Tributes to the late star have since flooded in, with many well known Hollywood stars expressing their sadness.
"Condolences to the family of Brian Dennehy. A wonderfully talented actor," actor William Shatner tweeted,
Sylvester Stallone, who starred alongside Brian in Rambo, also paid homage to his close friend, revealing they worked closely to develop the iconic character.
"The great actor Brian Dennehy has passed away. He simply was a great actor ... He also was a Vietnam vet that helped me very much building the character of RAMBO. The world has lost a great artist," he captioned the Instagram post which included a photo of the duo during filming.
The Connecticut born actor— who has starred in 40 odd films— began his career doing comedic films and went on to star in Semi-Tough with Burt Reynolds, Foul Play with Chevy Chase and 10 with Dudley Moore. In 1982, he secured his place in Hollywood when he scored his breakthrough role as the Sheriff, Will Teasle, who jailed Rambo in First Blood.
Fans of the star may also remember he appeared in films such as Split Image, Legal Eagles, F/X: Murder By Illusion and Prophet of Evil.
"It took a long time for me to have any impact in the business because I didn't look like an actor, I didn't sound like an actor," he told CBS "Sunday Morning" in 2007.
Away from the big screen, Brian was an acclaimed stage performer and appeared on Broadway six times. Most notably, he played Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s “Death of A Salesman” in 1999 and James Tyrone in Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” in 2003. His last appearance on stage was in “The Iceman Cometh” at BAM in 2015.
Throughout his career, he amassed six Emmy nominations, most recently in 2005 for the eery sexual abuse drama, Our Fathers. He also scored two Tony awards and a Golden Globe. He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2010.
The late star is survived by his wife, costume designer Jennifer Arnott, and his five children, Elizabeth, Kathleen, Deirdre, Cormac and Sarah.
