NEW YORK -- 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 O'Neill and Arthur Miller, has died. He was 81.
Dennehy died Wednesday night of natural causes in New Haven, Conn., according to Kate Cafaro of ICM Partners, the actor's 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, a Laurence Olivier Award 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 "a colossus." Actor Michael McKean said Dennehy was "brilliant and versatile, a powerhouse actor and a very nice man as well."
Among his 40-odd films, he played a sheriff who jailed Rambo in First Blood, a serial killer in To Catch a Killer, and a corrupt sheriff gunned down by Kevin Kline in Silverado. He also had some benign roles: the bartender who consoles Dudley Moore in 10 and the levelheaded leader of aliens in Cocoon and its sequel.
Dennehy was born July 9, 1938, in Bridgeport, Conn., 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 Macbeth. He played football on a scholarship at Columbia University, and he served five years in the U.S. Marines.
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 -- Elizabeth, Kathleen and Deirdre -- from a previous marriage to Judith Scheff.
Metro on 04/17/2020