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He said he chose to live on a farm in northeast Connecticut because the biggest celebrity in his town was the guy who played Big Bird.īrian Manion Dennehy was born on July 9, 1938, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the oldest of three boys. Whenever he could, Dennehy retreated to the stage in Chicago, saying he preferred the Midwest “because I can sit down with rational people who make $50,000 a year and live in houses and have children and pay their taxes and shop at Sears.” Also among his recent stage successes was a production of O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh, directed by the actor’s frequent collaborator Robert Falls and co-starring Nathan Lane, which originated at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and played a sold-out run at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater in 2015.
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Gurney’s Love Letters, opposite Mia Farrow.ĭennehy drew considerable acclaim in a touring double-bill of two classic one-acts, O’Neill’s Hughie and Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, seen at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse in 2018. He made his Broadway debut in 1995, starring with Dana Delaney and Rufus Sewell in Brian Friel’s Translations, and his final appearance in a 2014 production of A.R. He also starred on Broadway opposite Christopher Plummer in a 2007 revival of Inherit the Wind, and with Carla Gugino and Pablo Schreiber in O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms in 2009. Dennehy seems to kidnap you by force, trapping you inside Willy’s psyche.” The actor later won an Olivier Award for the role when the production transferred to London. “Yet these emotions ring so unerringly true that Mr. In Salesman, the imposing actor displayed “a grand emotional expansiveness that matches his monumental physique,” Ben Brantley wrote in his New York Times review. That celebrated production, a Tony winner for best revival of a play, was among the high points of Dennehy’s long and fruitful association with the work of Eugene O’Neill. He also portrayed lawmen in Gorky Park (1983), Silverado (1985), F/X (1986) and its sequel, Best Seller (1987), The Last of the Finest (1990) and Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) and starred as hard-charging real-life Chicago detective Jack Reed in five NBC telefilms from 1993 to 1996, writing and directing four of them.Īt 6 foot 3 and 250 pounds, the former college offensive lineman could also be a gentle giant, as when he portrayed the sympathetic bartender who counsels Dudley Moore in 10 (1979), the friendly alien leader Walter in Cocoon (1985) and Chris Farley’s pop in Tommy Boy (1995).ĭennehy won Tony Awards in 19 for playing Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman - he was the fourth actor to play the iconic role on Broadway - and James Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night, in a starry cast that also included Vanessa Redgrave, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robert Sean Leonard.
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Known for his broad physique and imposing presence, Dennehy won two Tony awards for stage performances in Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman and Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night.Dennehy played the sheriff in Washington state who doggedly pursues Vietnam veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) in First Blood (1982) and a district attorney who’s out to save his own skin in the Harrison Ford-starrer Presumed Innocent (1990). He also starred alongside Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in the 2008 cop drama Righteous Kill. He appeared as an alien leader in 1985 sci-fi Cocoon, and played the father of Leonardo DiCaprio's Romeo in the 1996 hit Shakespeare reimagining Romeo + Juliet. "Larger than life, generous to a fault, a proud and devoted father and grandfather, he will be missed by his wife Jennifer, family and many friends," tweeted daughter Elizabeth, also an actress.Īfter a recurring role in Dynasty in 1981, Dennehy came to prominence the following year playing the overzealous sheriff who takes on Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo in First Blood. Dennehy passed away from natural causes not related to coronavirus at his Connecticut home Wednesday evening, with his wife Jennifer and son Cormac by his side, his agent said in a statement to AFP.
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His career spanned four decades, including early television roles in Dynasty and Dallas, acclaimed Broadway performances such as in Death of A Salesman, and voice work on the Pixar hit movie Ratatouille.