A writer for radio in the late '40s, Kennedy was writing and directing for television by the early '50s, and a few years later was a scriptwriter for Budd Boetticher, penning several of his most memorable Randolph Scott westerns, including The Tall T and Ride Lonesome. Kennedy began directing in the early '60s, showing a special flair for action and westerns, most notably with the gritty Welcome to Hard Times. Kennedy's irrepressible wit eventually took over, with such comic oaters as The War Wagon, Support Your Local Sheriff, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys, and Ditry Dingus Magee -- but not before he scored with the thriller The Killer Inside Me. Since the mid '70s, Kennedy has worked mostly in television.