Veteran actor Brian Dennehy, whose decades-long career included both stage and screen, died Wednesday at age 81, his family said.

Dennehy acted in many movies in the 1980s and 1990s, most notably "First Blood," "Tommy Boy," and "Cocoon."

In recent years he became better known as an acclaimed stage performer, appearing on Broadway six times. He played Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's "Death of A Salesman" in 1999 and James Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night" in 2003, winning the Best Actor Tony Award for both.