James Kenney (actor)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

James Kenney (born July 20, 1930 in London as Kenneth Berwick ; † January 15, 1982 ibid) was a British stage and character actor in film, television and theater. His film career included more than 35 appearances in international feature films and television series. Including roles in The King's Admiral , The Bomb in the Underground Shaft , Submarine - Submarines Are Attacking , Doctor Ahoy! or Yangtze Incident .

life and career

James Kenney was born Kenneth Berwick in London in 1930. He made his film debut at the age of twelve in Carol Reed's drama The Young Mr. Pitt . For director Cecil Musk, he played two of his few leading roles in Circus Boy (1947) and Trapped by the Terror (1949) in British cinema after the war .

In the early 1950s he was often seen in roles as an actor with a boyish naivete, both on stage and in film. In 1951 the director Raoul Walsh cast him as midshipman Longley for his adventure film The King's Admiral about the legendary Captain Horatio Hornblower at the side of Gregory Peck . That same year, Kenney played again for Carol Reed in his drama The Damned of the Isles . 1952 followed smaller supporting roles in films such as Compton Bennett's Food for the Fish or in Basil Dearden's film drama The Bomb in the Underground .

In 1953, he played the lead role of juvenile delinquent Roy Walsh in Lewis Gilbert's crime film Cosh Boy , the role he had previously played on stage. Gilbert used it again in two of his films in 1954, in Four Falling By The Way and in the war film The Sea Shall Not Have Them . In 1955, the director Ralph Thomas hired him for his war drama Submarine - U-Boats attack and for the comedy Doctor Ahoi! with Dirk Bogarde in the lead role.

In the late 1950s he starred in films by directors Michael Anderson , Hugo Fregonese , Tony Young and Max Varnel .

For director J. Henry Piperno, Kenney played his last leading role in 1962 in his film production Ambush in Leopard Street .

His television appearances from 1950 to 1973 included: BBC Sunday-Night Theater , London Playhouse , Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents , HM Tennent Globe Theater , ITV Play of the Week , Ivanhoe , ITV Television Playhouse , Sherlock Holmes and The Pathfinders .

Kenney died on January 15, 1982 at the age of 51 in his native London.

Filmography (selection)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James Kenney in: The Encore Reader: A Chronicle of the New Drama , by Charles Marowitz, Tom Milne , Owen Hale, Methuen (1970, 84)
  2. ↑ James Kenney in: Gregory Peck: A Bio-Bibliography , by Gerard Molyneaux, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1995, p. 109
  3. ↑ James Kenney in: Historical Dictionary of Crime Films , by Geoff Mayer, Scarecrow Press, 2012, p. 97
personal data
SURNAME Kenney, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Berwick, Kenneth (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 20, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH London , England
DATE OF DEATH January 15, 1982
Place of death London , England