Brian Dennehy, Burly Actor in ‘First Blood,’ ‘Cocoon’ and ‘Death of a Salesman,’ Dies at 81

Elizabeth Dennehy
Elizabeth Dennehy

The two-time winner of the Tony, Brian Dennehy has passed away from natural causes in New Haven, Connecticut at the age of 81.

Dennehy with his extraordinary built, good guy attitude and no-nonsense policy fetched several memorable roles in some of the biggest blockbusters. He has done a variety of roles starting from Bobby Knight, a basketball coach; Jack Reed, a Chicago cop to John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer.

Breaking the news of father’s death on Twitter, elder daughter and actor Elizabeth Dennehy further said, “Larger than life, generous to a fault, a proud and devoted father and grandfather, he will be missed by his wife Jennifer, family and many friends.” 

Born on 9 July 1938, in Bridgeport located in Connecticut, Brian moved to Long Island at the age of 12 before which he played as an offensive tackler for his school football team in Mineola, New York. His coach had once commented that as a football player, he would make a great actor, and that’s when Brian started doing theater; the actor had told Newsday in 2013.

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