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

Biography

Kennedy was born in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

and raised in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Hist ...

. He graduated from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. 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 The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

and the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

until a motorcycle accident ended his football career. He then moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

where he worked regularly as an actor until the nightlife industry. He moved to Las Vegas in 2002 and continued to expand his career in nightlife 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 before launching his career as a film and television producer. He resides in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

with his wife, Actress and Model Carey Lessard, and their two children, Barbeque and Queso.

Professional life

Kennedy, was a producer for the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

's award-winning miniseries '' Texas Rising'' in 2015 and appeared in one episode of the series as Texas Ranger, Zacharias Coffey. He is the owner and executive producer of In Your Face Productions and is the creator and executive producer of several series including

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

Gigolos ''Gigolos'' is an American reality television series about the lives of five male escorts in Las Vegas. The series follows the men, all employees of the same escort agency, through their daily lives and interactions with each other. Cameras a ...

in which he produced with

Richard Grieco Richard John Grieco Jr. (born March 23, 1965) is an American actor and former fashion model. He played Detective Dennis Booker in the popular Fox series ''21 Jump Street'' (1988–89) and its spin-off ''Booker'' (1989–90). He has also starred ...

, FYI Networks ''Late Nite Chef Fight'' Lifetime's ''Postmortem in Vegas'' and FOX TV's ''Labor of Love''. Kennedy has been a recurring character on ''

Pawn Stars ''Pawn Stars'' is an American reality television series shown on History and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24 ...

'', and appeared in ''

Melrose Place ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex on Melrose Place, in ...

'', and ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

''. He appeared on Lifetime’s series

Vivica A. Fox Vivica Anjanetta Fox (born July 30, 1964) is an American actress, producer, and television host. Fox began her career on ''Soul Train'' (19821983). She eventually continued her career with roles on the daytime television soap operas ''Days of O ...

’s ''Black Magic'', which premiered in January 2017. 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. Kennedy conducted the ceremony at

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's Fizz champagne lounge at

Caesars Palace Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The hotel is situated on the west side of the Las Vegas Strip between Bellagio and The Mirage. It is one of Las Vegas's largest and best known landmarks. Caesars P ...

. 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 Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

with MMA legend turned actor

Randy Couture Randall Duane Couture (; born June 22, 1963) is an American actor, former United States Army, U.S. Army sergeant, former mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and former Collegiate wrestling, collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman ...

. In addition to his hit series

, Kennedy has produced ''Late Night Chef Fight'' and ''Trailer Park Housewives''. 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. 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.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Marklen Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American male actors American male television actors American male voice actors American male film actors Living people Participants in American reality television series People from Houston 20th-century American male actors