Dennehy's portrayal of killer John Wayne Gacy is indeed chilling; the scenes where he is taunting police officers while in full clown getup are some of the most surreally disturbing ever put on film and Dennehy hit just the right amount of menace and evil without turning the portrayal into a caricature; Dennehy was nominated for an Emmy Award for the role, but unfortunately lost; it should be noted, the same year saw him also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for another TV film he appeared in, a not too shabby achievement for any actor to win two nominations for two separate role in two separate projects...
Looking at his career, I wonder if his film and TV work was solely a means of supporting his stage career; many actors, particularly those in strong live stage theater cities like New York, take TV or film roles for the larger paychecks as a means of allowing themselves the luxury of pursuing live stage roles. The actor Richard Jordan used to take TV and film roles to secure the money for his stage work and to support a theater group he had founded; his income from TV and film also gave him the freedom to write, produce and direct stage projects across the US; Dennehy, likewise, had much more of a presence in the live theater world, and found greater recognition in the theater...
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