RICHARD CRENNA BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Richard Donald Crenna was born in November 30th, 1926 in Los Angeles, California.  His mother, Edith J. Pollette, managed a hotel in downtown Los Angeles, and he and his family resided there.  His father, Dominick Anthony Crenna was a pharmacist.  At the young age of eleven he was already showing an interest in the entertainment industry.  He worked on a radio show titled, "Boy Scout Jamboree".  For seventeen years on and off he would remain with this radio show and dozens of others such as "A Date With Judy" and " The Great Gildersleeve".  Upon completion of his High School education from Belmont High School, he entered University at the University of Southern California and majored in Theater arts. 
 
After college graduation, Crenna starred on two television hits, "Our Miss Brooks" (1952) which was originally a radio show and moved to television and "The Real McCoys" (1957) starring Walter Brennan as well as a guest starring role on "I Love Lucy" (1955-1956).  The "Real McCoys" soon shortened it's name to, "The McCoys' and moved the series from ABC to CBS for it's final season from 1962-1963.  He was gaining a ton of experience as an actor, but he did not become noticed for his talents until he starred in the brief series, "Slattery's People" (1964) with his role as a state legislator.  For this role he was nominated twice for Emmy Awards in 1965 and he was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1965. 

From this point on his career was on a major upswing and he was rarely not working on either a film set or television show.  He was not limiting himself to television work as he also had roles in such Western dramas as, "Catlow" (1971), "Breakheart Pass" (1975) and "A Man Called Noon" (1973).  He played the main character in the movie, "The Rape of Richard Beck" (1985) in which he was rewarded an Emmy and nomination for a Golden Globe Award.

Crenna starred in a variety of motion pictures thruogout his acting career, such as, "The Sand Pebbles" starring Steve McQueen (1966), "Wait Until Dark" (1967), "Body Heat" (1981) and "The Flamingo Kid" (1984).  Today, he is probably best remembered for his role as an ex commanding officer in the first of the three Rambo films starring Sylvestor Stallone, "First Blood" (1982) in which he spoofed this character later on in, "Hot Shots! Part Deux" (1993).  He also appeared in a total of seven made for television movies between 1985 and 1994.  Even going into the year 2000, he did not stop acting.  With a recurring role on, "Judging Amy" (1999).

Richard Crenna suffered from pancreatic cancer and sadly passed away January 17th, 2003 in Los Angeles, California from heart failure.  His remains were cremated.  Crenna has more then 70 major motion picture credits to his resume.  He was married twice in his lifetime, first to Joan Grisham in 1950, but they then divorced not too long after and he married Hannah Smith Sweeny on October 19th, 1957 and they stayed married until his passing.  All together, he had three children, Seana born 1955, Richard, born 1962 and Maria born in 1966.  Crenna was also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of fame. 

Filmography

1950  Let's Dance
1952  Red Skies of Montana
1952  The Pride of St. Louis
1952  It Grows on Trees
1956  Our Miss Brooks TV Series
1956  Over-Exposed
1957  The Real McCoys
1965  Ann-Margret: Made in Paris
1965  John Goldfarb, Please Come Home
1966  Made in Paris
1966  The Sand Pebbles
1967  Wait Until Dark
1968  Star!
1969  Midas Run
1969  Marooned
1971  Doctors' Wives
1971  The Deserter 
1971  Red Sky at Morning
1971  Catlow
1972  Un Flic Fr. aka "Dirty Money"
1973  The Man Called Noon
1973  Jonathan Livingston Seagull
1974  Double Indemnity
1975  A Girl Named Sooner
1975  Breakheart Pass
1978  The Evil
1978  Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell
1978  Centennial
1979  Wild Horse Hank
1979  Stone Cold Dead
1980  Death Ship
1981  Body Heat
1982  First Blood
1983  Table for Five
1984  The Flamingo Kid
1984  Terror in the Aisles
1985  The Rape of Richard Beck
1985  Rambo: First Blood Part II
1985  Summer Rental
1988  Rambo III
1989  Leviathan
1995  Hot Shots! Part Deux
1995  A Pyromaniac's Love Story
1995  Jade
1995  Sabrina
1997  20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1998  Wrongfully Accused
1999  Judging Amy TV Series
2000  By Dawn's Early Light
2002  Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents