The Resume

(April 26, 1890-November 9, 1948)
Born in Monterey County, California
Was an original Keystone Kop
Starred in over 100 ‘Average Man’ short films for RKO (1930-47)
Appeared in the films ‘Brown of Harvard’ (1911), ‘The Knockout’ (1914),‘Two Tars’ (1928), ‘Night Owls’ (1930), ‘Duck Soup’ (1933), ‘Twentieth Century’ (1934), ‘San Francisco’ (1936), ‘A Star Is Born’ (1937), ‘Peck’s Bad Boy with the Circus’ (1938), ‘Private Snuffy Smith’ (1942), ‘Air Raid Wardens’ (1943), ‘Anchors Aweigh’ (1945), ‘The Sin of Harold Diddlebock’ (1947) and ‘Unfaithfully Yours’ (1948)

Why he might be annoying:

He went prematurely bald.
He claimed to have been a boxer who once went 14 rounds with Jack Dempsey, but in reality the only time the two met was in a film, ‘The Adventures of Daredevil Jack.’
Because of his hulking frame, he was initially cast as villains.
He would later be typecast as easily upset authority figures.
He died two days before he was scheduled to be the guest of honor at a testimonial dinner arranged by his fellow actors.

Why he might not be annoying:

Before becoming an actor, he had a singing career in vaudeville.
He directed a half dozen two-reel comedies (including a pair of Laurel and Hardy shorts) for Hal Roach.
He was a frequent golfing partner of Mickey Rooney.
He was a master of the slow burn.
A New York Times critic wrote that in his ‘Average Man’ shorts, Kennedy ‘created a character as universally comprehensible as Chaplin’s Little Tramp and twice as real.’

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Actors Turned Directors
• Boxers
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 63]
• Chrome Domes and Cue Balls
• Film Pioneers [Silent Era]
• I Am Vaudeville [A-L]
• I Died in 1948 (Ranked: 58)
• I Have a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame[J-L]
• I Have Throat Cancer
• I'm Buried at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Cemetery [Culver City, Ca]
• Mack Sennett Films
• Males Pied [K-Z]
• Marx Movies
• Profiles 38251-38500 (Ranked: 38450)

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 9 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 14.29% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying