Films met brian dennehy biography

American actor (1938–2020)

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 Shakesp

“Another saving factor was Brian Dennis (ne Dennehy) who showed remarkable stage presence and talent as Mr. Addams, a very dapper witch (or is it warlock?). Known more for his exploits on the gridiron, Dennis charmed the audience with his dancing, singing and acting prowess—a veritable triple threat.”
—Stephen C. Lerner ’60CC reviewing The Girl From Salem, Columbia Spectator, March 5, 1959.

“Dennehy, a powerhouse with a matinee idol’s rugged profile, makes James’s bog-Irish roots immediately credible, and his burly and bombastic presence—the unsettling drizzle of his sentimentality and sarcasm—anchors the play in its climate of disappointment.”
— John Lahr reviewing Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The New Yorker, May 19, 2003.

After years of working at jobs from cab driver to bartender to stockbroker and picking up more than 100 television and movie roles, Brian Dennehy ’60CC is where he really wants to be—performing on stage. In the last four years, he’s won two Tony Awards for Best Actor—one for his performance as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and one earlier this year for his portrayal of James Tyrone in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night, both directed by Robert Falls.

Dennehy, who majored in history at the College and played football for the Columbia Lions, says his stage career really took off when he met Falls in Chicago 20 years ago. The two have also collaborated in Goodman Theatre productions of A Touch of the Poet, The Iceman Cometh, Galileo, and a 1992 remounting of The Iceman Cometh at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Dennehy has also appeared in dozens of feature films, including Presumed Innocent, Best Seller, Twice in a Lifetime, F/X, Cocoon, Silverado, Gorky Park, 10, Legal Eagles, and First Blood.

Fortunately for Columbia, his credits also include the role of narrator in Ric Burns’s new documentary Columbia: A Celebration, scheduled to

Show: FRESH AIR
Date: AUGUST 16, 1999
Time: 12:00
Tran: 081601np.217
Type: FEATURE
Head: Interview with Brian Dennehy
Sect: Entertainment
Time: 12:06

This is a rush transcript. This copy may not
be in its final form and may be updated.

DAVID BIANCULLI, GUEST HOST: From WHYY in Philadelphia, this is FRESH AIR.

I'm David Bianculli, filling in for Terry Gross.

On today's FRESH AIR, a talk with actor Brian Dennehy about what it takes to play Willy Loman. Dennehy is currently starring as Loman in the Broadway production of "Death of a Salesman." He'll tell us about that and more.

Also, Boston's Fenway Park. The 87-year-old park is one of the last of the old-time ballparks, and now they're about to tear it down to build a newer version of an old-time ballpark. We talk with writer Dan Shaughnessy about the park's glory days. And rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the debut album "Macy Gray on How Life Is."

That's all coming up on FRESH AIR.

First the news.

(NEWS BREAK)

BIANCULLI: This is FRESH AIR.

I'm David Bianculli, filling in for Terry Gross.

Brian Dennehy has been an actor on stage, screen and TV for more than 25 years, yet until recently many people have known Dennehy less by his name than his roles, from the charming but deadly sheriff in the movie "Silverado" to the kindly alien in "Cocoon."

His current Broadway role as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" has changed all that. The play earned Tony Awards for Best Revival, for director Robert Falls (ph), for supporting actress Elizabeth Franz and for Dennehy in the starring role of a man who was inspired to live the life of a salesman.

(BEGIN CLIP - "Death of a Salesman")

BRIAN DENNEHY: I met a salesman. It was in the Parker House. His name was Dave Singleman, and he was 84 years old. And he had drummed merchandise (INAUDIBLE) 31 states. (INAUDIBLE) days, he'

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We recently lost Brian Dennehy, and I thought it apropos to make a list of my upper most favorite films and shows he was in. I had seen him in shows and films in the 70’s. But, it was in 1980 when I became a fan.
Through the highs and lows of his life and career, Dennehy was always a pro, and never delivered a less than stellar performance.

10. Best Seller
A neo noir crime thriller starring Dennehy and James Woods—two of my favorite actors of all time—I loved the mix of humor with the classic thriller. Dennehy is a decorated police detective turned crime author, having written a book about a heist that made his career, a heist where he first met Woods’ character. Wood approaches Dennehy about a team up to write about his personal history as a hired assassin. Like many frienemy films, the chemistry between Woods and Dennehy really sells this film.

9. Gladiator (1992)
Dennehy was not just good at playing the heroes, he made his career playing heavies, aka bad guys. In this film he plays a brutal boxing promoter for underground boxing. This film is a fun flick, not very serious. But, if you like fight films, this will make for a good watch.

8. Presumed Innocent
Dennehy plays a lesser role in this film, as Raymond Horgan, a duplicitous and ambitious District Attorney who allows one of his lawyers, Rusty (Harrison Ford) to be investigated and tried as the suspect in the murder of another attorney in the DA’s office.

7. Tommy Boy
A farcical comedy with heart. Ion the film, Dennehy plays Chris Farley’s dad, a character that Chris based off his own real life dad. So, there is a very touching aspect to this film.

6. Cocoon
Dennehy plays an alien this time, who offers the humans a special gift if they come with him. I love this film.

5. F/X 2
Dennehy and Brown return, as Brown’s character, a special effects expert, helps his girlfriend’s e