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.
Acted in 237
2020s
- 2024
Laurel & Hardy: Year Two
(archive footage) (uncredited)
1990s
- 1994
The Our Gang Story
Officer (archive footage)
1980s
- 1981
The Muppets Go to the Movies
Keystone Kop (archive footage) (uncredited)
1960s
- 1960
When Comedy Was King
(archive footage) (uncredited)
1950s
- 1957
1940s
- 1949
- 1948
Unfaithfully Yours
Sweeney
Variety Time
Edgar Kennedy (footage from 'I'll Build It Myself') (archive footage)
- 1947
Do or Diet
Edgar
- 1946
Trouble or Nothing
Edgar
- 1945
Captain Tugboat Annie
Captain Bullwinkle
The Big Beef
Edgar Kennedy
You Drive Me Crazy
Edgar
- 1944
The Great Alaskan Mystery
Bosun Higgins
Prunes and Politics
Edgar
- 1943
Crazy House
Judge
The Girl from Monterrey
Doc Hogan, Fight Promoter
Hitler's Madman
Nepomuk - the Hermit
Air Raid Wardens
Joe Bledsoe
The Falcon Strikes Back
Smiley Dugan
Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher
Police Chief Murphy
- 1942
There's One Born Every Minute
Mayor Moe Carson
Pardon My Stripes
Warden Bingham
Private Snuffy Smith
Sgt. Ed Cooper
- 1941
Westward Ho-Hum
Edgar
Blondie in Society
Dr. Glenn
An Apple in His Eye
Edgar Kennedy
- 1940
Remedy for Riches
George Browning
Li'l Abner
Cornelius Cornpone
Sandy Gets Her Man
Fire Chief Galvin
Who Killed Aunt Maggie?
Sheriff Gregory
The Quarterback
Pops
The Bride Wore Crutches
Police Captain McGuire
Margie
Chauncey
Dr. Christian Meets the Women
George Browning
'Taint Legal
Edgar
Sandy Is a Lady
Officer Rafferty
1930s
- 1939
Charlie McCarthy, Detective
Inspector Dailey
Little Accident
Paper Hanger
Everything's on Ice
Joe Barton
It's a Wonderful World
Lieutenant Miller
Clock Wise
Edgar
- 1938
Peck's Bad Boy with the Circus
Arthur Bailey
Hey! Hey! USA
Bugs Leary
Scandal Street
Daniel Webster Smith
The Black Doll
Sheriff Renick
Hollywood Hotel
Callaghan
- 1937
True Confession
Darsey
Super-Sleuth
Police Lt. Garrison
When's Your Birthday?
Mr. Basscombe
The Other Fellow
Four Roles
- 1936
Three Men on a Horse
Harry, the Bartender
Mad Holiday
Donovan
Yours for the Asking
Bicarbonate
Fatal Lady
Rudolf Hochstetter
Small Town Girl
Captain Mack
Robin Hood of El Dorado
Sheriff Judd
Will Power
Edgar Kennedy
The Return of Jimmy Valentine
Callahan
- 1935
The Bride Comes Home
Henry
$1,000 a Minute
Police Officer McCarthy
Little Big Shot
Onderdonk
Woman Wanted
Sweeney
A Night at the Biltmore Bowl
Edgar Kennedy
The Cowboy Millionaire
Willy 'Persimmon' Bates
Living on Velvet
Counterman
Rendezvous at Midnight
Mahoney
- 1934
The Silver Streak
O'Brien
The Marines Are Coming
Sgt. Buck Martin
Poisoned Ivory
Edgar Kennedy
Gridiron Flash
Officer Thurston
King Kelly of the U.S.A.
Happy Moran
We're Rich Again
Healy, Process Server
Murder on the Blackboard
Detective Donahue
Money Means Nothing
Herbert Green
Heat Lightning
Herbert
All of Me
Guard (uncredited)
- 1933
King for a Night
Cop
What Fur
Edgar
Tillie and Gus
Judge
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
- 1932
The Penguin Pool Murder
Officer Donovan
Rockabye
Water Wagon Driver (uncredited)
Little Orphan Annie
Daddy Warbucks
Hold 'Em Jail
Warden Elmer Jones
Carnival Boat
Baldy
- 1931
Bad Company
Buffington-Doorman
Quick Millions
Cop (uncredited)
Love Fever
Thelma's Last Rescuer
High Gear
Cop
Next Door Neighbors
Howard J. Green
- 1930
Looser Than Loose
Night Club Patron
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)
When the Wind Blows
Kennedy the Cop (uncredited)
The Big Kick
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
Movie
Night Owls
Officer Kennedy
1920s
- 1929
Great Gobs!
2nd Sailor
Angora Love
Landlord
Moan & Groan, Inc.
Kennedy the Cop (uncredited)
Stepping Out
Diner's Owner
They Had to See Paris
Ed Eggers (uncredited)
Crazy Feet
Policeman
Hotter Than Hot
Movie
Perfect Day
Uncle Edgar
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?
Movie
A Pair of Tights
Marion's Boyfriend's Boss
- 1928
Chasing Husbands
Movie
Feed 'em and Weep
Movie
The Booster
Movie
The Boy Friend
The Cop
Two Tars
Motorist
Is Everybody Happy?
Movie
Should Married Men Go Home?
Golfer (uncredited)
Imagine My Embarrassment
Movie
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
- 1927
The Chinese Parrot
Maydorf
Wedding Bills
Detective
The Wrong Mr. Wright
Trayguard
The Gay Old Bird
Chauffeur
Finger Prints
O.K. McDuff (as Ed Kennedy)
- 1926
Going Crooked
Detective
The Better 'Ole
Corporal Austin
Across the Pacific
Cpl. Ryan
My Old Dutch
Bill Sproat
Oh! What a Nurse!
Eric Johnson
- 1925
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)
- 1924
All's Swell on the Ocean
Movie
Wall Street Blues
The Crook
Racing for Life
Tom Grady
The Battling Fool
Dan O'Leary (as Ed Kennedy)
Fight and Win
Movie
- 1923
Something for Nothing
Ptomaine Tommy
The Wandering Two
Movie
The Little Girl Next Door
Hank Hall
- 1921
Skirts
Movie
- 1920
The Adventures of Daredevil Jack
Movie
1910s
- 1919
Hearts and Flowers
Pete
Yankee Doodle in Berlin
German Prison Guard (uncredited)
- 1918
She Loved Him Plenty
Movie
- 1917
The Late Lamented
Art Gallery Operator
Whose Baby?
The Detective
The Blue Streak
Movie
- 1916
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
- 1915
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
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
- 1914
Ambrose's First Falsehood
Café Proprietor
Getting Acquainted
Policeman (uncredited)
Leading Lizzie Astray
The Slicker's Chauffeur
The Noise of Bombs
Police Chief
Gentlemen of Nerve
Policeman
Dough and Dynamite
Striking Baker
The Rounders
(uncredited)
Mabel's Busy Day
Tough Hot Dog Customer (uncredited)
The Knockout
Cyclone Flynn (uncredited)
Twenty Minutes of Love
Lover
Mabel at the Wheel
Spectator in Grandstand (uncredited)
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
Movie
In the Clutches of the Gang
Cop
A Flirt's Mistake
Rajah
- 1913
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
Mabel's Dramatic Career
Audience Member / Cop in Movie
Mabel's New Hero
Cop
The Riot
Cop
A Noise from the Deep
Movie
Love and Rubbish
1st Cop
Safe in Jail
1st Crook
Peeping Pete
The Cop
The Gangsters
Henchman
Bangville Police
3rd Deputy
Directed 5
1930s
- 1930
Fifty Million Husbands
Director
All Teed Up
Director
1920s
- 1928
You're Darn Tootin'
Director
From Soup to Nuts
Director
- 1924
Three Foolish Weeks
Director