THOMAS HENNESY
Information from IMDb
Date of Birth
4 August 1923,
Los Angeles, California, USA
Date of Death
23 May 2011,
Malibu, California, USA
Birth Name
Thomas Daniel Hennesy
Height
6' 5" (1.96 m)
Trivia
Played football for USC in 1943 and 1944 Rose Bowl games.
Became a teacher, then ran his family's oil production company until its sale in 1991.
Interviewed in "It Came from Horrorwood: Interviews with Moviemakers in the SF and Horror Tradition" by Tom Weaver (McFarland, 1996).
Mini-Biography-1
Actor and stuntman Tom Hennesy died in Malibu, California, on May 23, 2011. He was 87.
Hennesy was born in Los Angeles on August 4, 1923.
He worked primarily as a stuntman in the 1950s and 1960s on such films as
“Jack and the Beanstalk” (1952), “The High and the Mighty” (1954),
“It Should Happen To You” (1954), “The Caine Mutiny” (1954), “Prince of Players” (1955),
“The Road to Denver” (1955), “The Long Gray Line” (1955), the 1955 sequel to
"Creature from the Black Lagoon", “Revenge of the Creature”, “Blood Alley” (1955),
“The Ten Commandments” (1956), “The Buccaneer” (1958), “North to Alaska” (1960),
“The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance” (1962), "Stagecoach” (1966),
“The War Wagon” (1967), and “The Green Berets” (1968).
Hennesy performed stunts in many films with actor John Wayne
and had his largest role in as the gentle giant, Mr. Sweet, in 1971’s “Big Jake”.
He also appeared on television as Clint Walker’s stunt double for the western series
“Cheyenne” in the 1950s. His other television credits include episodes of
“The Further Adventures of the Spin and Marty”, “26 Men”, "Gunsmoke",
and Boris Karloff's “Thriller” as the spectral figure
in the episode “The Return of Andrew Bentley”.
Mini Biography-2
Hennesy began working in movies as an extra in the early 1940s, when he was a student at USC.
He later became a stunt man, doubling action stars like Randolph Scott, Rod Cameron,
Rock Hudson and Jeff Chandler. He also worked as a general secondary
and elementary schoolteacher in many Hollywood film and TV studios;
his students included Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo
Tim Considine, Molly Bee, Paul Anka, Tommy Rettig and Annette Funicello.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Tom Weaver
Filmography
Actor/ Stunts
1972 Squares...Hilly
1971 Big Jake..Mr.Sweet (stunts)
1968 The Green Berets...Soldier (uncredited) (stunts - uncredited)
1967 The War Wagon (stunts - uncredited)
1966 Stagecoach (stunts - uncredited)
1963 McLintock! (stunts - uncredited)
1963 Donovan's Reef (stunts - uncredited)
1962 Have Gun - Will Travel (TV series)– Taylor's Woman (1962) … Clyde Moss
1962 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance...Buck Langhorn (uncredited) (stunts - uncredited)
1962 Gun Law (TV series)– Cody's Code (1962) … Art (uncredited)
1961 Thriller (TV series)– The Return of Andrew Bentley (1961) … The Familiar
1961 The Comancheros... Gordo - Graile's Bodyguard (uncredited)(stunts - uncredited)
1960 North to Alaska...Outlaw (uncredited) (stunts - uncredited)
1960 The Alamo...Bull (uncredited) (stunts - uncredited)
1959 The Horse Soldiers (stunts - uncredited)
1958 The Buccaneer...Pirate (uncredited) (stunts - uncredited)
1958 Onionhead (stunts - uncredited)
1958 26 Men (TV series)– Cattle Embargo (1958) … Jeff Conley
1956 The Ten Commandments (stunts - uncredited)
1955 Blood Alley (stunts - uncredited)
1956 Further Adventures of Spin and Marty (TV series)...North Fork Counselor
1955 Cheyenne (TV series) (stunt double: Clint Walker)
1955 The Road to Denver...Man (uncredited) (stunts - uncredited)
1955 Prince of Players...Man in Tavern (uncredited) (stunts - uncredited)
1955 Revenge of the Creature...The Gill Man (on land)/Marineland Diver (uncredited)
1955 The Long Gray Line...Cadet Dotson (uncredited)
1954-1955 The Mickey Rooney Show (TV series)
Jack Corey / Tom
– The Basketball Star (1955) … Tom
– Tiger Mulligan (1954) … Jack Corey
1954 Prince Valiant...Knight (uncredited)
1954 It Should Happen to You...Board Member (uncredited)
1954 The Caine Mutiny (stunts - uncredited)
1954 The High and the Mighty (stunts - uncredited)
1953 The Robe (stunts - uncredited)
1953 Trouble Along the Way (stunts - uncredited)
1952 Jack and the Beanstalk (stunt double: Buddy Baer - uncredited)
1951 Iron Man (stunts - uncredited)