Richard Widmark
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Richard Widmark | |
|---|---|
| File:WidmarkPortrait.jpg Portrait | |
| Years active | 1947-1992 |
| Spouse(s) | Jean Hazlewood (1942-1997) Susan Blanchard (1999-2008) |
Richard Widmark (December 26 1914 – March 24 2008)[1] was an American actor of films, stage, radio and television. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Widmark has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6800 Hollywood Boulevard. In 2002, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Biography
Widmark was born in Sunrise Township, Minnesota,[2] grew up in Princeton, Illinois, and also lived in Henry, Illinois for a short time. He attended Lake Forest College, where he studied acting and also taught acting after he graduated.
Radio
Widmark made his debut as radio actor in 1938 on Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories. In 1941-42 he was heard daily on the Mutual Broadcasting System in the title role of the daytime serial Front Page Farrell, introduced each afternoon as "the exciting, unforgettable radio drama... the story of a crack newspaperman and his wife, the story of David and Sally Farrell." Farrell was a top reporter for the fictional Brooklyn Eagle. When the series moved to NBC, Widmark turned the role over to Carleton G. Young and Staats Cotsworth.
During the 1940s, Widmark was also heard on such network radio programs as Gang Busters, Inner Sanctum Mysteries, Joyce Jordan, M.D., Molle Mystery Theater, Suspense and Ethel and Albert. He returned to radio drama decades later, performing on CBS Radio Mystery Theater (1974-82), and he was one of the five hosts on Sears Radio Theater (1979-81) as the Friday "adventure night" host.
Broadway and films
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He appeared on Broadway in 1943 in Kiss and Tell. He was unable to join the military during World War II because of a perforated eardrum. He was in Chicago appearing in a stage production of Dream Girl with June Havoc when 20th Century Fox signed him to a seven-year contract. [3]
Widmark's first movie appearance was in 1947's Kiss of Death, as the giggling, sociopathic villain Tommy Udo.[4] His most notorious scene in the film found Udo pushing a wheelchair-bound old woman (played by Mildred Dunnock) down a flight of stairs to her death.[5]
He almost was not cast in the "Kiss of Death" role. Widmark said, "The director, Henry Hathaway, didn't want me. I have a high forehead; he thought I looked too intellectual." Hathaway was overruled by studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck. "Hathaway gave me kind of a bad time," recalled Widmark. [3] Kiss of Death was a commercial and critical success. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor for his performance.[4] Widmark's character was also the inspiration for the song "The Ballad of Tommy Udo" by the band Kaleidoscope.
In 1950, Widmark co-starred with Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jack Palance and Zero Mostel in Elia Kazan's Panic in the Streets, and he appeared opposite Gene Tierney in Jules Dassin's Night and the City. Both are considered classic examples of film noir.
Two years later, in 1952, Widmark had his handprints cast in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. During his stint at Fox, he appeared in Pickup on South Street, The Street with No Name and Don't Bother to Knock with Marilyn Monroe. He also appeared in Vincente Minnelli's 1955 cult film The Cobweb with Lauren Bacall. Widmark made a rare foray into comedy in 1955 when he guest starred on an episode of I Love Lucy, portraying himself when a star-struck Lucy trespasses onto his property to steal a souvenir. Widmark later finds Lucy sprawled out on his living room floor underneath a bear skin rug.
In a drama set during the Cold War, The Bedford Incident (1965), he starred and was also an uncredited producer. He was credited with producing his films The Secret Ways and Time Limit. Other notable films in the 1960s were Judgment at Nuremberg, How the West was Won and Cheyenne Autumn. During the 1970s his films included Murder on the Orient Express and The Swarm. Widmark appeared in over 60 films. His last film was a thriller, True Colors (1991). [2]
A retrospective of his films was held at the Museum of Modern Art in May 2001.
Television
Widmark was a guest on What's My Line? in 1954, and the following year he made a rare foray into comedy on I Love Lucy, portraying himself when a star-struck Lucy trespasses onto his property to steal a souvenir. Widmark finds Lucy sprawled out on his living room floor underneath a bear skin rug.
Returning to television in the early 1970s, he received an Emmy nomination for his performance as the President of the U.S. in the TV movie Vanished (1971), a Fletcher Knebel political thriller. In 1972-73, he reprised his detective from Madigan (1968) with six 90-minute episodes on the NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie. The mini-series Benjamin Franklin (1974) was a unique experiment of four 90-minute dramas, each with a different actor doing the title role: Widmark, Beau Bridges, Lloyd Bridges, Eddie Albert, Melvyn Douglas and Willie Aames (Franklin at age 12). The series won a Peabody Award and five Emmys. He was back on TV during the 1980s with a half-dozen TV movies.
Widmark was and remained a very private man, vowing to never appear on a TV talk show, and he never did. [2]
Personal life
Widmark was married to his first wife, playwright Jean Hazlewood, for almost 55 years, from April 5 1942 until her death on March 2 1997. Their daughter, Anne Heath Widmark, an artist and author, married baseball legend Sandy Koufax on January 1 1969 (but divorced in 1982). In September 1999, Widmark married Susan Blanchard, which made him the stepfather of Amy Fonda, the daughter of Blanchard and Henry Fonda. From the 1950s until his death on March 24 2008,[1] Widmark resided in Roxbury, Connecticut.
Widmark died at home after a long illness, according to his wife.[1]
Filmography
Features:
Short films:
- Screen Snapshots: Hopalong in Hoppy Land (1951)
- Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Night Life (1952)
- 1955 Motion Picture Theatre Celebration (1955)
- Shooting the Moonshine War (1970)
References
- ^ a b c Post Chronicle (2008-03-25). "Richard Widmark Dead, 'Giggling Killer' Dies After Long Illness". Retrieved 2008-03-25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c "Sunrise: Birthplace of Hollywood Actor Richard Widmark". Sunrise Township. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ^ a b "Actor Richard Widmark Dies," Daily News, March 26, 2008.
- ^ a b "Tough-guy actor Richard Widmark dies at 93". Associated Pressat CNN. 2008-03-26. Retrieved 2008-03-26.
- ^ Aljean Harmetz (2008-03-26). "Actor Richard Widmark Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-26.