Brian Dennehy, a former U.S. Marine-turned-actor who delighted audiences in "Cocoon" and played the role of villain in "First Blood," has died. He was 81.
His daughter said Thursday on Twitter that Dennehy died of natural causes.
"It is with heavy hearts we announce that our father, Brian passed away last night from natural causes, not Covid-related," Elizabeth Dennehy wrote. "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."
It is with heavy hearts we announce that our father, Brian passed away last night from natural causes, not Covid-related. 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. pic.twitter.com/ILyrGpLnc3
— Elizabeth Dennehy (@dennehyeliza) April 16, 2020
The veteran actor appeared in an array of memorable film, television and theater roles, notably as a sheriff in a small Washington town who pursues Vietnam veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) in the 1982 movie "First Blood."
Notable performances by Dennehy include "Cocoon" (1985), in which he played the leader of a peaceful alien race disguised as humans, "F/X" (1986), in which he co-starred as a Manhattan homicide detective investigating the death of a movie special effects expert's girlfriend, and "Presumed Innocent" (1990), in which he played a politically motivated district attorney who turns on his top lawyer (Harrison Ford) in the wake of a murder investigation.
He also reprised his role as Leo McCarthy in the 1992 sequel "F/X 2: The Deadly Art of Illusion" and returned for a cameo in 1988's "Cocoon: The Return."
His other film roles include "Foul Play," the 1978 romantic comedy pairing Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn, "Silverado" (1985), "Legal Eagles" (1986) and "Tommy Boy," co-starring as the late Chris Farley's father in the 1995 comedy.
Dennehy twice won a Tony Award for best actor in "Death of a Salesman" and "Long Day's Journey Into Night." He also won a Golden Globe for best actor in a miniseries or television movie in 2001, reprising his role as Willy Lomax from "Death of a Salesman."
Born July 9, 1938 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Dennehy attended Columbia University on a football scholarship and went on to study dramatic arts as a graduate student at Yale University.
Dennehy enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1958 and claimed in numerous interviews to be a Vietnam veteran, although that fact was refuted in the 1998 book "Stolen Valor: How the Vietnam Generation Was Robbed of Its Heroes and Its History."
There's no disputing his veteran acting status, appearing in more than 183 movies and TV shows since 1977. Some of his more recent small-screen roles were in NBC's "The Blacklist," CBS's "The Good Wife" and TNT's "Rizzoli & Isles."
Dennehy made headlines during the production of “Cocoon” in 1984 in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving with co-star Steve Guttenberg as his passenger.
"I should've let Steve drive and I didn't because I'm dumb, Irish and willful," he told the Tampa Bay Times.
As recently as 2018, Dennehy discussed death and immortality on the YouTube series "Science Goes to the Movies."
"I don't worry about end of life," Dennehy said. "I mean, I really don't think about it. … Something's going to happen to me in the next four or five years, for sure, and it's OK."
Dennehy went on to say that he had "no complaints."
"You're given a certain amount of time and if you're lucky, as I was, and you work hard, as I did, and you get pretty much what you want, which I was able to do, then what have you got to bitch about?" he added. "You know, it ends at some point."
