Ed Strang and Brian Dennehy at the first Ed Strang Day in Derby in 1994. Photo courtesy of Randy Ritter.
Brian Dennehy, the respected stage, film, and television actor whose earliest performance was in a Boy Scout production in Derby in 1948, died Wednesday, according to a post on social media from his daughter, Elizabeth.
“It is with heavy hearts we announce that our father, Brian, passed away last night from natural causes, not Covid-related,” Elizabeth Dennehy posted on Twitter Thursday. “Larger than life, generous to a fault, a proud and devoted father and grandfather, he will be missed by his wife Jennifer, family and many friends.”
He was 81.
Click here for The New York Times obituary.
Dennehy, who lived in Woodstock according to WFSB, has relatives in the Valley, including the Manion and Monahan families.
He was born in Bridgeport. Part of his formative years (at about 9 or 10 years old) were spent living on Mount Pleasant Street in Derby from 1945 to 1948. In Derby he was a Cub Scout in Cub Pack 3. He also lived in Shelton growing up.
In 1948 he performed in the Scouts’ annual variety show in the basement of the United Methodist Church on Elizabeth Street across from the Derby Green, and returned to the spot in 1994 to show his appreciation for iconic Scout leader Ed Strang.
According to “Variety,” Dennehy “served in the Marines from 1959 – 63, after which he studied history at Columbia, attending the university on a football scholarship. He subsequently earned his MFA in dramatic arts from Yale.”
He became a bonafide movie star in the 1980s, starting with his breakout performance as a hot-headed small-town sheriff in “First Blood,” opposite Slyvester Stallone. The movie birthed the fictional hero John Rambo.
Wikimedia Commons
Brian Dennehy in a 2009 photo.
Dennehy starred in big-budget studio films such as “Cocoon,” a box office smash, and “Silverado,” an all-star Western directed by Lawrence Kasden. Both movies were released in 1985.
In 1987 he starred with James Woods in “Best Seller,” a pulpy thriller, after starring opposite Bryan Brown in 1986 in “F/X,” another box office hit that spawned a sequel.
In 1995, Dennehy appeared briefly in “Tommy Boy,” as giant manchild Chris Farley’s barrel-chested father. The film is a comedy cult classic.
Dennehy’s work on the stage is legendary. He was regarded as an actor’s actor. A titan.
Connecticut journalist and critic Joe Meyers called him “one of the great actors” of our time.
“We were so fortunate that one of the great stage actors of our time lived in Connecticut and chose to do some of his finest work here at Long Wharf Theatre in collaboration with artistic director Gordon Edelstein,” Meyers posted on Facebook Thursday. Click here for an interview Meyers conducted with Dennehy in 2017.
But Dennehy never forgot his Valley roots nor Ed Strang, Derby’s iconic Scout leader.
When the Boy Scouts and a group of city volunteers contacted Dennehy to make an appearance in his old hometown, Dennehy agreed — with one condition:
“It had to be an event to honor Ed Strang,” Troop 3 Scoutmaster Randy Ritter said.
The result was the annual “Ed Strang Day,” the first of which was held with Dennehy as a special guest in September 1994.
Brian Dennehy, third from left, in the Derby Cub Scouts in 1947. Photo courtesy of Randy Ritter.
Strang and Dennehy had kept in touch over the years. Strang would send out about 1,000 Christmas cards to former Scouts. Dennehy was on the list, and either he or his family would write back. Strang passed away in 1995.
Dennehy’s appearance in 1994 started with an opening reception at Grassy Hill Lodge and continued with an event on the Derby Green that showed off scouting. Dennehy was given a key to the city.
Dennehy joked that a key would’ve come in handy when he was a kid to raid Vonetes Palace of Sweets on Main Street, for a hot fudge sundae. Later, at a small reception at the United Methodist Church, Frances Terlizzi, the shop’s owner, showed up with a sundae for Dennehy.
“He was a regular guy. Anybody who wanted a photograph with him, anybody who wanted an autograph, got it,” Ritter said. “He could not have been more generous with his time.”
Ritter said Ed Strang was a huge influence on Dennehy, as he was on generations of Derby youth.
“Brian talked about how growing up in those days fathers were not around because they were always working. I think Ed was a father figure for a lot of people,” Ritter said.
Video from Dennehy’s appearance in Derby is available on YouTube. He addresses a crowd on the Green about 32 minutes into the video:
Ritter saw Dennehy perform on stage in Connecticut and on Broadway. Groups of Derby residents would see him perform.
“I would pass a note saying Derby people were here and he would always invite us for a photograph,” Ritter said.
Derby Town/City Clerk (and former mayor) Marc Garofalo also met Dennehy backstage several times over the years.
He said Dennehy was larger than life, but also down to earth.
“It was intimidating, but you’d start talking to him and it was like talking to someone you knew for years. He would talk about Derby. He would talk about Mount Pleasant Street. I think he was a person who never forgot where he came from,” Garofalo said.
Brian Mezzepelle, currently the chief of the Storms Ambulance Corps, met Dennehy with a group of Boy Scouts after a theater performance 11 years ago. He was 16 at the time.
“After the show he had come over and talked to us about when he was a kid growing up in Derby and about the different things he’d done in his career,” Mezzepelle said. “Overall it was a cool experience to meet someone that famous who was from Derby.”
In 1999, Dennehy won a best actor Tony Award for his portrayal of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman.” Below is an interview Dennehy and Miller did with Charlie Rose.
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