Imposing, barrel chested and now silver haired prolific US actor, well respected on both screen and stage for the best part of 25 years. Dennehy was born in July 1938 in Bridgeport, Conneticut and attended Columbia University, New York City on a football scholarship where he majored in history, before moving onto to Yale to study dramatic arts. First appeared in minor screen roles in films includi ...
show all Imposing, barrel chested and now silver haired prolific US actor, well respected on both screen and stage for the best part of 25 years. Dennehy was born in July 1938 in Bridgeport, Conneticut and attended Columbia University, New York City on a football scholarship where he majored in history, before moving onto to Yale to study dramatic arts. First appeared in minor screen roles in films including "The Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977)", "Semi-Tough (1977)" and "Foul Play (1978)" and proved popular with casting directors leading to regular work. However, Dennehy 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 was then 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 cluey cop in "F/X (1986)" and a cop turned writer alongside hitman James Woods in "Best Seller (1987)". Furthermore in 1987, Dennehy turned in one of his finest screen roles as the cancer ridden architect, Stourley Kracklite, in 'Peter Greenaway's superb "Belly of an Architect (1987)", for which Dennehy won the Best Actor Award at the 1987 Chicago Film Festival. More strong performances quickly followed, and Dennehy reprised prior roles for "Cocoon: The Return (1988)" and "F/X2 (1991)", and then turned in three gripping performances in several telemovies. Firstly, playing a sadistic small town bully who gets his grisly comeuppance in "In Broad Daylight (1991) (TV)", portraying the brutal murderer John Wayne Gacy in the chilling "To Catch a Killer" (1992) (mini)" and thirdly as a corrupt union official in "Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992) (TV)". In 1993, Dennehy appeared in the role of police Sgt Jack Reed in the telemovie "Jack Reed: Badge of Honor (1993) (TV)", and reprised the role in four sequels, which saw Dennehy for the first time become involved in co-producing, directing and writing screen productions ! Demand for Dennehy showed no signs of abating, and he has put in further memorable performances in "Romeo + Juliet (1996)", as bad luck ridden Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman (2000) (TV)", (which earned Dennehy a Golden Globe Award), popped up in the uneven Spike Lee film "She Hate Me (2004)" and appears in the remake of "Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)". The multi-talented Dennehy has also had a rich theatrical career and has 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 Days Journey into Night" (for which he picked up another Tony Award in 2003) and in Eugene O'Neill's heart wrenching play, "The Iceman Cometh".
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