Editing Arthur Kennedy (section)

==Career==
Kennedy moved to New York City and, billed as John Kennedy, joined the [[Group Theatre (New York)|Group Theatre]]. He then toured with a classical repertory company. In September 1937, he made his Broadway debut as Bushy in [[Maurice Evans (actor)|Maurice Evans']] ''[[Richard II (play)|Richard II]]'' at the [[St. James Theatre]]. In 1939 he played Sir Richard Vernon in Evans' ''[[Henry IV, Part 1]]''.<ref name=ANB/>

Kennedy's first film role was of [[James Cagney]]'s younger brother in ''[[City for Conquest]]'' in 1940. He appeared in many [[Western film]]s and police dramas.

Kennedy appeared in many notable films from the early 1940s through mid-1960s, including ''[[High Sierra (film)|High Sierra]]'', ''[[Champion (1949 film)|Champion]]'', ''[[They Died with Their Boots On]]'', ''[[The Glass Menagerie (1950 film)|The Glass Menagerie]]'', ''[[The Desperate Hours (1955 film)|The Desperate Hours]]'', ''[[Trial (1955 film)|Trial]]'', ''[[Peyton Place (film)|Peyton Place]]'', ''[[Some Came Running (film)|Some Came Running]]'', ''[[A Summer Place (film)|A Summer Place]]'', ''[[Elmer Gantry (film)|Elmer Gantry]]'', ''[[The Man from Laramie]]'', ''[[Barabbas (1961 film)|Barabbas]]'', ''[[Lawrence of Arabia (film)|Lawrence of Arabia]]'', ''[[Nevada Smith]]'' and ''[[Fantastic Voyage]]''.

Of Kennedy's film work, he is perhaps best-remembered for his collaborations with director [[Anthony Mann]] and co-star [[James Stewart]] on ''[[Bend of the River]]'' (1952) and ''[[The Man from Laramie]]'' (1955), in both of which he played sympathetic villains.

He also enjoyed a distinguished stage career over the same period, receiving a [[Tony Award]] for his role of [[Biff Loman]] in [[Arthur Miller]]'s ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'' (1949). He inaugurated three other major characters in Miller plays: Chris Keller in ''[[All My Sons]]'' (1947), [[John Proctor (convicted witch)|John Proctor]] in ''[[The Crucible]]'' (1953) and [[Walter Franz]] in ''[[The Price (play)|The Price]]'' (1968). In 1961 he played the title role in ''[[Becket]]'', opposite [[Laurence Olivier]] as Henry II.

On February 5, 1959, Kennedy appeared on the episode "Make It Look Good" of [[CBS]]'s ''[[Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre]]''.{{Citation needed |date=January 2021}}

In 1974, Kennedy was a regular on the short-lived [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] [[police drama]] ''[[Nakia (TV series)|Nakia]]'', as Sheriff Sam Jericho.

=== Waning interest, ill-health, then comeback ===

With the death of his wife in 1975, failing eyesight, alcoholism, and thyroid cancer, Kennedy was reported as having lost interest in filmmaking. After ''[[Covert Action (film)|Covert Action]]'' (1978), his next films were ''[[The Humanoid (1979 film)|The Humanoid]]'' (1979) and ''[[Signs of Life (1989 film)|Signs of Life]]'' (1989).<ref name=NYT1989>Glenn Collins, "Arthur Kennedy: Comeback for a Curmudgeon", ''The New York Times'', 30 Apr 1989, p H24, The New York Times (1851–2007).</ref>