Richard Widmark

Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914 – March 24, 2008) was an American actor and film producer. For his debut film role as the villainous Tommy Udo in the film noir Kiss of Death, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won the inaugural Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer.

Early in his film career, Widmark was typecast in similar villainous or anti-hero roles in films noir, but he later branched out into more heroic leading and supporting roles in Westerns, mainstream dramas, and horror films among others. He also produced several films.

For his contributions to motion pictures, Widmark received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Early life Widmark was born December 26, 1914, in Sunrise Township, Minnesota, the son of Ethel Mae (née Barr) and Carl Henry Widmark. His father, a traveling salesman, was of Swedish descent, and his mother was of English and Scottish ancestry. Widmark grew up in Princeton, Illinois, and lived in Henry, Illinois, for a short time, moving frequently because of his father's work.

Widmark volunteered for the U.S. Army during World War II, but was medically-disqualified due to a perforated ear drum. He returned to radio drama decades later, performing on CBS Radio Mystery Theater (1974–82), and was also one of the five hosts on Sears Radio Theater (as the Friday "adventure night" host) during 1979-1980.

Broadway Widmark appeared on Broadway in 1943 in F. Hugh Herbert's Kiss and Tell and in William Saroyan's Get Away Old Man, directed by George Abbott, which ran for 13 performances. 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.

Film and television

Widmark's first movie appearance was in the 1947 film noir Kiss of Death, as the giggling, sociopathic villain Tommy Udo. In his most notorious scene, Udo pushed a woman in a wheelchair (played by Mildred Dunnock) down a flight of stairs to her death.

He also featured in Halls of Montezuma (1951) and Don't Bother to Knock (1952) (with Marilyn Monroe), and appeared in two films for director Samuel Fuller: the noir Pickup on South Street (1953) and Cold War drama Hell and High Water (1954).

Widmark was a mystery guest on the CBS quiz show What's My Line? in 1954. The following year, he made a rare foray into comedy on I Love Lucy, portraying himself when a starstruck Lucy trespasses onto his property to steal a souvenir. Widmark finds Lucy sprawled out on his living room floor underneath a bearskin rug.

Widmark continued to appear in a number of successful films, including The Tunnel of Love (1959) with Doris Day, the Westerns Warlock (also 1959) with Henry Fonda, as Jim Bowie in John Wayne's The Alamo (1960), the courtroom drama Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), and reuniting with Sidney Poitier in the adventure The Long Ships (1964).

Widmark produced and starred in the films Time Limit (1957), The Secret Ways (1961) — based on a novel by Alistair MacLean, which Widmark also directed (uncredited) due to clashes with original director Phil Karlson's proposed tongue-in-cheek direction of the screenplay — and The Bedford Incident (1965), his third film with Sidney Poitier and loosely based on the Herman Melville novel Moby Dick.

Widmark received an Emmy Award nomination for his performance as Paul Roudebush, the president of the United States, in the TV movie Vanished! (1971), a Fletcher Knebel political thriller. In 1972, he reprised his detective role from Don Siegel's Madigan (1968) with six 90-minute episodes on the NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie. He performed in a mini-series about Benjamin Franklin, broadcast in 1974, which was a unique experiment of four 90-minute dramas, each with a different actor impersonating Franklin: Widmark, Beau Bridges, Eddie Albert, Melvyn Douglas, and Willie Aames who portrayed Franklin at age 12. The series won a Peabody Award and five Emmys.

Widmark began to drift into supporting roles, though he still played the occasional lead, for instance in the 1976 British-West German film To the Devil a Daughter. He was part of an all-star cast in the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express (playing the murder victim), the 1977 film Rollercoaster (as an FBI agent), and The Swarm (1978). He had a prominent supporting role in Michael Crichton's Coma (1978) with Geneviève Bujold and Michael Douglas, and portrayed Al Sieber in the TV movie Mr. Horn (1979).

Widmark continued to appear in a number of films during the 1980s, again with Sidney Poitier who directed him in the comedy Hanky Panky (1982), with Gene Wilder. He also featured in the political thriller Who Dares Wins (1982), and Against All Odds (1984), with Jeff Bridges and James Woods. His last television role was in the critically acclaimed TNT adaptation of Cold Sassy Tree (1989) alongside Faye Dunaway.

In all, Widmark appeared in more than 60 films, making his final appearance in the 1991 drama True Colors.

Personal life

Widmark was married to screenwriter Ora Jean Hazlewood for 55 years from 1942 until her death from Alzheimer's disease in March 1997; they met while attending Lake Forest College. The couple had one daughter, Anne Heath Widmark, an artist and author who was married to Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax from 1969 to 1982.

In 1999, Widmark remarried to socialite Susan Blanchard, the daughter of Dorothy Hammerstein and stepdaughter of Oscar Hammerstein II; she had been Henry Fonda's third wife.

Political views Widmark was a lifelong member of the Democratic Party.

Death Widmark died after a long illness on March 24, 2008, at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, at the age of 93. His failing health in his final years was aggravated by a fall he suffered in 2007. He was buried at Roxbury Center Cemetery.

Legacy For his contributions 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.

In the 1960s, future Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte listed Widmark as his "idol" in his high school yearbook.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1947 Kiss of Death Tommy Udo 1948 The Street with No Name Alec Stiles Road House Jefferson T. "Jefty" Robbins Yellow Sky Dude 1949 Down to the Sea in Ships First Mate Dan Lunceford Slattery's Hurricane Lt. Willard Francis Slattery 1950 Night and the City Harry Fabian Panic in the Streets LCDR. Clinton "Clint" Reed M.D. No Way Out Ray Biddle 1951 Halls of Montezuma Lt. Anderson The Frogmen LCDR. John Lawrence 1952 Red Skies of Montana Cliff Mason Don't Bother to Knock Jed Towers O. Henry's Full House Johnny Kernan Segment: "The Clarion Call" My Pal Gus Dave Jennings 1953 Destination Gobi CPO Samuel T. McHale Pickup on South Street Skip McCoy Take the High Ground! Sgt. Thorne Ryan 1954 Hell and High Water Capt. Adam Jones Garden of Evil Fiske Broken Lance Ben Devereaux 1955 A Prize of Gold Sergeant Joe Lawrence The Cobweb Dr. Stewart "Mac" McIver 1956 Backlash Jim Slater Run for the Sun Michael "Mike" Latimer The Last Wagon Comanche Jonathan Todd 1957 Saint Joan The Dauphin, Charles VII Time Limit Col. William Edwards Also producer 1958 The Law and Jake Wade Clint Hollister The Tunnel of Love August "Augie" Poole 1959 The Trap Ralph Anderson Warlock Johnny Gannon 1960 The Alamo Colonel Jim Bowie 1961 The Secret Ways Michael Reynolds Also producer; uncredited director Two Rode Together First Lt. Jim Gary Judgment at Nuremberg Col. Tad Lawson 1962 How the West Was Won Mike King 1964 The Long Ships Rolfe Flight from Ashiya Lt. Col. Glenn Stevenson Cheyenne Autumn Capt. Thomas Archer 1965 The Bedford Incident CPT. Eric Finlander Also producer 1966 Alvarez Kelly Col. Tom Rossiter 1967 The Way West Lije Evans 1968 Madigan Det. Daniel Madigan 1969 Death of a Gunfighter Marshal Frank Patch A Talent for Loving Major Patten 1970 The Moonshine War Dr. Emmett Taulbee 1972 When the Legends Die Red Dillon 1974 Murder on the Orient Express Samuel Ratchett / Lanfranco Cassetti 1975 The Last Day Will Spence 1976 To the Devil a Daughter John Verney The Sell Out Sam Lucas 1977 Twilight's Last Gleaming Gen. Martin MacKenzie The Domino Principle Tagge Rollercoaster Agent Hoyt 1978 Coma Dr. Harris The Swarm Gen. Slater 1979 Bear Island Otto Gerran 1982 National Lampoon Goes to the Movies Stan Nagurski Segment: "Municipalians" Hanky Panky Ransom Who Dares Wins U.S. Secretary of State Arthur Currie 1984 Against All Odds Ben Caxton 1991 True Colors Sen. James Stiles

Television Year Title Role Notes 1955 I Love Lucy Himself Episode: "The Tour" 1972–73 Madigan Sgt. Dan Madigan 6 episodes

TV films, miniseries, and specials Year Title Role Notes 1971 Vanished President Paul Roudebush 1973 Brock's Last Case Lieutenant Max Brock 1974–75 The Lives of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin 1975 The Last Day Will Spence 1979 Mr. Horn Al Sieber 1980 All God's Children Judge Parke Denison 1981 A Whale for the Killing Tom Goodenough 1985 Blackout Joe Steiner 1987 A Gathering of Old Men Sheriff Mapes 1988 Once Upon a Texas Train Captain Owen Hayes 1989 Cold Sassy Tree Enoch Rucker Blakeslee 1992 Lincoln Ward Hill Lamon (voice) Documentary

Stage appearances

Radio appearances Widmark also appeared on various times on Gang Busters; The Shadow; Inner Sanctum Mysteries; Joyce Jordan, M.D.; Suspense; and Ethel and Albert.