Films such as Rambo: First Blood and Rambo 3 helped Richard Krenna earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but there were more interesting projects in his filmography. His career spanned over 60 years, he began on the radio at the time of his heyday, and continued on television and the big screen. He was an actor, director, producer and active member of the Screen Actors Guild.
Biography Facts
Richard Anthony Krenna was born November 30, 1926 in Los Angeles (California) in the family of pharmacist Dominic Anthony Krenna. His mother was the manager of a small family hotel chain. Both parents had Italian roots. Richard was the only child in the family.
He graduated from high school in Los Angeles in 1944. After Krenna he served in the US Army, during World War II - in the infantry as a radio operator.
After the war, the future actor went to study at the University of Southern California, where he majored in English. Upon graduation, he received a bachelor of arts degree.
Career on the radio
In 1937, he got his first role in a radio show - it was "a child who did everything wrong." Richard Krenna continued to appear on the air until 1948. One of the first serious roles took place in the show "Date with Judy." The actor looked young for his age, had a pleasant and sonorous voice, and at twenty-six years old he continued to play high school students.
From 1948 to 1952, Krenna played Walter Denton in the show Our Miss Brooks. Together with the project, he moved to the television screen and the viewer for the first time not only heard, but also saw his beloved actor.
In 1956, in the series Father Knows Better, Krenna appeared in the episode Prospective Young Man as a protégé named Woody. Then Krenna joined the cast of the comedy project Real McCoy. He later became one of the four directors of the series.
1960s - 1970s
The actor played California State Senator James Saltari in the television series “The Slatter People” (from 1964 to 1966), and for this role he was twice nominated for an Emmy Award and Golden Globe. In 1967, Richard Krenna played the criminal in the psychological chamber film thriller Wait for the Dark, based on the play by F. Nott, in 1969 in the fantastic drama The Lost.
In the 1970s, Krenna continued her activities in the cinema. He took part in the Catloe Western, the French-Italian thriller Police Officers, and the television series Dirty Wet Money.
1980s - early 2000s
During this period, the actor continued to star in television and film. In 1980, the horror film with his participation - “The Ship of Death”, was released. He played one of the main roles in the thriller Lawrence Casdan's "Heat of the Body", filmed in the neo-noir style. His partners on the set were Kathleen Turner and William Hurt.
Perhaps his most famous role was ex-commander John Rambo - Colonel Sam Troutman. The character appears in the first three films about Rambo. Originally, Kirk Douglas was approved for the role , but because of disagreements, he was removed from the project during the filming. The action movie was released in 1982 and was incredibly successful, accompanied by two sequels. Richard Krenna also participated in the next two films. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said the following about the success of the film: “This series of films has given me such crazy popularity that I, as an actor, have never had. I feel like I'm part of some kind of cult. ”
This was followed by such projects as “Two: Me and My Shadow”, “Table for Five”, “The Flamingo Guy” and the documentary “Tragedy at the Altar”.
In 1985, Richard Krenn was invited to star in the television film The Richard Beck Affair. The actor received an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe nomination for her.
Next came the fantastic detective Leviathan (1989), the romantic comedies Pyromaniac: A Love Story, Sabrina and the drama Whore in 1995, the adventure film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997), and the adventure action movie Without Guilty Guilty ”(1998), the TV show“ Fair Amy ”(1999-2005), the political drama“ The Day When the President was Shot ”(2001).
Krenna was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It is interesting that the star of Sylvester Stallone (his partner in a series of films about Rambo) is located just a couple of meters.
Illness and death
Actor Richard Krenna suffered from pancreatic cancer in the last few years of his life, but he reportedly died at the age of 75 from congestive heart failure on January 17, 2003, in Los Angeles. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were provided to family and friends.
For the first time, the actor got married right after graduating from the University. The marriage was short-lived.
Penny Sweeney Krenna met his second wife in the late 1950s. Having married in 1959, the couple lived together for more than forty years. In the marriage, a son, Richard, and daughters, Sean and Maria, were born. In the photo below - an actor with his adult children.
“He had such an impressive filmography and career, because he lived for his work. If you have never seen him on screen as an actor, you must have heard him on the radio, ”said one of the daughters after the actor’s death in an interview with the New York Times. America knew him by his voice, and the whole world - by the series "Rambo" and the film "The Case of Richard Beck."