Documentary filmmaker DA Pennebaker made several films featuring Kennedy. His short film Jingle Bells (1964) follows Kennedy and his children as they celebrate Christmas in New York City with local school children and Sammy Davis Jr.[1] His later film Hickory Hill documents the 1968 Annual Spring Pet Show at Hickory Hill, the Kennedy Virginia estate.[2]
The documentary film, A Ripple of Hope (2008), retells Kennedy's call for peace during a campaign stop in Indianapolis, on April 4, 1968, the evening of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.[5]
The documentary film, RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope (2010), follows his five-day visit to South Africa in June 1966, during which he made his famous Ripple of Hope speech at the University of Cape Town.[6]
The documentary film, Ethel (2012), about the life of Ethel Kennedy, recounts many of the major personal and political events of Kennedy's life, through interviews with family members including Ethel herself, and news footage.[7][8]
He is played by Linus Roache in the made-for-TV movie RFK (2002), which portrays his life from the time of his brother's assassination to his own death.[16]
The film Bobby (2006) is the story of multiple people's lives leading up to RFK's assassination. The film employs stock footage from his presidential campaign, and he is briefly portrayed by Dave Fraunces.[17]
The Rolling Stones began recording the song "Sympathy for the Devil" on June 4, 1968.[24] The original lyrics included the line, "I shouted out 'Who killed Kennedy?'", which was changed to, "I shouted out 'Who killed the Kennedys?'"[25]
British playwright Roy Smiles' play about Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign, The Last Pilgrim, was staged in London in 2010.[30] It was shortlisted for Best Play at the Off West End Awards in the UK in 2011.[31]
Robert F. Kennedy is the inspiration behind British theatre maker Russell Lucas's 'The Bobby Kennedy Experience' , directed by Sarah-Louise Young.
Poetry
Robert Lowell wrote several poems about Kennedy; his elegy for him includes the line, "doom was woven in your nerves".[32]
^Teachout, Terry (October 15, 2012). ""The Missiles of October"". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
^Jagger/Richards (June 20, 2004). "Sympathy for the Devil". RollingStones.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 1, 2008.