Prolific American actor Brian Dennehy has been warmly remembered by his Hollywood and Broadway peers, including Sylvester Stallone, after he died at 81 on Wednesday from natural causes.
The Tony award-winning actor of stage and screen, best known for his roles in Cocoon and First Blood, passed away at his home in New Haven, Connecticut Wednesday evening.
‘The great actor Brian Dennehy has passed away,’ Stallone wrote. ‘He simply was A brilliant performer … He also was a Vietnam vet that helped me very much building the character of RAMBO.’
Stallone added that ‘the world has lost a great artist,’ echoing the sentiments of colleagues who appreciated the actor’s talents.
Besides his Tony gongs, Dennehy also won a Golden Globe and received six Emmy nominations in a stellar career lit up by Dennehy’s versatility.
A physically imposing man who once worked as a bartender, truck driver and a salesman to fund his acting career, Dennehy also once served five years in the US Marines.
He had a promising football career while at Columbia University and appeared in a number of TV shows before making his movie debut in the Burt Reynolds movie “Semi-Tough” as a football player.
He then bagged roles in the movies “10,” “F.I.S.T.” while he was also regular part in the series “Dynasty.”
After the announcement of his death, heartfelt condolences poured in from the world of film and theatre.
“Just devastated to learn that the magnificent Brian Dennehy has died. They is no one I enjoyed working with more. And there are few friends as valued in my life.
“I took this photo backstage when we were in ‘Love Letters.’ He loved my pup Bowie,” actress Mia Farrow said on twitter.
“Was lucky enough to see Brian Dennehy twice on stage, masterful in Love Letters, and monumentally heart-breaking in Death Of A Salesman. A colossus. What a loss,” Hamilton creator Lin-Miranda Manuel said.
Dennehy is survived by four children.
