Brian Dennehy, known for his award winning performances on film, stage, and television died on Wednesday in New Haven, Conneticut, from cardiac arrest due to sepsis. He was 81.
Dennehy, winner of one Golden Globe, two Tony Awards and a recipient of six Primetime Emmy Award nominations was widely know for his breakthrough role as sheriff Will Teasle in First Blood (1982) opposite Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo.
Other memorable supporting parts in films include Split Image (1982), Legal Eagles (1986), F/X: Murder By Illusion (1986), Presumed Innocent (1990), F/X2: The Deadly Art of Illusion (1991) and Prophet of Evil (1993).
He also starred in the Peter Greenaway film The Belly of an Architect, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the 1987 Chicago International Film Festival.
Survivors include his second wife Jennifer Arnott (his first wife Judith Lee Scheff Dennehy died in 2015) and five children, Elizabeth Dennehy, Cormack Dennehy, Kathleen Dennehy, Deirdre Dennehy, and Sarah Dennehy.