Richard Widmark, 93; made lasting impression
Richard Widmark, 93, who made an indelible screen debut in 1947 as a giggling sadistic killer and later brought a sense of urban cynicism and unpredictability to his roles as a leading man, has died.
Richard Widmark, 93, who made an indelible screen debut in 1947 as a giggling sadistic killer and later brought a sense of urban cynicism and unpredictability to his roles as a leading man, has died.
Mr. Widmark died Monday at his home in Roxbury, Conn., after a long illness, said his wife, Susan Blanchard.
"I lost a dear friend, and you don't have friends like him," said Karl Malden, who appeared in five movies with Mr. Widmark.
Sidney Poitier, who acted in three films with Mr. Widmark, said that Mr. Widmark "left his mark as a very fine actor."
Equally believable playing heavies and heroes, Mr. Widmark portrayed a broad range of characters in a film career that spanned more than 70 movies from the late 1940s to the early '90s.
He played a rabid racist in
No Way Out
(1950), an obsessed prosecutor in
Judgment at Nuremberg
(1961),
and a tough New York City police detective in
Madigan
(1968).
The rugged Mr. Widmark was equally at home astride a horse - in films including
Yellow Sky
,
Cheyenne Autumn
,
Two Rode Together
,
The Alamo
, and the star-studded epic
How the West Was Won
.
But it's as Tommy Udo, the sadistic New York City gangster in Henry Hathaway's 1947 film-noir crime classic,
Kiss of Death
, that Mr. Widmark made what might be his most enduring on-screen impression.
He had been working nearly a decade as a successful New York radio and Broadway stage actor when he was cast in the memorable supporting role that set him on the path to stardom.
He stole the show as the revengeful Udo, who gleefully ties up an older woman in her wheelchair with a lamp cord and then pushes her down a flight of stairs.
Mr. Widmark's chilling performance prompted film critic James Agee to write of Mr. Widmark's character: "It is clear that murder is one of the kindest things he is capable of."
The role brought him his only Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe as most promising male newcomer.
Off screen, Mr. Widmark was a cordial and thoughtful gentleman who abhorred guns and violence, but played so many heavies early in his screen career that audiences had difficulty separating the man from the despicable characters he portrayed.
Mr. Widmark was born Dec. 26, 1914, in Sunrise, Minn. He attended Lake Forest College in Illinois, where he was active in the drama department.
"I suppose I wanted to act in order to have a place in the sun," he told the New Yorker. "I'd always lived in small towns, and acting meant having some kind of identity."
In 1938, he moved to New York City, where his college sweetheart, Jean Hazlewood, was studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. They married in 1942.
A perforated eardrum kept him out of the service during World War II, but he served as an air-raid warden and entertained servicemen under the auspices of the American Theatre Wing.
In 1943, he made his Broadway debut in the comedy
Kiss and Tell
. Then came
Kiss of Death
, which required him to sign a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox, where he made about 20 movies.
One of his biggest hits came in 1968 when he played the title role in the New York cop story
Madigan
. In 1972, he reprised the role in a TV series of the same name that ran on NBC for a year.
Other films included
Murder on the Orient Express, Rollercoaster
The Swarm
.
In the 1980s, he worked periodically in films and television, including
Against All Odds
on the big screen in 1984 and
Cold Sassy Tree
, a 1989 television movie in which he played opposite Faye Dunaway as a man who married a younger woman.
In 1991, he made his final screen appearance, as a senator in
True Colors
.
In his later years, he divided his time between a ranch in Hidden Valley, Calif., and a farm in Connecticut.
Mr. Widmark's wife Jean died in 1997. He married Susan Blanchard in 1999.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Anne Heath Widmark.
See a list of Richard Widmark's films via