Brian Dennehy

One of America's most respected and prolific actors since the mid-1980s, Brian Dennehy roles as a supporting player and occasional leading man in film, television and on stage earned him numerous awards. Filmgoers first took notice of the powerfully built Dennehy as the treacherous sheriff in "First Blood" (1982), which led to a number of supporting roles where he was typically cast as a villain or authority figure; sometimes both, as he did in the retro Western "Silverado" (1985). That same year, he was a bemused alien in Ron Howard's acclaimed "Cocoon" (1985), and the following year he was a wisecracking cop in the popular thriller "F/X" (1986), both of which spawned unsuccessful sequels. He earned considerable acclaim for playing serial killer John Wayne Gacy in "To Catch a Killer" (Bell Media, 1992) and arguably had his most popular role opposite Chris Farley and David Spade in "Tommy Boy" (1995). On television, he starred in a series of popular made-for-TV movies as tough cop Jack Reed, and earned several awards and nominations for his portrayal of Willie Loman in "Death of a Salesman" (Showtime, 2000), an adaptation of his successful Broadway run. As he settled comfortably into supporting roles status, sometimes as an elder statesman as he was in "The Next Three Days" (2010), Dennehy remained a potent force capable of turning in strong performances in a wide array of mediums.