Brian Dennehy, who won two Tony awards in his career, died Wednesday night in New Haven, Conn. He was 81. His agency ICM has confirmed the news, as well as a tweet from his daughter, actress Elizabeth Dennehy. In her tweet on Thursday, she said,
“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.”
Dennehy is perhaps best known for his role as Big Tom, in the 1995 comedy ‘Tommy Boy’ starring Chris Farley where he plays the father of Tommy, who has to take over his role at their auto parts store to keep it from going out of business. He also is well known for his role alongside Sylvester Stallone’s John Rambo in, ‘Rambo: First Blood’, where he plays a hard-headed small-town sheriff deadset on catching and taking down Rambo.
It was in 1999 though, where he won his first Tony Award for his role as Willy Loman in a revival of Arther Miller’s ‘Death of a Salesman’. He went on to win another Tony in 2003 for his take on James Tyrone in a revival of Eugene O’Neill’s ‘Long Day’s Journey Into Night’.
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
Brian Dennehy, Actor Known For Roles In ‘Tommy Boy’, ‘Rambo: First Blood’ Is Dead At Age 81
Dennehy first made his feature debut way back in 1977, in the films ‘Looking for Mr. Goodbar’ and ‘Semi-Tough’. This began the actor’s incredible success and journey into film and television for decades to come. It was 1982’s ‘Rambo: First Blood’ where his stock really flew through the roof thanks to his performance as Teasle. The next year he had big roles in ‘Cocoon’ and ‘Silverado’.
Brian Dennehy will be missed by friends, family, and fans. He is survived by his second wife Jennifer Arnott, four daughters, Elizabeth, Kathleen and Deirdre, and Sarah as well as a son, Cormac.
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