James “Radio” Kennedy, the South Carolina high school football mainstay whose story inspired the 2003 film Radio, starring Cuba Gooding Jr., has died at age 73.
T.L. Hanna High School football coach Harold Jones confirmed Kennedy’s death to the Independent Mail, a newspaper in Anderson, Sc. Jackie Kennedy, his niece and caregiver, told local TV station Wyff that Kennedy was hospitalized Saturday night before succumbing Sunday morning.
According to Jones, Kennedy had been treated for pancreatitis as well as ongoing diabetes and kidney issues.
Kennedy was a fixture in the school’s football program, earning his nickname by carrying a transistor radio everywhere he went. Kennedy coped with his intellectual disability by steadily attending football games at Hanna in the 1960s. He remained a constant presence at the school until his death. An article in Sports Illustrated brought his story to a national audience, providing the basis for the film.
“He was just a fine,...
T.L. Hanna High School football coach Harold Jones confirmed Kennedy’s death to the Independent Mail, a newspaper in Anderson, Sc. Jackie Kennedy, his niece and caregiver, told local TV station Wyff that Kennedy was hospitalized Saturday night before succumbing Sunday morning.
According to Jones, Kennedy had been treated for pancreatitis as well as ongoing diabetes and kidney issues.
Kennedy was a fixture in the school’s football program, earning his nickname by carrying a transistor radio everywhere he went. Kennedy coped with his intellectual disability by steadily attending football games at Hanna in the 1960s. He remained a constant presence at the school until his death. An article in Sports Illustrated brought his story to a national audience, providing the basis for the film.
“He was just a fine,...
- 12/15/2019
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
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