Screen
Writer Burt Kennedy Dies
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Burt Kennedy, a
screenwriter and director of films including the Western epic ``The
War Wagon'' has died. He was 78.
Kennedy died Thursday of cancer at
his suburban Sherman Oaks home, said the family's spokesman, film
critic Leonard Maltin.
During his long career in radio, film
and television, Kennedy earned a reputation as an accomplished
director who injected humor into the traditionally straight-laced
Western film.
In the 1960s, when the movie Western
was declining in public favor, he enlivened the genre with
gag-filled films such as ``Support Your Local Sheriff'' and
``Support Your Local Gunfighter,'' both starring James Garner in
his ``Maverick'' mode.
He also directed ``Dirty Dingus
McGee,'' a spoof with Frank Sinatra as a two-bit gunfighter.
Kennedy wrote the script with Joseph Heller of ``Catch-22'' fame.
He was born in Muskegon, Mich., on
Sept. 3, 1922, the son of vaudevillians who toured as The Dancing
Kennedys. He joined the act when he was 4 years old.
After high school he joined the Army,
fighting in the Pacific theater in World War II, and was awarded
the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
Settling in Hollywood, he became a
successful radio writer. John Wayne recognized his talent for
humor and hired him to write screenplays.
After his directorial debut flopped,
Kennedy directed episodes of ``The Lawman,'' ``The Virginian'' and
other TV series before returning to film.
His most ambitious directorial
project was ``The War Wagon'' in 1967, starring Wayne and Kirk
Douglas.
By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer
| Burt
Kennedy (Filmography) |
| Suburban
Commando (1991) |
| Big
Bad John (1990) |
| Dynamite
And Gold (1988) |
| The
Trouble With Spies (1987) |
| Texas
Guns (1987) |
| Alamo,
The - Thirteen Days Of Glory (1987) |
| More
Wild, Wild West (1980) |
| The
Wild, Wild West Revisited (1979) |
| The
Concrete Cowboys (1979) |
| The
Killer Inside Me (1976) |
| The
Train Robbers (1973) |
| Hannie
Caulder (1972) |
| The
Deserter (1971) |
| Support
Your Local Gunfighter (1971) |
| Young
Billy Young (1969) |
| The
Good Guys And The Bad Guys (1969) |
| Support
Your Local Sheriff (1969) |
| The
War Wagon (1967) |
| Return
Of The Magnificent Seven (1966) |
| The
Rounders (1965) |
| All
The Kind Strangers |
| The
Train Robbers (1973) |
| Young
Billy Young (1969) |
| Stay
Away, Joe (1968) |
| The
Rounders (1965) |
| Comanche
Station (1960) |
