Burton Raphael Kennedy (September 3, 1922 – February 15, 2001) was an American screenwriter and director known mainly for directing Westerns.
Kennedy was commissioned and saw World War II service in the 1st Cavalry Division during the Liberation of the Philippines as a first lieutenant.
Kennedy made his directorial debut with the Western The Canadians (1961) with Robert Ryan, which he also wrote, but it did poorly at the box office.
Kennedy returned to features as director with the Western comedy Mail Order Bride (1964) with Buddy Ebsen.
[2] He followed it with comedy Western The Rounders (1965), starring Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda, which Kennedy also wrote and produced.
Kennedy directed The War Wagon (1967) with John Wayne and Kirk Douglas and Welcome to Hard Times (1967) with Henry Fonda.
His story formed the basis of Return of the Gunfighter (1967), though he did not direct it and he did some work on the script of Stay Away, Joe (1968).
Kennedy made Hannie Caulder (1971) with Raquel Welch and was reunited with John Wayne in The Train Robbers (1973).
He turned to television for Shootout in a One Dog Town (1974) with Crenna, and Sidekicks (1974), the pilot for a TV series based on the film Skin Game (1971).
Kennedy started directing Drum (1976), but was replaced by producer Dino De Laurentiis with Steve Carver during the shoot.
Kennedy returned to television doing episodes of Big Hawaii, How the West Was Won, The Rhinemann Exchange, and Concrete Cowboys.
He did a feature with Donald Sutherland, The Trouble with Spies (shot 1984 released 1987), the TV movies Louis L'Amour's Down the Long Hills, The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory (1987), Once Upon a Texas Train (1988), Where the Hell's That Gold?
Kennedy's last credits as director were the Hulk Hogan comedy Suburban Commando (1991) and the TV movie Comanche (2000).