Coming to film from radio Westerns, Kennedy penned "Seven Men from Now" (1956), the first of four collaborations with director Budd Boetticher and the first of three with producer-director Andrew V. McLaglen. Moving from the typewriter to the director's chair by the early 1960s, Kennedy continued for a time creating lean, leathery B's and TV Westerns. He also received acclaim for his gritty WWII action drama, "Combat" (ABC, 1962-67).Kennedy's traditional action fare brandished occasional laconic comic touches, but it was really with "The Rounders" (1965) and its spin-off TV series that comedy
