Kevin John Conway (May 29, 1942 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and film director. He died on February 5, 2020, of a heart attack.

Early life

Conway was born in New York City to Helen Margaret (née Sanders), a sales representative, and James John Conway, an Irish mechanic.

He received his acting training at HB Studio in New York City.

Theatre

Conway's off-Broadway credits include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, One for the Road, The Elephant Man, Other People's Money, and When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?, for which he received the 1974 Drama Desk Award.

On Broadway, he has appeared in Indians, Moonchildren, and in revivals of The Plough and the Stars, Of Mice and Men (as George Milton, opposite James Earl Jones as Lennie Small), and Dinner at Eight. In 1980, he was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play (Mecca).

Film

In Conway's first major screen role, he portrayed Roland Weary in the 1972 film Slaughterhouse-Five, based on the Kurt Vonnegut novel.

Among other film roles, Conway played Crum Petree, the insane mailman in the 1988 film Funny Farm, Frank Papale in the fact-based 2006 Disney football drama Invincible and General Curtis LeMay in the 2000 historical drama Thirteen Days. He played the fictional Buster Kilrain in Ron Maxwell's Civil War Duology: Gods and Generals and Gettysburg.

In 1987, Conway directed the independent film The Sun and the Moon.

Television

From 1995 to 2002, he was the Control Voice for the revived series of The Outer Limits. He made a guest appearance on Star Trek: The Next Generation as the clone of the legendary Klingon figure Kahless. He guest starred on The Good Wife episodes "Threesome", "Boom", and "Wrongful Termination" as Jonas Stern, a founding partner of the titular character's law firm. He portrayed Seamus O'Reily, the abusive father of Ryan and Cyril O'Reily in the HBO prison drama Oz.

He was a guest star on JAG in the episode "King of Fleas" portraying a paraplegic Vietnam vet who confessed to a murder.[d] He has also guest starred on three Law & Order series, the original series, two guest appearances on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and one on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He also guest starred in the second season of In the Heat of the Night. He also played the father of Jenny (played by Olivia Wilde) in NBC's The Black Donnellys in 2007.

Filmography

• Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) as Roland Weary
• Portnoy's Complaint (1972) as Smolka
• F.I.S.T. (1978) as Vince Doyle
• Paradise Alley (1978) as Stitch
• The Scarlet Letter (1979) as Roger Chillingworth
• The Lathe of Heaven (1980) as Dr. Wiliam Haber
• The Funhouse (1981) as Conrad Straker the Funhouse Barker
• The Elephant Man (1982, TV movie) as Frederick Treves
• Flashpoint (1984) as Brook
• Funny Farm (1988) as Crum Petree, the Mailman (uncredited)
• Homeboy (1988) as Grazziano
• One Good Cop (1991) as Lieutenant Danny Quinn
• Jennifer 8 (1992) as Chief Citrine
• Gettysburg (1993) as Sgt. Buster Kilrain
• Streets of Laredo, (1995) as Mox Mox
• The Quick and the Dead (1995) as Eugene Dred
• The Outer Limits (1995-2002) as the control voice
• Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996) as Jonathan Walker
• Looking for Richard (1996) as William Hastings
• Titanic (1996 miniseries) as Hudson J. Allison.
• Mercury Rising (1998) as Joe Lomax
• Two Family House (2000) as Jim O'Neary
• Thirteen Days (2000) as Gen. Curtis LeMay
• Black Knight (2001) as King Leo
• Mark Twain (2001) as the voice of Mark Twain
• Gods and Generals (2003) as Sgt. Buster Kilrain
• Mystic River (2003) as Theo (uncredited)
• Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (documentary) (2005) as the voice of Jack London
• Invincible (2006) as Frank Papale
• The Bronx Is Burning (2007) as Gabe Paul
• The National Parks: America's Best Idea (2009) as the voice of various historical figures
• The Dust Bowl (2012) as the voice of Ernie Pyle
• Is That a Gun in Your Pocket? (2016) as Cyrus
• Who Killed Jane Doe? (2017-2018) as the Narrator