Robert F. Kennedy
, the 64th
United States Attorney General
, a U.S. senator from New York, and the brother of United States president
John F. Kennedy
, has frequently been depicted or referenced in works of popular culture.
Documentaries
[
edit
]
Robert Drew
's 1963 documentary
Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment
focused on Governor
George Wallace
's
Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
at the
University of Alabama
.
Documentary filmmaker
DA Pennebaker
made several films featuring Kennedy. His short film
Jingle Bells
(1964) follows Kennedy and his children as they celebrate Christmas in New York City with local school children and
Sammy Davis Jr.
[1]
His later film
Hickory Hill
documents the 1968 Annual Spring Pet Show at Hickory Hill, the Kennedy Virginia estate.
[2]
Robert Kennedy Remembered
(1968), by
Charles Guggenheim
, honored Kennedy soon after his death.
In 1970, ABC-TV presented
David L. Wolper
's film
The Unfinished Journey of Robert F. Kennedy
, narrated by
John Huston
.
[3]
In 1973, Gerard Alcan directed and produced
The Second Gun
, a film about Kennedy's murder.
[4]
Shane O' Sullivan
's 2007 documentary
RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy
investigates the
assassination
and
conspiracy theories
surrounding it.
The documentary film,
A Ripple of Hope
(2008), retells Kennedy's call for peace during a campaign stop in Indianapolis, on April 4, 1968, the evening of the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
[5]
The documentary film,
RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope
(2010), follows his five-day visit to South Africa in June 1966, during which he made his famous
Ripple of Hope
speech at the
University of Cape Town
.
[6]
The documentary film,
Ethel
(2012), about the life of
Ethel Kennedy
, recounts many of the major personal and political events of Kennedy's life, through interviews with family members including Ethel herself, and news footage.
[7]
[8]
In 2018,
Netflix
released the 4-part documentary
Bobby Kennedy for President
that focused on his political rise and brief
campaign for president in 1968
.
[9]
Films and television
[
edit
]
Kennedy's role in the
Cuban Missile Crisis
has been dramatized by
Martin Sheen
in the TV play
The Missiles of October
(1974) and by
Steven Culp
in
Thirteen Days
(2000).
[10]
He is portrayed by
John Shea
in the TV miniseries
Kennedy
(1983).
[11]
He is portrayed by
Cotter Smith
in the television miniseries
Blood Feud
(1983).
He is portrayed by
Brad Davis
in the three-part TV mini-series
Robert Kennedy and His Times
(1985), based on the book by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
[12]
The 1985 film
Prince Jack
portrays Attorney General Kennedy's (
James F. Kelly
) efforts to address the
Civil rights movement
.
He is portrayed by
Nicholas Campbell
in the television mini-series
Hoover vs. The Kennedys
(1987).
He was portrayed by
Kevin Anderson
in
Hoffa
(1992)
[13]
[14]
and by
?eljko Ivanek
in the HBO film
The Rat Pack
(1998).
[15]
He is played by
Linus Roache
in the made-for-TV movie
RFK
(2002), which portrays his life from the time of his brother's assassination to his own death.
[16]
The film
Bobby
(2006) is the story of multiple people's lives leading up to RFK's assassination. The film employs stock footage from his presidential campaign, and he is briefly portrayed by Dave Fraunces.
[17]
Barry Pepper
won an Emmy for his portrayal of Kennedy in
The Kennedys
(2011), an 8-part miniseries.
[18]
[19]
In the biographical movie
J. Edgar
(2011), RFK is played by
Jeffrey Donovan
.
[20]
He was played by Russell Lucas in
Seven Days That Made a President
(2013).
Jack Noseworthy
plays Robert Kennedy in the 2013 film
Killing Kennedy
.
He is played by
Peter Sarsgaard
in the film about Jacqueline Kennedy,
Jackie
(2016).
[21]
[22]
He is played by
Julian Ovenden
in the TV series
The Crown
in the episode "Dear Mrs Kennedy" (2017).
He is played by
Jack Huston
in
Martin Scorsese
's film
The Irishman
(2019).
[23]
Other arts, entertainment, and media
[
edit
]
Music
[
edit
]
The Rolling Stones
began recording the song "
Sympathy for the Devil
" on June 4, 1968.
[24]
The original lyrics included the line, "I shouted out 'Who killed Kennedy?'", which was changed to, "I shouted out 'Who killed the Kennedys?'"
[25]
The 1968 song "
Abraham, Martin and John
" is a tribute to
Abraham Lincoln
,
Martin Luther King Jr.
, John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.
[26]
The song "Starlight" by
Taylor Swift
on her 2012 album
Red
is about the courtship of Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel.
[27]
Novels
[
edit
]
James Ellroy
wrote a fictionalized historical version of Robert F. Kennedy in his
Underworld USA Trilogy
novels.
[28]
[29]
He is an important secondary character, and appears in two of the three novels in the trilogy:
American Tabloid
(1995) and
The Cold Six Thousand
(2001).
Plays
[
edit
]
British playwright
Roy Smiles
' play about Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign,
The Last Pilgrim
, was staged in London in 2010.
[30]
It was shortlisted for Best Play at the Off West End Awards in the UK in 2011.
[31]
Robert F. Kennedy is the inspiration behind British theatre maker Russell Lucas's 'The Bobby Kennedy Experience' , directed by Sarah-Louise Young.
Poetry
[
edit
]
Robert Lowell
wrote several poems about Kennedy; his
elegy
for him includes the line, "doom was woven in your nerves".
[32]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"
Jingle Bells
"
.
phfilms.com
. Archived from
the original
on August 19, 2016
. Retrieved
August 19,
2016
.
- ^
"Hickory Hill"
.
phfilms.com
. Archived from
the original
on August 19, 2016
. Retrieved
August 19,
2016
.
- ^
"
The Unfinished Journey of Robert F. Kennedy
(1970)"
.
David L. Wolper
. Archived from
the original
on August 19, 2016
. Retrieved
August 19,
2016
.
- ^
"The Second Gun: Who Really Killed Robert Kennedy?"
.
freedocumentaries.org
. Retrieved
2019-01-26
.
- ^
"Ripple of Hope"
.
rippleofhopemovie.com
. Retrieved
May 4,
2012
.
- ^
Shore, Larry.
"RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope"
.
rfksafilm.org
. Retrieved
April 7,
2011
.
- ^
"A Kennedy home movie: Ethel Kennedy and family remember"
.
The Boston Globe
. October 18, 2012.
- ^
Stuever, Hank (October 11, 2012).
"HBO's 'Ethel': A Kennedy daughter, born late, reaches into the vault of memories"
.
The Washington Post
.
- ^
Gilbert, Sophie (2018-04-30).
"
'Bobby Kennedy for President' Captures an Awkward Icon"
.
The Atlantic
. Retrieved
2018-12-06
.
- ^
Teachout, Terry (October 15, 2012).
"
"The Missiles of October"
"
.
The Wall Street Journal
. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Archived from
the original
on August 19, 2016
. Retrieved
August 19,
2016
.
- ^
"Best and worst portrayals of JFK"
.
Daily Journal
. November 22, 2013.
- ^
"Robert Kennedy & His Times (mini-series) - Sony's Formal Press Release for Their 2-DVD Set"
. TVShows on dvd. Archived from
the original
on August 19, 2016
. Retrieved
August 19,
2016
.
- ^
Johnson, Malcolm (December 25, 1992).
"Nicholson Performance Strong, But Devito Robs 'Hoffa' Of Drama"
.
Hartford Courant
.
- ^
Thompson, Gary (December 24, 1992).
"Solidarity With 'Hoffa' Teamster Boss Portrayed As Working-class Tragic Hero"
. philly.com.
- ^
"Review: 'The Rat Pack'
"
.
Variety
. Archived from
the original
on August 19, 2016
. Retrieved
August 19,
2016
.
- ^
"Matt Damon set to play Bobby Kennedy in new RFK biopic - report"
.
New York Daily News
. February 24, 2010.
- ^
"About 21st Street Films"
. 21st Street Films. Archived from
the original
on August 19, 2016
. Retrieved
August 19,
2016
.
- ^
"Barry Pepper Says 'Kennedys' Emmy Nods a 'Wonderful Validation'
"
.
wsj.com
. July 15, 2011.
- ^
"9 actors who have played John F. Kennedy"
. theweek.com. November 8, 2013.
- ^
Fleming, Mike (March 8, 2011).
"Jeffrey Donovan Playing RFK in 'J. Edgar
'
"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
- ^
"Peter Sarsgaard to Play Robert Kennedy Opposite Natalie Portman in 'Jackie' (EXCLUSIVE)"
.
Variety.com
. October 28, 2015.
- ^
Smith, Nigel M. (October 28, 2015).
"Peter Sarsgaard set to play Robert F Kennedy opposite Natalie Portman"
.
The Guardian
.
- ^
"
'The Irishman' another hit for DeNiro, Pacino, Scorsese"
. bostonherald.com. November 15, 2019.
- ^
Zentgraf, Nico.
"The Complete Works of the Rolling Stones 1962?2008"
.
nzentgraf.de
. Retrieved
February 23,
2008
.
- ^
Jagger/Richards (June 20, 2004).
"Sympathy for the Devil"
.
RollingStones.com
. Archived from
the original
on September 30, 2007
. Retrieved
March 1,
2008
.
- ^
Margolick, David (2018-06-05).
"Opinion | How Robert Kennedy Inspired 'Abraham, Martin and John'
"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2018-12-06
.
- ^
Farley, Christopher John (October 18, 2012).
"Taylor Swift's Kennedy Inspiration"
.
The Wall Street Journal
. Retrieved
April 23,
2022
.
- ^
Ellroy, James
(1995).
American Tabloid
.
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
ISBN
0-679-40391-4
.
- ^
Ellroy, James
(2001).
The Cold Six Thousand
.
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
ISBN
0-679-40392-2
.
- ^
"The Last Pilgrim by Roy Smiles at the White Bear 28 Sep"
.
londontheatre.co.uk
. September 5, 2010.
- ^
"Roy Smiles"
.
Red Admiral Records LLP
.
- ^
Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr. (1978).
"Robert Kennedy and His Times"
.