Edgar Kennedy (Edgar Livingstone Kennedy)
Photos with Edgar Kennedy
Biography
Lake San Antonio, Monterey County, California, USA
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. Read more... 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 Tillie's Punctured Romance (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 From Soup to Nuts (1928) and You're Darn Tootin' (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.
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. Read more... 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 Tillie's Punctured Romance (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 From Soup to Nuts (1928) and You're Darn Tootin' (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.
Actor

Character:
2nd Restaurant Owner / Banks' Butler
Tillie's Punctured Romance 1914
1

Character:
SFPD Desk Sergeant
Welcome Danger 1929
3

Character:
Ed Eggers
They Had to See Paris 1929
2

Character:
Kennedy the Cop
Moan & Groan, Inc. 1929
3

Character:
Mary's Father / Gertie's Uncle
Doctor's Orders 1930
1

Character:
Cicero the Cop
The Real McCoy 1930
11

Character:
Baldy
Carnival Boat 1932
4

Character:
Water Wagon-Driver
Rockabye 1932
3

Character:
Elmer
Westward Passage 1932
3

Character:
The Warden
Hold 'Em Jail 1932
1

Character:
Street Vendor
Duck Soup 1933
19

Character:
Tim Kelsey
Professional Sweetheart 1933
3

Character:
Oscar McGonigle
Twentieth Century 1934
1

Character:
Confederate Officer Jealous of Artilleryman
Operator 13 1934
22

Character:
Herman Wilson
Kid Millions 1934
12

Character:
Detective Donahue
Murder on the Blackboard 1934
1

Character:
Happy Moran
King Kelly of the U.S.A. 1934
3

Character:
Sgt. Buck Martin
The Marines Are Coming 1934
2

Character:
Healy, Process Server
We're Rich Again 1934
4

Character:
Edgar
A Blasted Event 1934
1

Character:
Edgar, Movie Director
Wrong Direction 1934
1

Character:
Edgar
Love on a Ladder 1934
2

Character:
Sheriff
San Francisco 1936
25

Character:
Captain Mack
Small Town Girl 1936
5

Character:
Harry
Three Men on a Horse 1936
1

Character:
Sheriff Judd
Robin Hood of El Dorado 1936
2

Character:
Pop Randall - Landlord
A Star Is Born 1937
6

Character:
Darsey
True Confession 1937
1

Character:
Callaghan
Hollywood Hotel 1937
19

Character:
Spike
Double Wedding 1937
5

Character:
Cornelius Cornpone
Li'l Abner 1940
1

Character:
Chauncey
Margie 1940
3

Character:
Officer Rafferty
Sandy Is a Lady 1940
4

Character:
Pops
The Quarterback 1940
2

Character:
Edgar
'Taint Legal 1940
1

Character:
Doctor
Blondie in Society 1941
5

Character:
Hotel Manager
Too Many Blondes 1941
5

Character:
Kegs McKeever
In Old California 1942
3

Character:
Judge
Crazy House 1943
17

Character:
Edgar
Hold Your Temper 1943
1

Character:
Doc Hogan, Fight Promoter
The Girl from Monterrey 1943
3

Character:
Inspector Mulrooney
It Happened Tomorrow 1944
5

Character:
Edgar
Feather Your Nest 1944
2

Character:
Police Captain
Anchors Aweigh 1945
25

Character:
Jake
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock 1947
6

Character:
Detective Sweeney
Unfaithfully Yours 1948
5
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