Brian Dennehy

Acting · Born 1938-07-09 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA

Biography

Brian Manion Dennehy (July 9, 1938 – April 15, 2020) was an American actor of film, stage, and television. His breakthrough film role was as the overzealous sheriff Will Teasle in First Blood (1982). Typically a character actor, Dennehy displayed versatility in varying and often complex roles ranging from villainous (such as a corrupt sheriff in the 1985 western Silverado) to virtuous (such as a benevolent alien leader in Cocoon, also released in 1985). Other notable films featuring Dennehy include Gorky Park (1983), Never Cry Wolf (1983), Legal Eagles (1986), F/X (1986), Tommy Boy (1995), Romeo + Juliet (1996), and Ratatouille (2007). A prominent figure in the theater world (especially in Chicago), Dennehy won two Tony Awards for Best Lead Actor, for Death of a Salesman (1999) and Long…

Filmography

• First Blood as Hope Sheriff Will Teasle
• Ratatouille as Django (voice)
• Silverado as Cobb
• The Next Three Days as George Brennan
• Gladiator as Jimmy Horn
• The Ultimate Gift as Gus
• Romeo + Juliet as Ted Montague
• Cocoon as Walter
• Best Seller as Dennis Meechum
• Semi-Tough as T.J. Lambert

TV

• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Judson Tierney
• M*A*S*H as M.P. Ernie Connors
• The West Wing as Rafe Framingham
• Rizzoli & Isles as Ret. Det. Kenny Leahy
• The Blacklist as Dominic Wilkinson
• Lou Grant as Wilson
• The 4400 as Mitch Baldwin
• Miami Vice as Reverend Billy Bob Proverb
• E! True Hollywood Story
• Dynasty as Jake Dunham