For over 40 years, artist William Hennessy Jr. went where cameras couldn’t go and captured drama from the Supreme Court to circuit and district courts across D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
His family notified news organizations Wednesday that Hennessy, of Ashburn, Virginia, died Monday, Dec. 9, which was his birthday. He was 67.
A statement from his family relayed the breadth of Hennessy’s work capturing the atmosphere in court cases from Iran Contra to the White House CIA leak “and countless other high-profile cases” and noted, “His evocative sketches provided the public with a unique window into courtroom dynamics.”
CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane, who worked alongside Hennessy in some of those high-profile cases, told WTOP he was “the fastest and the best” courtroom artist in the industry, perfectly capturing a suspect’s body language, a prosecutor’s dramatic flourish and more.
“Bill could do it faster than you could microwave your dinner,” MacFarlane said.
In an age when capturing images is as easy as pulling a mobile phone from a pocket, Hennessy’s work was invaluable to television news outlets.
“Throughout our area, Maryland, D.C. and Virginia, there are prohibitions on cameras in courthouses,” MacFarlane said. “The only way to see what happened when history was made was through Bill’s sketches.”
NBC Washington reporter Paul Wagner estimated covering hundreds of cases where Hennessy’s sketches made a courtroom story come alive.
“The accuracy in what he captured is what is absolutely astonishing,” Wagner said. Hennessy’s artistic ability combined with speed made the first choice among courtroom artists by many broadcast outlets.”
McFarlane said, “He wasn’t just an artist, he was a journalist.” Wagner agreed.
“Bill was a newsman. He was a reporter. He knew what to look for. If he was on the case, you did not have to tell Bill what to draw. … You didn’t really have to write a lot of words” for the broadcast story because “Bill had it, he’d sketched it for you, you could see it yourself,” Wagner told WTOP.
Hennessy was also known for his demeanor — kind, friendly and always calm — even on deadline.
McFarlane said, “because he was so graceful and kindhearted and gentle and friendly, he made great relationships with some pretty tough customers,” explaining that sometimes criminal defendants would ask if they could purchase one of his sketches. McFarlane said Hennessy would sometimes reply that they might want to wait to see the outcome of their case.
Court cases can leave reporters waiting for a verdict, sometimes for hours or even days. In those downtimes, Wagner said, “We shared a lot of stories.”
Hennessy was “just a lovely guy,” Wagner told WTOP.
Wagner covered mostly local court cases where Hennessy was the courtroom artist, and looking back at Hennessy’s career, Wagner said, “He had a front-row seat to history like no one else.”
Hennessy is survived by his wife Arezou and their seven children and 13 grandchildren.
