Mike Henry (American football): Difference between revisions
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'''Michael Dennis Henry''' (August 15, 1936 – January 8, 2021) was an American actor and NFL football [[linebacker]]. He |
'''Michael Dennis Henry''' (August 15, 1936 – January 8, 2021) was an American actor and NFL football [[linebacker]]. He was best known for his role as [[Tarzan]] in the 1960s trilogy and as Junior in the ''[[Smokey and the Bandit]]'' film series. |
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==Football career== |
==Football career== |
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Revision as of 22:01, 2 June 2021
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2021) |
Mike Henry | |||||||||
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| Born | Michael Dennis Henry August 15, 1936 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | January 8, 2021 (aged 84) Burbank, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Actor, football player | ||||||||
| Years active | 1957–1988 (actor) 1958–1964 (football player) | ||||||||
| Known for | Tarzan films (as Tarzan) Smokey and the Bandit (as Junior Justice) M*A*S*H (as Donald Penobscot) | ||||||||
| Spouse | Cheryl Sweeney (m. 1984) | ||||||||
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American football career | |||||||||
| No. 68, 37, 53 | |||||||||
| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | USC | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1958 / round: 9 / pick: 100 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Michael Dennis Henry (August 15, 1936 – January 8, 2021) was an American actor and NFL football linebacker. He was best known for his role as Tarzan in the 1960s trilogy and as Junior in the Smokey and the Bandit film series.
Football career
Michael Henry's football career as a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1958–1961) and the Los Angeles Rams (1962–1964) led him to be noticed by Warner Bros.
Acting career
Henry's most prominent role was as Tarzan in three 1960s movies Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966), Tarzan and the Great River (1967), and Tarzan and the Jungle Boy (1968) that were all filmed back-to-back in 1965. At the time, critics said the dark-haired, square-jawed, muscular Henry resembled classic illustrations of the apeman more than any other actor who had taken on the role.[citation needed] Henry turned down the lead of the subsequent Tarzan television series, which then went to Ron Ely.[citation needed]
Henry is probably best known to movie audiences for playing Jackie Gleason's character's dim-witted son "Junior" in the highly popular Smokey and the Bandit comedies, starring Burt Reynolds and Sally Field.
Henry portrayed a corrupt prison guard in The Longest Yard (1974). Henry played Sergeant Kowalski in The Green Berets (1968), Luke Santee in More Dead Than Alive (1968), and corrupt Sheriff "Blue Tom" Hendricks in Rio Lobo (1970). He also acted with Charlton Heston in three films: the football movie Number One (1969), Skyjacked (1972), and Soylent Green (1973).
Henry played Lt. Col. Donald Penobscot in an episode of the television series M*A*S*H. In another football-oriented role, he portrayed Tatashore, one of the members of the gang who kidnap Larry Bronco (Larry Csonka) in the "One of Our Running Backs Is Missing" episode of The Six Million Dollar Man.
After being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, he retired from acting in 1988. Henry died on January 8, 2021 at the age of 84 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, after years of complications from both Parkinson's disease and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.[1]
Filmography
- Curfew Breakers (1957) as Reagan
- General Hospital (1963, TV Series) as Rudolpho (1988)
- Spencer's Mountain (1963) as Spencer Brother (uncredited)
- Palm Springs Weekend (1963) as Doorman (uncredited)
- Tarzan and the Valley of Gold (1966) as Tarzan
- Tarzan and the Great River (1967) as Tarzan
- Tarzan and the Jungle Boy (1968) as Tarzan
- The Green Berets (1968) as Sergeant Kowalski
- More Dead Than Alive (1968) as Luke Santee
- Number One (1969) as Walt Chaffee
- Rio Lobo (1970) as Sheriff Tom Hendricks
- Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1972) as Fargo
- Skyjacked (1972) as Sam Allen
- Soylent Green (1973) as Kulozik
- The Longest Yard (1974) as Rassmeusen
- Mean Johnny Barrows (1976) as Carlo Da Vince
- Adiós Amigo (1976) as Mary's Husband
- No Way Back (1976) as Goon #3
- Smokey and the Bandit (1977) as Junior Justice
- M*A*S*H (1977, TV Series) as Donald Penobscot
- Smokey and the Bandit II (1980) as Junior Justice
- Fantasy Island (1981, TV Series) as Mike
- Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983) as Junior Justice
- Outrageous Fortune (1987) as Russian #1
References
- ^ Bosselman, Haley. "Mike Henry, NFL Player and Actor, Dies at 84". Variety. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
External links
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