
He played serial murderer John Wayne Gacy in the 1991 TV movie B次元官网网址淭o Catch a KillerB次元官网网址� and union leader Jackie Presser in the HBO special B次元官网网址淭eamster BossB次元官网网址� a year later. B次元官网网址淚 try to play villains as if theyB次元官网网址檙e good guys and good guys as if theyB次元官网网址檙e villains,B次元官网网址� he said in 1992
He worked deep into his 70s, in such projects as SundanceTVB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淗ap and Leonard,B次元官网网址� the film B次元官网网址淭he SeagullB次元官网网址� with Elisabeth Moss and Annette Bening and the play B次元官网网址淓ndgameB次元官网网址� by Samuel Beckett at the Long Wharf Theatre. His last foray on Broadway was in B次元官网网址淟ove LettersB次元官网网址� opposite Mia Farrow in 2014.
He is survived by his second wife, costume designer Jennifer Arnott and their two children, Cormac and Sarah. He also is survived by three daughters B次元官网网址� Elizabeth, Kathleen and Deirdre B次元官网网址� from a previous marriage to Judith Scheff.
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
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