James Kennedy, high school football fixture who inspired film 'Radio', dies at 73
James “Radio” Kennedy, the South Carolina man who was a fixture on a high school football sideline and inspired the 2003 film “Radio,” died late Saturday night at the age of 73.
His niece and caregiver, Jackie Kennedy, said he had been hospitalized early this month and was being treated for pancreatitis, according to NBC’s WTTF station in South Carolina. He also suffered from diabetes and kidney failure, but “still signed dozens of autographs from his hospital bed.”
Kennedy, who had developmental disabilities, spent his final hours in hospice surrounded by his family, per WTTF.
Radio became fixture for T.L. Hanna football
Kennedy first showed up on the T.L. Hanna High School football field as a teenager in 1964 with a transistor radio “seemingly attached to his ear,” the school wrote in a release on his death. He could barely speak and never learned to read or write. Nicknamed “Radio” by coaches, he became a fixture at games and mimicked signals and commands from the sideline.
Sheila Hilton, the former principal at T.L. Hanna, wrote in a release for the school:
The coaches embraced him, and as coaches came and went, someone would always take over in caring for him. Eventually, [former football coach] Harold Jones took the job and has been his “daddy” ever since.
He was forever an unofficial junior who was never forced to graduate. And he became famous outside of the town when national outlets began covering his story and eventually “Radio” made it to movie theaters and DVD shelves.
‘Radio’ film shows man’s compassion
“Radio” was released in 2003 by Revolution Studios and Sony Pictures with Cuba Gooding Jr. starring as Kennedy. It focuses on Jones forming a relationship with the young man and though it compresses a decade into a single season, it’s viewed as a truthful tale of friendship and how a town embraced a kind, smiling man with disabilities.
Kennedy is one of T.L. Hanna’s most famous students, though he never officially attended, and was invited to attend practices for the Carolina Panthers and Clemson football.
"Radio was the heart and soul of T.L. Hanna for over 50 years, and the impact he made in our community can't be overstated," Newton said in a statement, via the Independent Mail in Anderson. "He will be missed, but his legacy will live on in the countless lives he touched."
The football stadium has a statue of him after the movie became a blockbuster hit.
Radio’s impact on South Carolina, world
In various articles on his death, people from Anderson have commented on Kennedy’s impact not only on their town but the entire country and world when the film was released.
Jones told WTFF that Kennedy’s life helped other kids with special needs all over the world. Anderson’s mayor echoed those thoughts.
"In my travels, both across the country and even sometimes when I get a chance to travel internationally, I meet people who are not from this country," said Anderson mayor Terence Roberts, via WTFF. "You tell them you're from Anderson, South Carolina, this little lightbulb pops up, and they say: 'That's where Radio's from, right? Do you know Radio?' And I say, 'yes.’”
Hilton, the former principal, called it destiny that Kennedy showed up on their football field. She wrote for the school that Radio changed lives and there is much to be learned from him.
Because he was embraced by caring people, he was stimulated to learn. Because he was loved, he found his place in the world. Because people looked past his disabilities and imperfections, he found a way to make his own unique contribution to the world. What a lesson there is to be learned here. How many lost souls could be saved with a little care and attention?
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The story is simple: love and compassion can change lives. It has changed his, and, in return, he has changed ours, and we are better people for having known him.
McDougald Funeral Services announced a viewing for Kennedy will be held at the high school on Friday between 5-8 p.m. The funeral service is Saturday at the Civic Center of Anderson.
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