- His character Jackson Bentley, newspaper man and filmmaker, in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is a fictionalized version of real-life discoverer of T.E. Lawrence, Lowell Thomas.
- Edmond O'Brien was originally cast as Jackson Bentley in Lawrence of Arabia (1962). After O'Brien filmed several scenes, he suffered a heart attack and had to be replaced. Kennedy was recommended to director David Lean by Anthony Quinn, whom Kennedy had replaced on Broadway in the role of King Henry II in the play "Becket" (1960).
- Kennedy twice played Alexander Hamilton on television.
- In 1936, while a struggling actor in New York, Kennedy roomed with David Wayne, Ben Yaffeem, and several others in a West Seventies brownstone.
- Had starred in three Oscar Best Picture nominees: Peyton Place (1957), Elmer Gantry (1960) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Lawrence of Arabia won.
- Four of Kennedy's five Oscar-nominated performances were directed by Mark Robson: Champion (1949), Bright Victory (1951), Trial (1955) and Peyton Place (1957). His fifth nod, for Some Came Running (1958), was directed by Vincente Minnelli.
- Kennedy's actress daughter Laurie won a Tony Award nomination in 1979 for "Man and Superman".
- Alhough his name appears on the video box for the Italian film Rings of Fear (1978) (aka "Enigma Rosso"), he was not in the film or in its credits.
- He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6681 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 1620 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
- Following his death, he was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Lequille, Nova Scotia, Canada.
- He and Kevin McCarthy were born two days apart on opposite coasts and they even bear a slight resemblance to one another.
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