Edgar Kennedy

Edgar Kennedy

actor, director, additional crew

Edgar Kennedy was born on Apr 26, 1890 in USA. Edgar Kennedy's big-screen debut came with Fatty Joins the Force directed by George Nichols in 1913, strarring Jealous Cop in Park (uncredited). Edgar Kennedy is known for Unfaithfully Yours directed by Preston Sturges, Rex Harrison stars as Sir Alfred De Carter and Linda Darnell as Daphne De Carter. The most recent award Edgar Kennedy achieved is Walk of Fame. The upcoming new movie Edgar Kennedy plays is My Dream Is Yours which will be released on Apr 16, 1949.

Edgar Kennedy, who was born on April 26, 1890, near Monterey, California, hit the road as a young man and traveled across the country, working in a succession of jobs. He became a professional boxer, claiming to have gone 14 rounds against The Manassas Mauler, Jack Dempsey.In addition to his knowledge of the "Sweet Science", Kennedy possessed a good musical voice, and wound up singing in musical shows in the Midwest, his first taste of show business. During his cross-country peregrinations he wound up in Los Angeles, and found himself hired as an actor by comedy producer Mack Sennett. At the Sennett Studios he was allegedly one of the original Keystone Kops, but soon graduated from bit parts to supporting roles in Keystone comedies, including La Folle Aventure de Charlot et de Lolotte (1914) with Charles Chaplin. Kennedy had good roles in other Chaplin movies, but when his contract expired in 1921 he went freelance, though he did occasionally return to Sennett.After leaving Sennett Kennedy established himself as a first-rate supporting comic, and made a career out of playing harassed businessmen, next-door neighbors, cops, etc. By the late 1920s his craft was most prominently featured in comedies for Hal Roach, Sennett's arch-rival, where he flourished in support of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It was with Roach that he developed his mastery of the "slow burn", a routine for which he became famous. He often played a none-too-bright policeman brought to the boiling point by the absurdities of Laurel and Hardy. He also directed the two in De la soupe populaire au caviar (1928) and Ton cor est à toi (1928).RKO hired Kennedy to appear in a series of comedy shorts called "The Average Man," in which he played the head of a family. The shorts had very tight shooting schedules, often as few as three days, but Kennedy was always a pro and delighted the audience by giving them his all. He made over 200 short subjects and appeared in over 100 feature films, still in demand right up to the day he died of cancer on November 9, 1948.

  • Birthday

    Apr 26, 1890
  • Place of Birth

    Lake San Antonio, Monterey County, California, USA

Known For

Awards

1 wins & 0 nominations

Walk of Fame
1960
Motion Picture
Winner - Star on the Walk of Fame

Movies & TV Shows

All
Movies