Kennedy (miniseries)

Kennedy
DVD cover
Created by	Reg Gadney
Directed by	Jim Goddard
Starring	Martin Sheen
Country of origin	United Kingdom / United States
Production
Running time	311 min.
Release
Picture format	4:3
Original release	20 November 1983

Kennedy is a five-hour miniseries written by Reg Gadney and directed by Jim Goddard.^[1] The TV miniseries was a biography of the 1961-1963 presidency of John F. Kennedy. The miniseries was produced by Central Independent Television and originally aired in the United States starting on 20 November 1983 around the time of the 20th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination.

The mini-series stars Martin Sheen as President John F. Kennedy, John Shea as Robert F. Kennedy, Blair Brown as Jacqueline Kennedy, E. G. Marshall as Joseph P. Kennedy, Vincent Gardenia as J. Edgar Hoover and Kelsey Grammer as Stephen Smith amongst many others.

The series was broadcast on NBC, and was also sold to 50 Countries, with 27 of them broadcasting the series simultaneous.^[2] The series was nominated for 3 Golden Globes and 4 BAFTA, and won Baftas for Best Drama Series and Best Make Up.^[3]

Cast

• Martin Sheen as John F. Kennedy
• Blair Brown as Jacqueline Kennedy
• John Shea as Robert F. Kennedy
• E. G. Marshall as Joseph P. Kennedy
• Geraldine Fitzgerald as Rose Kennedy
• Vincent Gardenia as J. Edgar Hoover
• Kelsey Grammer as Stephen Smith
• Charles Brown as Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Kevin Conroy as Edward M. Kennedy
• Nesbitt Blaisdell as Lyndon B. Johnson
• Tom Brennan as Adlai Stevenson
• Ellen Parker as Ethel Kennedy
• Donald Neal as Ralph Yarborough
• John Glover as Bill
• Jessica Ann Durr as Caroline Kennedy (ages 5–6)
• Hannah Fallon as Caroline Kennedy (ages 3–4)
• James Burge as Peter Lawford
• Peter Boyden as Pierre Salinger
• Laurie Kennedy as Patricia Kennedy Lawford
• Joe Lowry as Dave Powers
• Joanna Camp as Eunice Kennedy Shriver
• Al Conti as Sargent Shriver
• Frances Conroy as Jean Kennedy Smith
• Kent Broadhurst as Richard Paul Pavlick
• Peggy Hewitt as Letitia Baldrige
• David Leary as Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
• Don MacLaughlin as Chief Justice Earl Warren
• Larry Keith as Stanley Levison
• Harry Madsen as Clint Hill
• Tanny McDonald as Lady Bird Johnson
• Carmen Matthews as Mamie Eisenhower
• David Schramm as Robert McNamara
• Janet Sheen as Elaine de Kooning
• Trey Wilson as Kenneth O'Donnell
• George Guidall as Nicholas Katzenbach
• Barton Heyman as Curtis LeMay
• J.R. Dusenberry as John Connally
• Margo Tully as Nellie Connally

Historical Inaccuracies

Although this is a miniseries about the Presidency of John F. Kennedy, there are a few scenes depicting events which take dramatic license. These include:

• Richard Paul Pavlick was portrayed inaccurately as being 36 years at the time of his December, 1960 attack on then-President-elect Kennedy, rather than his real age at the time 73.
• In the scene before Jackie goes into labor with baby Patrick, she mentions Marilyn Monroe performing at Jack's birthday gala in New York, but the year is 1963. Monroe had already been dead for over a year by then, and in reality she performed for Jack in May 1962 (the actual month of his birthday), not 1963 as depicted in the film.
• In another scene before baby Patrick is born, Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his "I Have a Dream" speech, which the Kennedy family see on TV. In reality that event did not occur until two weeks and five days after the death of baby Patrick, who died prematurely on August 9, while the speech occurred on August 28. In the movie it is the other way around.

See also

• Prince Jack
• Hoover vs. The Kennedys
• The Kennedys (miniseries)
• Cultural depictions of John F. Kennedy

References

1. Kennedy: The Complete Series (1983), ASIN B001KGDNAW
2. Central. The Times, Tuesday, April 21, 1987; pg. 30
3. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085044/awards

External links

• Kennedy at the Internet Movie Database