Edgar Kennedy
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.
Movies
Laurel & Hardy: Year Two
The Our Gang Story
Officer (archive footage)
The Best of Laurel and Hardy
Officer Kennedy (archive footage)
When Comedy Was King
edited from 'A Pair of Tights' (archive footage)
The Golden Age of Comedy
archive footage
My Dream Is Yours
Uncle Charlie
Unfaithfully Yours
Sweeney
Contest Crazy
Edgar
Variety Time
Edgar Kennedy (footage from 'I'll Build It Myself') (archive footage)
Dig That Gold
Edgar Kennedy
Brother Knows Best
Edgar Kennedy
Heaven Only Knows
Judd
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock
Jake the Bartender
Do or Diet
Edgar
I'll Build It Myself
Edgar
Motor Maniacs
Edgar Kennedy
Trouble or Nothing
Edgar
Captain Tugboat Annie
Captain Bullwinkle
The Big Beef
Edgar Kennedy
You Drive Me Crazy
Edgar
Anchors Aweigh
Police Captain
It's Your Move
Edgar Kennedy
What, No Cigarettes
Edgar Kennedy
Feather Your Nest
Edgar
The Great Alaskan Mystery
Bosun Higgins
It Happened Tomorrow
Insp. Mulrooney
Radio Rampage
Edgar
Prunes and Politics
Edgar
Crazy House
Judge
The Girl from Monterrey
Doc Hogan, Fight Promoter
Hitler's Madman
Nepomuk - the Hermit
Hot Foot
Edgar
Inferior Decorator
Edgar
Air Raid Wardens
Joe Bledsoe
The Falcon Strikes Back
Smiley Dugan
Hold Your Temper
Edgar
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
Police Chief Murphy
Duck Soup
Edgar
Hillbilly Blitzkrieg
Sgt. Homer Gatling
There's One Born Every Minute
Mayor Moe Carson
Cooks and Crooks
Edgar
In Old California
Kegs McKeever
Pardon My Stripes
Warden Bingham
Private Snuffy Smith
Sgt. Ed Cooper
Rough on Rents
Edgar Kennedy
A Quiet Fourth
Edgar
Gangs Of The City
Biff
I'll Fix It
Edgar
Westward Ho-Hum
Edgar
Blondie in Society
Dr. Glenn
An Apple in His Eye
Edgar Kennedy
Drafted in the Depot
Edgar Kennedy
Remedy for Riches
George Browning
Li'l Abner
Cornelius Cornpone
Sandy Gets Her Man
Fire Chief Galvin
Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
Sheriff Gregory
A Trailer Tragedy
Edgar Kennedy
The Quarterback
Pops
Margie
Chauncey
Sunk by the Census
Edgar
Dr. Christian Meets the Women
George Browning
'Taint Legal
Edgar
Sandy Is a Lady
Officer Rafferty
Mutiny in the County
Edgar Kennedy
Charlie McCarthy, Detective
Inspector Dailey
Kennedy the Great
Edgar Kennedy
Laugh It Off
Judge John J. McGuinnis
Little Accident
Paper Hanger
Everything's on Ice
Joe Barton
Maid to Order
Edgar
It's a Wonderful World
Lieutenant Miller
Baby Daze
Edgar Kennedy
Clock Wise
Edgar
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
Arthur Bailey
A Clean Sweep
Edgar
Beaux and Errors
Edgar Kennedy
Hey! Hey! USA
Bugs Leary
Scandal Street
Daniel Webster Smith
The Black Doll
Sheriff Renick
Ears of Experience
Edgar
Hollywood Hotel
Callaghan
True Confession
Darsey
Edgar & Goliath
Edgar
Double Wedding
Spike
Tramp Trouble
Edgar
Super-Sleuth
Police Lt. Garrison
Dumb's the Word
Edgar Kennedy
A Star Is Born
Pop Randall
Bad Housekeeping
Edgar
When's Your Birthday?
Mr. Basscombe
The Other Fellow
Four Roles
Three Men on a Horse
Harry, the Bartender
Mad Holiday
Donovan
Vocalizing
Edgar Kennedy
Yours for the Asking
Bicarbonate
Dummy Ache
Edgar
San Francisco
Sheriff
Fatal Lady
Rudolf Hochstetter
Small Town Girl
Captain Mack
Robin Hood of El Dorado
Sheriff Judd
Will Power
Edgar Kennedy
Gasoloons
Edgar Kennedy
The Bride Comes Home
Henry
$1,000 a Minute
Police Officer McCarthy
Little Big Shot
Onderdonk
In Love at 40
Edgar Kennedy
Woman Wanted
Sweeney
Edgar Hamlet
Edgar
A Night at the Biltmore Bowl
Edgar Kennedy
The Cowboy Millionaire
Willy 'Persimmon' Bates
Living on Velvet
Counterman
Rendezvous at Midnight
Mahoney
Brick-a-Brac
Edgar
The Silver Streak
O'Brien
Flirting with Danger
Jimmie Pierson
The Marines Are Coming
Sgt. Buck Martin
Poisoned Ivory
Edgar Kennedy
Kid Millions
Herman Wilson
Gridiron Flash
Officer Thurston
King Kelly of the U.S.A.
Happy Moran
A Blasted Event
Edgar
We're Rich Again
Healy, Process Server
Murder on the Blackboard
Detective Donahue
Money Means Nothing
Herbert Green
Wrong Direction
Edgar, Movie Director
Twentieth Century
Oscar McGonigle
Love on a Ladder
Edgar
Heat Lightning
Herbert - the Husband
All of Me
Guard (uncredited)
King for a Night
Cop
Duck Soup
Street Vendor
What Fur
Edgar
Tillie and Gus
Judge
Quiet Please!
Edgar Kennedy
Good Housewrecking
Professional Sweetheart
Kelsey
Cross Fire
Ed Wimpy
Son of the Border
Windy
Diplomaniacs
Chairman - Peace Conference
A Merchant of Menace
Edgar
Scarlet River
Sam Gilroy
Art in the Raw
Fish Feathers
Edgar Kennedy
The Penguin Pool Murder
Officer Donovan
Rockabye
Water Wagon Driver (uncredited)
Little Orphan Annie
Daddy Warbucks
Hold 'Em Jail
Warden Elmer Jones
Giggle Water
Edgar
Now's the Time
Westward Passage
Elmer
He's a Honey
Carnival Boat
Baldy
Bad Company
Buffington-Doorman
Quick Millions
Cop (uncredited)
Love Fever
Thelma's Last Rescuer
High Gear
Cop
Next Door Neighbors
Howard J. Green
Help Wanted, Female
Ladies Last
Man in Phone Booth
Moonlight and Monkey Business
Detective
Looser Than Loose
Night Club Patron
Bigger and Better
Uncle Ed Sutton
Dollar Dizzy
Quimby the Lawyer
Doctor's Orders
Mary's Father / Gertie's Uncle
Girl Shock
Fiancee's Father
Fifty Million Husbands
Officer Kennedy
All Teed Up
Thelma's Father (uncredited)
The Ghosts
Kennedy
When the Wind Blows
Kennedy the Cop (uncredited)
The Big Kick
Detective
The Gas Station
Detective
The First Seven Years
Kennedy the Cop (uncredited)
The Real McCoy
Cicero the Cop
Shivering Shakespeare
Kennedy the Cop (uncredited)
The Head Guy
Station Master Kennedy (uncredited)
Thieves
Night Owls
Officer Kennedy
Great Gobs!
2nd Sailor
Angora Love
Landlord
Moan & Groan, Inc.
Kennedy the Cop (uncredited)
Stepping Out
Diner's Owner
Bacon Grabbers
Collis P. Kennedy
Welcome Danger
SFPD Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
They Had to See Paris
Ed Eggers (uncredited)
Crazy Feet
Policeman
Hotter Than Hot
Perfect Day
Uncle Edgar
Dad's Day
Michael Kennedy
Madame Q
Judge Kennedy
The Big Squawk
Orchestra Leader
Hurdy Gurdy
Officer Ed Kennedy
Unaccustomed as We Are
Officer Kennedy
Trent's Last Case
Inspector Murch
Why Is a Plumber?
Off to Buffalo
A Pair of Tights
Marion's Boyfriend's Boss
Going Ga-Ga
Cop
Chasing Husbands
Feed 'em and Weep
The Booster
The Boy Friend
The Cop
Two Tars
Motorist
All Parts
Is Everybody Happy?
Should Married Men Go Home?
Golfer (uncredited)
Imagine My Embarrassment
The Fight Pest
Limousine Love
The Husband, Mr Glenders
The Finishing Touch
Cop (as Ed Kennedy)
The Family Group
A Photographer
Dumb Daddies
The Cop
Leave 'Em Laughing
Cop
The Chinese Parrot
Maydorf
The Wrong Mr. Wright
Trayguard
The Gay Old Bird
Chauffeur
Finger Prints
O.K. McDuff (as Ed Kennedy)
Going Crooked
Detective
The Better 'Ole
Corporal Austin
Across the Pacific
Cpl. Ryan
My Old Dutch
Bill Sproat
Oh! What a Nurse!
Eric Johnson
The People vs. Nancy Preston
Gloomy Gus
The Golden Princess
Gewilliker Hay
The Trouble With Wives
Detective (as Edward Kennedy)
Paths to Paradise
Detective (uncredited)
All's Swell on the Ocean
Wall Street Blues
The Crook
Racing for Life
Tom Grady
The Battling Fool
Dan O'Leary (as Ed Kennedy)
Fight and Win
The Night Message
Lem Beeman
Something for Nothing
Ptomaine Tommy
The Wandering Two
The Little Girl Next Door
Hank Hall
High and Dry
The Guide
An American Tourist
Skirts
Puppets of Fate
Mike Reynolds
The Adventures of Daredevil Jack
Four Times Foiled
Hearts and Flowers
Pete
Yankee Doodle in Berlin
German Prison Guard (uncredited)
She Loved Him Plenty
The Late Lamented
Art Gallery Operator
Whose Baby?
The Detective
The Blue Streak
The Stolen Triumph
Edwin Rowley, Jr.
Bombs!
Tony Peanutty - Italian Ward Leader
A Scoundrel's Toll
Peter X. Bush - Streetcar Superintendent
Madcap Ambrose
A City Chap
His Bitter Pill
Diamond Dan - Jim's Rival
Fatty's Tintype Tangle
Edgar
Fatty’s Plucky Pup
Shell Game Operator
Miss Fatty's Seaside Lovers
Suitor
Mabel’s Wilful Way
Fatty's Pal
Wished on Mabel
Cop
His Luckless Love
The Maid's Boyfriend
That Little Band Of Gold
Diner / Man in Audience (uncredited)
Fatty’s Reckless Fling
Neighbor
Fatty's New Role
Handout-Giver (uncredited)
Fatty and Mabel at the San Diego Exposition
1st Street Crowd Participant (uncredited)
Mabel and Fatty's Wash Day
The cafe waiter (uncredited)
The Great Vacuum Robbery
2nd Thief
Tillie's Punctured Romance
Restaurant Owner / Banks' Butler (uncredited)
Ambrose's First Falsehood
Café Proprietor
Getting Acquainted
Policeman (uncredited)
Leading Lizzie Astray
The Slicker's Chauffeur
The Noise of Bombs
Police Chief
An Incompetent Hero
Fatty's Neighbor
'Curses!' They Remarked
Ethel's Former Boyfriend
Gentlemen of Nerve
Policeman
Dough and Dynamite
Striking Baker
The Love Thief
The Rival
He Loved the Ladies
The Wife's Brother
The Rounders
(uncredited)
The Sky Pirate
The Sky Pirate
Love and Bullets
The Trouble Mender
Mabel's Busy Day
Tough Hot Dog Customer (uncredited)
The Knockout
Cyclone Flynn (uncredited)
Caught in a Cabaret
Cafe Proprietor (uncredited)
Twenty Minutes of Love
Lover
Mabel at the Wheel
Spectator in Grandstand (uncredited)
A Bath House Beauty
Jealous Boyfriend
The Star Boarder
Landlady's Husband (uncredited)
Cruel, Cruel Love
Butler
His Favorite Pastime
Tough Guy in Bar
Tango Tangles
Dance Hall Manager (uncredited)
A Film Johnnie
Director (uncredited)
A Thief Catcher
Crook (uncredited)
Making a Living
Wreck Bystander (uncredited)
Little Billy's Triumph
Rebecca's Wedding Day
The Groom
In the Clutches of the Gang
Cop
A Flirt's Mistake
Rajah
Zuzu, the Band Leader
Caesar - Zuzu's Rival
The Gusher
Cop (uncredited)
A Ride for a Bride
Mustached Man
Fatty Joins the Force
Jealous Cop
A Muddy Romance
Water Policeman
The Speed Kings
Laughing Spectator
A Quiet Little Wedding
Wedding Guest
The Bowling Match
Bowling Alley Operator
Mother's Boy
Mug
Mabel's Dramatic Career
Audience Member / Cop in Movie
Mabel's New Hero
Cop
The Riot
Cop
A Noise from the Deep
Love and Rubbish
1st Cop
Safe in Jail
1st Crook
Rastus and the Game Cock
Spectator
Peeping Pete
The Cop
The Gangsters
Henchman
Their First Execution
Mabel’s Awful Mistakes
Algy on the Force
Cop
Bangville Police
3rd Deputy
The Rural Third Degree
Cop