Marklen Kennedy

Marklen Kennedy is an American actor, producer, film industry executive and founder of In Your Face Productions.

Marklen Kennedy
Born
Houston, Texas, United States
Alma materSouthern Methodist University
Occupation(s)Producer, actor, executive
SpouseCarey Lessard
Children2
Websitecampsite.bio/marklenkennedy/

Biography

Kennedy was born in Houston, Texas and raised in Plano, Texas.[1] He graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. He played college football and was named to an All Southwest Conference Football Team and was a player of interest to both the Dallas Cowboys and the Oakland Raiders until a motorcycle accident ended his football career. He then moved to Los Angeles where he worked regularly as an actor until the nightlife industry.[2] He moved to Las Vegas in 2002 and continued to expand his career in nightlife [3] as a Vice President for the Light Group and ran FOH for Bellagio's Light Nightclub, Mirage's Jet Nightclub and Tao Groups Tao Beach [4] before launching his career as a film and television producer. He resides in Las Vegas with his wife, Actress and Model Carey Lessard, and their two children, Barbeque and Queso.[5]

Professional life

Kennedy, was a producer for the History Channel's award-winning miniseries Texas Rising in 2015 and appeared in one episode of the series as Texas Ranger, Zacharias Coffey.[6] He is the owner and executive producer of In Your Face Productions and is the creator and executive producer of several series including Showtime's Gigolos in which he produced with Richard Grieco,[7][8] FYI Networks Late Nite Chef Fight[9] Lifetime's Postmortem in Vegas and FOX TV's Labor of Love. Kennedy has been a recurring character on Pawn Stars, and appeared in Melrose Place, and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He appeared on Lifetime’s series Vivica A. Fox’s Black Magic, which premiered in January 2017.[10]

Kennedy, in addition to being a Producer, is an Ordained Universal Life Church Minister, who officiated the wedding ceremony of actor Cory Feldman and wife Courtney Anne in November 2016.[11] Kennedy conducted the ceremony at Elton John's Fizz champagne lounge at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.[12]

Kennedy, who appears in and produced the movie Cops & Robbers released in 2016, produced the movie Female Fight Club appeared and produced the movie Fright Fest and produced the film Bruja in Mexico with MMA legend turned actor Randy Couture.[13] In addition to his hit series Gigolos, Kennedy has produced Late Night Chef Fight and Trailer Park Housewives.[14][15]

His next show “Labor of Love” aired on FOX in 2020. The story is based on his wife and him when they struggled to have their second child.[16]

Billy F Gibbons from ZZ Top is his son's Godfather. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Billy Gibbons, made a surprise appearance inside a Texas elementary classroom to read for a stunned group of 2nd-graders.[17]

Filmography

Year Title Executive Producer Producer Actor Role Notes
2021 SMU Football: The Hilltop Yes Marklen Kennedy TV series
2019 Diamonds in the Sky Yes Movie
2017 Cops and Robbers Yes Yes Shakers Movie
2017 Knuckles Yes Movie
2017 Treasure Hunter: Legend of the White Witch Yes Movie
2017 Dead trigger Yes Movie
2018 Fright fest Yes Yes Grapefruit Movie
2017 Vivica's Black Magic Yes Yes Marklen Kennedy TV series
2018 Kinky Yes Dr. Weiss Movie
2016 Female Fight Squad Yes Yes Yes Carl Movie
2016 Gigolos Yes Yes TV series
2015 Late Nite Chef Fight Yes Yes Foodie TV series
2015 Texas Rising Yes Yes Zacharias TV mini-series
2015 Avenging the Alamo: The Road to Texas Rising Yes TV movie documentary
2014 Back of the House Brawls Yes TV series
2014 Postmortem in Las Vegas Yes Yes John Doe TV movie
2014 Vegas DOA Yes TV movie
2012 Vegas Moms Yes TV movie
2010 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Yes Pool Manager TV series
2001 As the World Turns Yes Billy TV series
2001 Urban Legends: Cyber Yes Bill TV series
2001 Girl for Girl Yes Ben Movie
2000 Everybody Loves a Star Yes Cameron Hunter / Tim Movie
1999 Penny Dreadfuls Yes Yes Sonny Movie
1999 Ryan Caulfield: Year One Yes Stockbroker TV series
1999 Melrose Place Yes Bartender Manager TV series
1999 Santa's Little Helper Yes Steve Wilder Short
1998 The Glass Box Yes Ray Movie
1998 Perfect Prey Yes Investigator Lyons TV movie
1998 Heaven or Vegas Yes Donald Movie
1997 Women: Stories of Passion Yes Sean TV series
1997 Pacific Palisades Yes Adam Bentley TV series
1997 Magenta Yes Craig Movie
1996 Backroads to Vegas Yes William TV movie
1994 On Deadly Ground Yes Villager Movie
1994 A.P.E.X. Yes Apex Robot Movie
1993 The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer Yes Victim Movie
1993 Witchcraft V: Dance with the Devil Yes William Video
1992 Ring of the Musketeers Yes Officer Rigs TV movie
1991 Necessary Roughness Yes Football Player Movie

References

  1. Diggs, Kim. "Update: Hollywood remembers the Alamo Collin County natives represent Texas in new History Channel series". Retrieved May 24, 2015.
  2. DeFrank, Sean. "Creativity, Unscripted From gigolos to trailer parks, Marklen Kennedy mines the underbelly of Las Vegas—and his own past—for gutsy reality-TV ideas". Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  3. Walters, Mike (October 23, 2021). "'ZZ Top' Star Billy Gibbons Makes Surprise Appearance In 2nd Grade Classroom!". The Blast. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  4. Adande, J.A. (October 16, 2006). "This Vegas Act Warmup Proves the Stakes Are High". Retrieved October 16, 2006.
  5. "Marklen Kennedy on 'Gigolos' and Vegas Reality TV". knpr.org. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  6. Diggs, Kim. "Update: Hollywood remembers the Alamo". starlocalmedia.com. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  7. Rilling, Deanna (November 16, 2010). "Nightlife news & notes: Reality shows, Godskitchen goes, beer for pong flows". Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  8. "Corey Feldman's Knife-y Speech After Gigolo King Marries Him Off". TMZ.com. Retrieved November 25, 2016.
  9. Adande, J.A. (October 16, 2006). "This Vegas Act Warmup Proves the Stakes Are High". Retrieved October 16, 2006.
  10. "Vivica A. Fox – Vivica's Black Magic – Starry Constellation Magazine". starrymag.com. January 4, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  11. Heller, Corinne (November 23, 2016). "Corey Feldman Marries Courtney Anne in Las Vegas a Week After Proposing". Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  12. Leach, Robin. "Strip Scribbles: 'Late Nite Chef Fight,' Andiamo, Rivea, Skyfall Lounge, Zydeco Po-Boys". Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  13. Leach, Robin. "Strip Scribbles: 'Gigolos,' Britney Spears, 'Ghost Adventures,' 'Bachelor' L.V. twins". Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  14. Kaplan, Michael. "The Man Behind 'Gigolos' Talks Reality TV". Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  15. DeFrank, Sean. "Creativity, Unscripted From gigolos to trailer parks, Marklen Kennedy mines the underbelly of Las Vegas—and his own past—for gutsy reality-TV ideas". Retrieved November 10, 2011.
  16. "Filmmaker Marklen Kennedy: "Relationships are the key to success; You'll never stay ahead of the curve if you don't network"". Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  17. "'ZZ Top' Star Billy Gibbons Makes Surprise Appearance In 2nd Grade Classroom!".
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