Movie Star Richard Widmark dead at 93.
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Rest In Peace, Richard Widmark, dead at 93.
Screen icon Richard Widmark, who’s film debut as the
giggling killer in “Kiss of Death” and became a leading man
in “Broken Lance,” “Two Rode Together” and 40 other films,
died Monday. He was 93.
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Widmark’s wife, Susan Blanchard,
said he died at his home
in Roxbury after a long illness.
She would not provide details of his illness.
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Widmark earned an Academy Award nomination
for best supporting actor for his role in the
1947 thriller
“Kiss of Death.”
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He played Tommy Udo, who delighted
in pushing an old lady in a wheelchair
down a flight of stairs to her death.
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A role which typecast Widmark
as a psychopathic villian for years,
which he later overcame by sheer acting talent
and his well known reputation as a wonderful
caring human being.
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It was Richard Widmarks’s only Oscar nomination.
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A quiet, inordinately shy man,
Widmark often portrayed killers,
cops and Western gunslingers.
But he said he hated guns.
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Rejected by the Army because of a punctured eardrum,
Widmark began appearing in Broadway plays in 1943.
His first was a comedy hit “Kiss and Tell.”
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He was appearing in the Chicago company of “Dream Girl”
with June Havoc when 20th Century Fox signed him to a s
even-year contract.
He almost missed out on the “Kiss of Death” role.
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Widmark appeared in 20 Fox films from 1957 to 1964.
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After leaving Fox, Widmark’s career continued to flourish.
“Madigan,” a 1968 film with Widmark as a loner detective,
was converted to television and lasted one season in 1972-73.
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It was Widmark’s only TV series.
He also was in some TV films,
including “Cold Sassy Tree” and “Once Upon a Texas Train.”
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Richard Widmark was known to friends and family
as modest and kind, and Richard was never one
to let his star status go to his head.
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Richard acted with Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne,
and so many others in his 42 year film career.
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Hollywood icons like Richard Widmark
may pass on,
but he will live forever on the
silver screen and in our hearts.
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