James R. Kennedy, who inspired the 2003 film “Radio” and was a staple on the sidelines of his high school’s football team in South Carolina, died on Sunday.
Hanna High School in South Carolina, where he was a fixture for decades, confirmed his death on its website.
Details about the cause of death were not immediately available, and it was unclear where he died.
Mr. Kennedy, who had developmental disabilities, showed up on the football field in the mid-1960s and became an integral part of the school, Sheila Hilton, a former principal there, said in a post on the school’s website.
As a teenager, Mr. Kennedy could barely speak, was unable to read or write and carried a transistor radio that would lead to his nickname of Radio, Ms. Hilton said.
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