Brian Dennehy (born July 9, 1938 in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is an Irish-American actor who has appeared in movies, television shows, and stage productions.
He is best known as a dramatic actor, most famously for his role as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and in the successful Cocoon (1985) though he has acted in several comedies, including the Chris Farley/David Spade movie Tommy Boy. He is also known for his role in F/X and F/X 2.
Dennehy joined the United States Marines in 1959 and served until 1963. In 1989, he told the New York Times that he claimed that he received shrapnel woundeds in the Vietnam War. In 1993, he told Playboy that he served five years in Vietnam. However, his only overseas tour was to Okinawa. He apologized for his false claims in 1999.
During the 1980s, Dennehy gradually became a valuable supporting player in mainstream films and subsequently gained leading man status in the quirky thriller Best Seller where he appeared alongside James Woods to memorable effect. He gained his arthouse spurs during the same year when he starred in the Peter Greenaway movie The Belly of an Architect. Commenting upon this unusual venture, Dennehy said, "I've been in a lot of movies but this is the first film I've made."
After his extraordinary TV performance as John Wayne Gacy in the chilling TV mini-series To Catch A Killer, Dennehy seemed to withdraw into the world of TV Movies, including several outings as maverick cop Jack Reed. However, his huge success in 1996 playing Willy Loman indicated that he was as powerful an actor on stage as he had been in movies.
He was parodied in the South Park movie. Brian Dennehy is not to be confused with another portly Irish actor, Charles Durning.
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