Burt Kennedy

Who was Burt Kennedy?

Burt Kennedy was an American screenwriter and director known mainly for directing Westerns.

After World War II service in the 1st Cavalry Division, the Muskegon, Michigan-born Kennedy found work writing for radio, then used his training as a cavalry officer to secure a job as a fencing trainer and fencing stunt double in films. That led to Kennedy being hired to write for a television program with a fencing theme for John Wayne's Batjac Productions.

Although the TV program was never produced, it led Kennedy to write screenplays for a number of Batjac films starting with the 1956 western Seven Men from Now starring Randolph Scott. In the 1960s, after also becoming a film director, Kennedy moved on to write for western television programs. He wrote and directed an episode from the first season of the 60's TV series Combat! titled "The Walking Wounded."

In 1996, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.