George Kennedy was an awarded actor born on 18th February 1925, in New York City, USA, and is probably best remembered for his role of “Dragline” in “Cool Hand Luke”(1967), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and was nominated for the matching Golden Globe.
Have you ever wondered how rich George Kennedy was? According to sources, it has been estimated that George Kennedy’s overall net worth was over $5 million, acquired during his successful acting career, which lasted for over 50 years.
George Kennedy Net Worth $5 Million
George was raised by his mother, as his father died when he was only four years old. As his maternal grandfather was a German immigrant, Kennedy is of German, but also Irish and English descent. When it comes to acting, he made his stage debut when he was only two in a touring company staging “Bringing Up Father”, and five years later he had already become a New York City radio DJ. With the arrival of World War II, George joined the U.S. military, staying in this profession until the late ‘50s, and reaching a rank of captain, before an injury persuaded him to find a different occupation. This was when he turned towards acting, and got his first notable role in the TV sitcom “The Phil Silvers Show”. However, his film career started in 1961 in “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come”, soon followed many other roles such as in Kirk Douglas’s western “Lonely Are the Brave”(1962), “Charade”(1963), “Strait-Jacket”(1964) , and including four films in just a year – “Mirage”, “The Flight of the Phoenix”, “In Harm’s Way” and “The Sons of Katie Elder” all filmed in 1965. His net worth was growing steadily.
A year later, he appeared in the ABC western series “The Legend of Jesse James”, portraying the role of “Blodgett”, and then was cast in probably his best known role in the prison drama film “Cool Hand Luke” (1967), in which he played a convict next to Paul Newman; this part brought him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and a Laurel Award for Male Supporting Performance, plus being nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture.
Kennedy continued his career with films such as “The Dirty Dozen”, “Bandolero!”, “The Boston Strangler”, the Academy Award-winning film “Airport” and its three sequels, and many others. George also appeared on television, mainly in TV series such as “Sarge”, “The Blue Knight” and “Dallas”. When it comes to his last activity, Kennedy made his final film appearance as Ed in “The Gambler”(2014), in which he had a cameo role in the film’s opening scene. George received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to motion pictures.
In his personal life, Kennedy was married four times. His first marriage was in the 1940s to Dorothy Gillooly with whom he had a son. His second marriage was to Norma Wurman, whom he divorced for the first time in 1971, remarried two years later and finally divorced in 1978. The couple had two children. After divorcing from his second wife, George married Joan McCarthy with whom he remained until her death in September 2015, raising three adopted children. died on 28th February 2016 in Middleton, Ohio, USA
