Dennehy was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Hannah (Mannion) and Edward Dennehy, a wire service editor for the Associated Press. He has two brothers, Michael and Edward. He is of Irish ancestry and was raised Roman Catholic. The family relocated to Long Island, New York, where Dennehy attended Chaminade High School in the town of Mineola.\n', '

A football scholarship paved the way to Columbia University in New York City, where he played football, earned a BA in history and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He went on to graduate studies in dramatic arts at Yale University. He played rugby union for Old Blue RFC. Prior to pursuing acting Dennehy worked as a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch in their Manhattan office in the mid 1970s.\n', '

Dennehy is primarily known as a dramatic actor. His breakthrough role was as the overzealous sheriff Will Teasle in First Blood (1982) opposite Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo.\n', '

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