Wednesday, March 26, 2008
TOUGH GUY, RAT, HERO
You name it. Richard Widmark could play it.
I don't know how many of his films I have seen. All my life.
His first big role was as Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death. He pushed an old lady down the stairs and then laughed maniacally.
It is a tribute to his skills that he broke through the rat-stereotype and went on to play a bit of everything. Westerns, film noir, good guys. All of it.
He lived to a ripe old age. Making him a hero to me as he passed the line I am aiming for.
Richard Widmark, Actor, Dies at 93
He was a lifelong progressive. He produced films that were 'political' when that was not fashionable. If it ever was.
I read here that he had the same wife for 55 years. He maintained that an actor could lead a normal life. He did.
Well, one with money. But not a lot.
Labels: heroes
