Rexford Kennamer, the so-called "Physician to the Stars" who told actor Gary Cooper he had terminal cancer has died in Alabama at 93, according to Reuters.
Kennamer's clients included Rock Hundson and Frank Sinatra. He also long worked as an internist and cardiologist in Beverly Hills, died of natural causes on September 28 at the Montgomery home of his nephew, Richard Kennamer.
"He was always interesting and very, very sharp. He practiced medicine past 80. We went out daily at noon to restaurants and he was always happy to run into old friends and classmates," his nephew told Reuters. Rexford met a teenaged Elizabeth Taylor on the set of the movie "National Velvet," when he was a contract doctor for the studio, according to his nephew. He later walked a grieving Taylor to the grave of her beloved husband, Mike Todd.
He received degrees from the University of Alabama and the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia before becoming a cardiology intern at a veteran's hospital during World War Two, which led him to California, according to his nephew. Although he had many offers, Kennamer steadfastly refused to write a tell-all book on his famous patients, his nephew said. A private service was planned in his hometown of Guntersville, Alabama, on Monday.
The physician died at the house he had shared with his nephew in Montgomery on Sept. 28. His nephew, Richard Kennamer, says the physician had lived with him for the past five years after suffering a stroke that left him unable to speak.
Kennamer had previously worked in private practice in Beverly Hills, Calif. after receiving degrees from the University of Alabama and the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. His clients had included Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson, among other stars. Richard Kennamer says a private family service is planned at a cemetery in his hometown of Guntersville, Alabama.
