Richard Widmark facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Richard Widmark
Widmark as Max Brock, 1973
Born	Richard Weedt Widmark (1914-12-26)December 26, 1914 Sunrise Township, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	March 24, 2008(2008-03-24) (aged 93) Roxbury, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma mater	Lake Forest College (B.A., 1936)
Occupation	Actor producer
Years active	1938–2001
Spouse(s)	Jean Hazlewood ​ ​ (m. 1942; died 1997)​ Susan Blanchard ​ (m. 1999)​
Children	1

Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914 – March 24, 2008) was a famous American actor and producer. He worked in movies, on stage, and on television for over 60 years!

Richard Widmark was known for playing many different kinds of characters. At first, he often played bad guys or tough characters in crime movies called film noir. But later, he showed his talent by playing heroes in Westerns, dramas, and even horror films.

He was so good that he was nominated for an Academy Award (one of the biggest awards in movies) for his very first film, Kiss of Death (1947). He also won a Golden Globe Award for being a promising new actor.

For all his amazing work in movies, Richard Widmark has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This is a special sidewalk in Hollywood where famous people are honored. In 2002, he was also added to the Western Performers Hall of Fame because of his many roles in Western movies.

Early Life and Education

Richard Widmark was born on December 26, 1914, in Sunrise Township, Minnesota. His father was from Sweden, and his mother had English and Scottish family. Because his dad was a traveling salesman, Richard moved around a lot when he was a kid. He lived in places like Princeton, Illinois, and Henry, Illinois.

He went to Lake Forest College where he studied acting. After he graduated in 1936, he even taught acting there for a while! During World War II, he wanted to join the Army, but he couldn't because of a problem with his ear.

Acting on Radio and Stage

Richard Widmark started his acting career on the radio in 1938. He was in many popular radio shows during the 1940s, like Gang Busters, The Shadow, and Suspense. He even played the main character in a daily radio show called Front Page Farrell for a couple of years. Later in his life, he returned to radio drama in the 1970s and 80s.

He also performed on Broadway, which is where many famous plays are shown in New York City. In 1943, he was in a play called Kiss and Tell. While he was acting in a play in Chicago, a big movie studio called 20th Century Fox noticed him and offered him a seven-year movie contract!

Movie Career

Richard Widmark's movie career began with a bang!

First Roles: The "Bad Guy"

Mark Stevens, Barbara Lawrence and Widmark in The Street with No Name (1948)

Panic in the Streets (1950)

His very first movie was Kiss of Death in 1947. In this film, he played a truly scary bad guy named Tommy Udo. One famous (and shocking!) scene showed his character pushing a woman in a wheelchair down some stairs. The director wasn't sure about casting him at first, but the studio boss insisted. The movie was a huge hit, and Richard Widmark won an award and was nominated for an Oscar!

After Kiss of Death, he played more tough or villainous roles in movies like The Street with No Name (1948) and the Western Yellow Sky (1948) with famous actors Gregory Peck and Anne Baxter. He also played a memorable bad guy in No Way Out (1950), which was the first movie for the legendary actor Sidney Poitier. Richard and Sidney became good friends and worked together in many movies later on.

Becoming a Hero and Continued Success

In The Last Wagon (1956)

Gig Young, Widmark and Doris Day in The Tunnel of Love (1958)

Soon, Richard Widmark started playing heroic characters. His first main hero role was in the whaling movie Down to the Sea in Ships (1949). He also starred in Panic in the Streets (1950) and the World War II drama The Frogmen (1951). Many Navy Seals (special forces soldiers) say The Frogmen inspired them to join the Navy because it showed the Underwater Demolition Teams so well.

He continued to appear in many successful films, including Don't Bother to Knock (1952) with Marilyn Monroe, and two movies for director Samuel Fuller: Pickup on South Street (1953) and Hell and High Water (1954).

Richard Widmark starred in many more popular movies, such as the comedy The Tunnel of Love (1959) with Doris Day, and the Westerns Warlock (1959) with Henry Fonda. He played Jim Bowie in John Wayne's famous movie The Alamo (1960). He was also in the important courtroom drama Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and reunited with Sidney Poitier in the adventure film The Long Ships (1964).

He also worked as a producer on some of his films, like Time Limit (1957) and The Bedford Incident (1965), which was his third movie with Sidney Poitier.

Later Movies

In the 1970s, Richard Widmark started taking more supporting roles, but he still played lead characters sometimes. He was part of the amazing cast in the mystery film Murder on the Orient Express (1974), where he played the person who gets murdered! He also appeared in Rollercoaster (1977) and the medical thriller Coma (1978).

He continued acting in the 1980s, even working with his friend Sidney Poitier again, who directed him in the comedy Hanky Panky (1982). His last movie role was in the drama True Colors (1991).

Richard Widmark appeared in over 60 films during his long career! He once said that moviemaking had changed and lost some of its "magic," feeling it had become too mechanical.

Television Roles

Richard Widmark also had a successful career in television. In 1955, he made a funny guest appearance on the popular comedy show I Love Lucy, playing himself. Lucy, a huge fan, tries to sneak onto his property to get a souvenir!

In the early 1970s, he was nominated for an Emmy Award (a big TV award) for his role as the President of the United States in the TV movie Vanished! (1971). He also starred in a TV series called Madigan (1972–1973), playing a detective. In 1974, he was one of several actors who played Benjamin Franklin in a special TV mini-series. He continued to appear in TV movies throughout the 1980s.

Personal Life

Jean Hazlewood and Richard Widmark in the 1950s

Richard Widmark was married to screenwriter Jean Hazlewood for 55 years, from 1942 until she passed away in 1997. They had one daughter, Anne Heath Widmark, who is an artist and author. Anne was married to famous baseball player Sandy Koufax for a time. In 1999, Richard married Susan Blanchard.

Richard Widmark owned a cattle ranch in Missouri during the 1950s and 1960s. He even helped fund the building of an airport there, which was named after him!

Even though he played many characters who used guns, like cowboys and police officers, Richard Widmark actually disliked firearms. He supported efforts to control guns. He was also a lifelong member of the Democratic Party, one of the main political parties in the United States.

Richard Widmark retired from acting in 2001. He passed away on March 24, 2008, at his home in Connecticut, at the age of 93.

Filmography

Films

Television

Images for kids

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  Widmark in Broken Lance (1954)

See also

In Spanish: Richard Widmark para niños