Brian Dennehy (1938-2020)

[hearthesilence]

Brian Dennehy, from natural causes. Wonderful actor, I saw him at BAM in The Iceman Cometh several years ago, and he was excellent.

[beamish14]

Brian Dennehy, from natural causes. Wonderful actor, I saw him at BAM in The Iceman Cometh several years ago, and he was excellent.

Oh my god. He was so wonderful in F/X and its sequel, The Belly of an Architect, and The Last of the Finest.

[domino harvey]

A reliable “That guy,” one that you don’t always think about but enjoy it when he pops up

[hearthesilence]

Chicago Tribune's obituary, he had a crucial relationship with the Chicago theater world, even though he wasn't actually a local.

[colinr0380]

Agreeing with beamish14, Dennehy is great headlining the action thriller The Last of the Finest, (known in the UK as Blue Heat). And he had a great late role in Terrence Malick's Knight of Cups as the despairing father, sort of coming at the Christian Bale character from the opposite direction to all of the various loved and left women offering promises of a brighter future by similarly leaving his mark on Bale but this time with the hefty weight of family history behind him to back up his pronouncements.

Then of course there is Cocoon and its sequel (and the father in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet) which are probably his most recognisable roles. A couple of other great Dennehy roles however are against James Woods in Best Seller (that's the one I really want to see get rediscovered. It also makes an amusing double bill with that James Woods and Michael J. Fox action comedy The Hard Way from a couple of years later!) and as the unscrupulous promoter in the unjustly neglected illegal boxing drama from 1992 Gladiator, which got rather overwhelmed by another film called Gladiator a few years later!

And he's also solid support in the great Alan J. Pakula directed thriller Presumed Innocent too, but I only just banged the drum for that film a couple of weeks back so I don't want to seem like a broken record about it!

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

He's also great as the Aryan gang leader in Michael Mann's The Jericho Mile. He's scary even though his prison clothes are incredibly tight.

[lacritfan]

First movie I ever saw him in was First Blood as the sheriff. Even though he was the "villain" I liked his character.

[Mr Sausage]

I know him best as Sheriff Teasel, the antagonist of First Blood, a childhood favourite. He brought layers and complexity to the role, playing a man with flaws rather than a bad person. A rare thing in 80s action movies, and a quality the Rambo films would drop immediately in favour of cartoon villains.

[Roger Ryan]

One of the most unexpected moments in my life happened eleven years ago when I found myself acting with Dennehy in a film. Making do without full-time employment throughout most of 2009, I worked on a number of film sets in Michigan. One three-day gig was working as an extra on a feature about the "Scopes Monkey Trial" called Alleged which cast Dennehy as Clarence Darrow. I played a reporter covering the trial and was asked to be the only one to become overwhelmed by Darrow's rhetoric and to burst into applause upon the conclusion of a big speech. The moment was played for humor as my character's zeal quickly turns to embarrassment when I realize no one else in the courtroom is reacting to Darrow's plea. After a couple of takes, Dennehy started delivering the final lines while locking eyes with me, which certainly made it easy to break into enthusiastic applause. Alas, my reaction shot was replaced in the finished film with a close-up of Colm Meany's character grimacing (Meany wasn't even on the set that day)! But I've got the memories.

During a break in filming, Dennehy talked about his appreciation of comedy writer Larry Gelbart who had just passed away. He laughed as he described the grave marker inscription Gelbart insisted on in his will: "At last, a plot".

[Reverend Drewcifer]

“Character actors! Who gives a fuck if we’re fat?”

[cdnchris]

I never had the chance to ever meet him unfortunately, but my cousin and her husband knew him rather well, had been invited to birthday parties and such, and said he was just the sweetest guy.

First movie I ever saw him in was First Blood as the sheriff. Even though he was the "villain" I liked his character.

I didn't see First Blood until MUCH later, but I still link him to Silverado, where he was also the villain. His character in that one was a more straight-up western villain (crooked sheriff), not too complicated, but he was oddly still likable in it.

[bearcuborg]

I always thought of him as more than a “that guy” kind of actor, but I can’t think of many lead roles for him. He was always a delight to see in any movie. In particular I just saw Silverado for the first time in years a few months ago. The whole cast is great, and the movie is a lot of fun, but damn - he played villains so convincingly!

[hearthesilence]

I always thought of him as more than a “that guy” kind of actor, but I can’t think of many lead roles for him. He was always a delight to see in any movie. In particular I just saw Silverado for the first time in years a few months ago. The whole cast is great, and the movie is a lot of fun, but damn - he played villains so convincingly!

I mostly know him through lead roles. Either through network TV movies (which he did to pay the bills) or on stage, thanks to the Tribune's coverage of his outstanding local performances (see the link I posted). It's really his theater work that made me aware how much more he could do, and considering how difficult it is to play some of those roles, it was all the more impressive. I wish I saw him play Hickey in The Iceman Cometh - he did in the '90s, then played Slade at the revival I saw.

[knives]

I will readily admit that this is the main reason I'll always cherish him though his work in Belly of an Architect is arguably the best performance in any Greenaway film.

[MaxBercovicz]

Hilarious tribute to Brian in an homage to Chicago.

https://youtu.be/xF9pnVPJSew

[colinr0380]

Here's a fun anecdote from Michael Mann's commentary on Manhunter: apparently Dennehy was in the running to play the part of Hannibal Lecktor and actually called Mann, who he was good friends with, up and recommended that he choose Brian Cox for the role instead!