Jon Kenny
Biography and cause of death of Jon Kenny
Jonathan Kenny (12 December 1957 – 15 November 2024) Jon Kenny was an Irish comedian and actor, best known as one half of the Irish comic duo D’Unbelievables with Pat Shortt. They were a successful duo until 2000, releasing One Hell of a Video, D’Unbelievables, D’Video, D’Telly, D’Mother and D’collection but the group stopped touring after Kenny was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Jon Kenny Early life
Jonathan Kenny was born in Hospital, County Limerick on 12 December 1957. His mother’s maiden name is Dirraine and his maternal grandparents came from Inishmore in the Aran Islands. He started his career in c. 1972, aged 15, performing with the Limerick band Gimik before switching to acting.
Jon Kenny Career
Kenny was an accomplished singer, having performed with Sharon Shannon, and a supporter of Munster Rugby. He filmed a lead role in the independent Irish feature film Insatiable, directed by Jessie Kirby. On his 2007 DVD, Back to Front, Kenny said he played his first serious role in the film, the “nastiest man in Ireland”.
Jon Kenny had dyslexia and never received formal training.
Having taken a decade-long break from performing due to illness, Kenny returned to solo comedy in 2010 and continued to perform throughout Ireland with his one-man show. In the spring of 2007, Kenny released his first solo stand-up DVD Back to Front.
Kenny hosted the theatre show Mag Mell with visual artist Des Dillon and musician and composers Benny McCarthy and Conal Ó Gráda from 2012 until 2014; creating its puppets, costumes and set.
Kenny portrayed the character Gerry in The Banshees of Inisherin in 2022. His last acting appearance was in The Hurler: A Campion’s Tale in 2023, appearing as the main character Gar Campion’s coach and mentor.
Jon Kenny , along with Shortt, as part of D’Unbelievables, won the Meteor Music Award in 2001 in the Best Selling Irish Video category for his work on “D’Mother”. Kenny; along with castmates Kerry Condon, Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan, Gary Lydon, Bríd Ní Neachtain and Pat Shortt, was nominated for the Gold Derby Award by the Gold Derby in the Best Ensemble category for his work on The Banshees of Inisherin in 2023. He was also nominated for the Critics’ Choice Movie Award for Best Acting Ensemble in 2022 for his work on the film.
Jon Kenny Personal life, illness and death
Kenny with Seán Kelly in 2014
Kenny married Marguerite in 1988 and the couple went on to have two children.
Kenny was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2000 and received a stem cell transplant. He was fully treated in 2004. In 2011, Kenny underwent a triple heart bypass and suffered from heart failure afterwards His cancer recurred in 2020 and he had lung surgery. From 2023, Kenny received chemotherapy after cancer was detected on his left lung. Additionally, he also underwent heart surgery.
Kenny died aged 66, from heart failure and lung cancer at the Galway Clinic in Ireland on 15 November 2024. He had suffered from a heart attack on 10 November and never regained consciousness. He was buried at the Lough Gur Cemetery on 19 November, after a funeral at St Patrick’s Church, Patrickswell.
Source: Wikipedia