Jon Kenny, one half of the famous comedy team D’Unbelievables, died at Galway Clinic on Friday night. He was 59. This was the end of an era in Irish entertainment. He was 66 years old.
Kenny, from Hospital in County Limerick, became famous nationwide with his comedy partner Pat Shortt in the 1990s. Their unique style forever changed Irish humor. Fellow comic Dara Ó Briain said they “opened the door for all the rest of us.”
Even though Kenny had many health problems, he kept up a busy job in show business. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2000, which meant he couldn’t act for a while. He went back to the stage as a solo act after treatment that went well, which included a stem cell transplant at St. James’s Hospital.
Kenny’s acting skills went beyond comedy, and he received high praise for his parts in movies like “Angela’s Ashes” and “The Banshees of Inisherin.” He also did voice work for animation movies like “Song of the Sea” and “Wolfwalkers.”
In a radio interview earlier this year, Kenny talked openly about his ongoing fight with lung cancer. He kept acting even though his health was bad. Most recently, he was in John B. Keane’s play “The Matchmaker” and was working on his autobiography.
Politicians all over the country recognized Kenny’s effect on culture. Simon Harris, the Taoiseach, said that Kenny could “make his audiences crack up laughing with a glance or a single word.” He also said that Kenny was a very deep performer. Tánaiste Micheál Martin called him “one of the most famous actors and comedians in our country.”
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People in the comic world remembered how warm Kenny was. The popular duo The Two Johnnies fondly remembered Kenny’s fun side. They told of when he brought them bananas during a radio show and ate half of them live on air.
His wife Margie, children Leah and Aaron, and his extended family will miss him. Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Féin, may have said it best when she said he “made people laugh and smile.”
His death is a big loss for Irish comedy because it ends an age shaped by Kenny’s unique sense of humor and creative way of performing.
