Edgar Kennedy | WatchedThis

Edgar Kennedy

Edgar Kennedy

Acting

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic film character actor, known as "Slow Burn". A slow burn is an exasperated facial expression, performed very deliberately; Kennedy embellished this by rubbing his hand over his bald head and across his face, in an attempt to hold his temper. Kennedy is best known for a small role as a lemonade vendor in the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup, as well as the many Hal Roach films he appeared in. Kennedy became so identified with frustration that practically every studio hired him to play hotheads. He often played dumb cops, detectives, and even a prison warden; sometimes he was a grouchy moving man, truck driver, or blue-collar workman. His character usually lost his temper at least once. In Diplomaniacs, Kennedy presides over an international tribunal, where Wheeler & Woolsey want to do something about world peace. "Well, ya can't do anything about it here", yells Kennedy, "this is a peace conference!" Kennedy, established as the poster boy for frustration, even starred in an instructional film titled The Other Fellow, in which loudmouthed roadhog Edgar always vents his anger on other drivers (each one played by Kennedy as well), little realizing that, to them, he is "the other fellow." Perhaps his most unusual roles were as a puppeteer in the detective mystery The Falcon Strikes Back and as a philosophical bartender inspired to create exotic cocktails in Harold Lloyd's last film, The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947). He also played comical detectives opposite two titans of acting: John Barrymore in Twentieth Century (1934) and Rex Harrison in Unfaithfully Yours (1948); in the latter, he tells conductor Harrison that "Nobody handles Handel like you handle Handel." Kennedy died of throat cancer at the Motion Picture Hospital, San Fernando Valley on 9 November 1948. His body was interred at the Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, Los Angeles County, California.

Filmography Movies

Acting

Poster for Duck Soup
MOVIE

Duck Soup

7.3(0.9K)
Duck Soup
Street Vendor
Poster for It Happened Tomorrow
MOVIE

It Happened Tomorrow

6.8(0.1K)
It Happened Tomorrow
Insp. Mulrooney
The GhostsMOVIE
MOVIE

The Ghosts

The Ghosts
Kennedy
Poster for Blondie in Society
MOVIE

Blondie in Society

6.4(0.0K)
Blondie in Society
Dr. Glenn
Poster for Double Wedding
MOVIE

Double Wedding

6.4(0.0K)
Double Wedding
Spike
Poster for Cruel, Cruel Love
MOVIE

Cruel, Cruel Love

5.1(0.1K)
Cruel, Cruel Love
Butler
Poster for Dough and Dynamite
MOVIE

Dough and Dynamite

6.1(0.1K)
Dough and Dynamite
Striking Baker
Poster for The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
MOVIE

The Sin of Harold Diddlebock

6.4(0.0K)
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
Jake the Bartender
Poster for King Kelly of the U.S.A.
MOVIE

King Kelly of the U.S.A.

5.2(0.0K)
King Kelly of the U.S.A.
Happy Moran
Poster for Li'l Abner
MOVIE

Li'l Abner

6.1(0.0K)
Li'l Abner
Cornelius Cornpone

Production

The Marriage CircusMOVIE
MOVIE

The Marriage Circus

9.0(0.0K)
The Marriage Circus
Director
Poster for You're Darn Tootin'
MOVIE

You're Darn Tootin'

5.8(0.1K)
You're Darn Tootin'
Director
Poster for From Soup to Nuts
MOVIE

From Soup to Nuts

6.6(0.0K)
From Soup to Nuts
Director
Bigger and BetterMOVIE
MOVIE

Bigger and Better

7.0(0.0K)
Bigger and Better
Director
Poster for Three Foolish Weeks
MOVIE

Three Foolish Weeks

10.0(0.0K)
Three Foolish Weeks
Director
The golf playerMOVIE
MOVIE

The golf player

8.0(0.0K)
The golf player
Director
The golferMOVIE
MOVIE

The golfer

8.0(0.0K)
The golfer
Director
Poster for All Teed Up
MOVIE

All Teed Up

4.8(0.0K)
All Teed Up
Director
Poster for Fifty Million Husbands
MOVIE

Fifty Million Husbands

5.6(0.0K)
Fifty Million Husbands
Director
Step Lively, PleaseMOVIE
MOVIE

Step Lively, Please

Step Lively, Please
Director

Gallery

Edgar Kennedy portrait
Edgar Kennedy portrait
Edgar Kennedy portrait