Fred Kennedy
Born: 1909
Passed: 1958
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon”(1949), “Rio Grande”(1950), “Charge At Feather River”(1953), “Horse Soldiers”(1959).THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938; have pic of him as a soldier on a white horse at Bidwell Park, Chico, Ca.); THE RED STALLION (1947; fought the Red Stallion in a bear suit, which Tony Amaral, spoke of in his book about Movie Horses, but he failed to mention Freds name, he may not have known it); THE RETURN OF OCTOBER (1948; did the race horse fall with his mare Dixie…they slid 18 feet, and not a scratch on man nor horse); RED RIVER (1948, stunts); MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949; roping “Joe” w/Ben Johnson, etc.); SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949; he did some horse stunts and was “Badger”…fight scene with Victor McLaglen..he was the little guy, small speaking part); SOUTH TO ST LOUIS (1949; stunts, falling from horse); RIO GRANDE (1950; was Trooper Heinze); THE CHARGE AT FEATHER RIVER (1953; bit part…was Leech), THE SEARCHERS (1956; stunts), THE HORSE SOLDIER (1959; he was one of the soldiers that protected Constance Towers; he did stunts, and was killed doing a stunt, on location in La.).
Also, there was a war movie he did in the late 40’s, early 50’s…they were on location at the Isthmus at Catalina. I went to visit on location, when they finished up…and we were shipped back to Long Beach on a Water Taxie. The cameras and some of the crew…from 20th Century Fox. He also did a 1949 John Wayne film (stunts), that was filmed in Agoura, Ca.
There were more movies. Some of these he was credited for, and many not. I also have pics of him falling one of his horses at Hudkins Bros. He made a “short” for one of the studios in conjunction with the ASPA, that was on TV…Channel 2, Los Angeles, Ca. There were two 15 minute shorts, as I remember, showing the public how falling horses were trained, which prevented injuries, and they were well taken care of. He worked for all the studios, Warners, 20th Century Fox, Monogram, Republic, RKO, Universal. He stabled his stunt horses at Hudkins Brothers Ranch.
If you would like to see some of the pics….you can go to the webpage for www.members.tripod.com/~horsefame Then scroll down to Stuntman Fred Kennedy and his falling horses Trixie, Dixie and Shanghai.
He had no children of his own, only a stepdaughter who thought the world of him!
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