Richard Widmark
Richard Widmark (born
December 26,
1914 in
Sunrise, Minnesota) is an
Academy Award-nominated
American film
actor.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Richard 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.
Richard Widmark grew up in
Princeton, Illinois, and attended
Lake Forest College, where he studied acting. He taught acting at the college after graduation, before debuting on
radio in 1938 in
Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories. 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.
Widmark's first movie appearance was in
1947's
Kiss of Death, as the giggling, sociopathic
villain Tommy Udo. 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.
Kiss of Death was a commercial and critical success, and started Widmark's seven-year contract with
20th Century Fox. He was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Udo. Widmark's character in this film was the inspiration for the song, "The Ballad of Tommy Udo" by the band
Kaleidoscope.
Widmark became so popular so fast that it was only two years later that he had his handprints cast in cement at
Grauman's Chinese Theater. In the intervening two years, he had appeared in
Slattery's Hurricane,
Down to the Sea in Ships,
Yellow Sky,
Road House and
The Street with No Name.
Widmark was married to his first wife,
Jean Hazlewood, from
April 5,
1942, until her death on
March 2,
1997. Their daughter, Anne Heath Widmark, married baseball legend
Sandy Koufax on January 1, 1969. In September of
1999, Widmark married
Susan Blanchard, who was earlier
Henry Fonda's third wife.
*
True Colors (1991)
* Cold Sassy Tree (
1989)
* A Gathering of Old Men (
1987)
* Blackout (
1985)
*
Against All Odds (
1984)
*
Who Dares Wins (1982)
* Hanky Panky (
1982)
*
National Lampoon Goes to the Movies (1982)
* A Whale for the Killing (
1981)
*
All God's Children (1980)
* Bear Island (
1979)
*
Mr. Horn (1979)
* The Swarm (
1978))
*
Coma (1978)
* The Domino Principle (
1977)
*
Rollercoaster (1977)
* Twilight's Last Gleaming (
1977)
*
The Sell-Out (1976)
* To the Devil a Daughter (
1976)
*
The Last Day (1975)
* Murder on the Orient Express (
1974)
*
"Benjamin Franklin" (1974) [mini series]
* Brock's Last Case (
1973)
*
"Madigan" (1972) [TV series]
* When the Legends Die (
1972)
*
Vanished (1971)
* The Moonshine War (
1970)
*
Death of a Gunfighter (1969)
* A Talent for Loving (
1969)
*
Madigan (1968)
* The Way West (
1967)
*
Alvarez Kelly (1967)
* The Bedford Incident (
1965)
*
Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
* Flight from Ashiya (
1964)
*
The Long Ships (1963)
* How the West Was Won (
1962)
*
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
* Two Rode Together (
1961)
*
The Secret Ways (1961)
* The Alamo (
1960)
*
Warlock (1959)
* The Trap (
1959)
*
The Tunnel of Love (1958)
* Time Limit (
1957)
*
Saint Joan (1957)
* The Last Wagon (
1956)
*
Run for the Sun (1956)
* Backlash (
1956)
*
The Cobweb (1955)
* A Prize of Gold (
1955)
*
Broken Lance (1954)
* Garden of Evil (
1954)
*
Hell and High Water (1954)
* Take the High Ground! (
1953)
*
Pickup on South Street (1953)
* Destination Gobi (
1953)
*
My Pal Gus (1952)
* O. Henry's Full House (
1952)
*
Don't Bother to Knock (1952)
* Red Skies of Montana (
1952)
*
The Frog Men (1951)
* Halls of Montezuma (
1950)
*
No Way Out (1950)
* Panic in the Streets (
1950)
*
Night and the City (1952)
* Slattery's Hurricane (
1949)
*
Down to the Sea in Ships (1949)
* Yellow Sky (
1948)
*
Road House (1949)
* Down to the Sea in Ships (
1948)
*
The Street with No Name (1948)
* Kiss of Death (
1947)
*
The Richard Widmark Fan Club*
Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Richard Widmark*
Actor Profile: Richard Widmark by Brian W. Fairbanks*
Richard Widmark: The Face of Film Noir by Brian W. Fairbanks
