RICHARD WIDMARK BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Richard Widmark was born December 26th, 1914 in Sunrise, Minnesota to parents Ethel Mae and Carl H. Widmark.  He grew up in Princeton, Illinois, but moved frequently dut to his fathers profession as a traveling salesman.  He always loved movies as a child and was enfacuated with the industry.   He admired during his teenage years Borris Karloff in "Dracula" (1931) and "Frankenstein" (1931).

He attended Lake Forest College with the intent to be a lawyer, but ended up studying and  he won the lead role in a college production of the play "Consellor-at-Law".  After taking his bachelor of arts degree in 1936, he stayed on at Lake Forest as the Assistant Director of Speech and Drama. However, he soon quit the job and moved to New York to become an actor acting and teaching acting after graduation. 
 
Widmark was not able to seek active duty during World War II, but did serve as an air raid warden and entertained servicemen as a member of the American Theatre Wing.  After World War II, he was signed by 20th Century Fox to a seven-year contract.  His first film, "Kiss of Death" (1947) starring Victor Mature was a small role but he stole the picture and won a Golden Globe and Oscar nod for the part.  
 
He continued his film career with a role on, "The Street With No Name" (1948), "Road House" (1948) and "Yellow Sky" also (1948).  Widmark was not afraid to play deeply troubled, deeply conflicted, or just down right deeply corrupt characters.  He then convinced the studio to let him try to portray different character types such as in the film, "Down to the Sea in Ships" (1949).  Widmark was establishing himself as a real presence in the genre that later would be hailed as 'film noir'.  He was cast in, "Panic in the Streets" (1950) and then again in, "Night and the City" (1950).

As the 1950's progressed, Widmark played in Westerns, military vehicles, and his old stand-by genre, the thriller.  His seven-year contract at Fox was expiring, but first he was cast in the Western "Broken Lance" (1954) starring Spencer Tracy.
 
Widmark left Fox for the life of a freelance, forming his own company, "Heath Productions".  His stardom  then peaked when he played the U.S. prosecutor in "Judgment at Nuremberg" (1961).  A little later, Widmark appeared in two Westerns directed by the great John Ford, with co-star James Stewart in "Two Rode Together" (1961).  Widmark continued to co-star in films through the 1960's. One of his finest performances, was in the melodrama "Madigan" (1968).
 
Moving in to the 1970's, Widmark continued to work in film, but also began working on television in 1971.  He began working in the TV movies "Vanished" (1971)  and his performance in the role brought Widmark an Emmy nomination.  In all, Widmark appeared in over 60 films before making his final movie appearance in the 1991 thriller "True Colors".
 
Widmark was married for 55 years to playwright Jean Hazlewood, from 1942 until her death in 1997.  Together they had one child, Anne, who was born in 1945.  He retired at the age of 76 in 1990.  He was  inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western heritage Museum in 2002.  he also made several contributions to the preservation of land and nature in Roxbury, Connecticut and was one of the founding members of the Roxbury Land Trust.  Wildmark died after a long illness on March 24th, 2008  at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut at age 93.
 

Filmography
 
1947   Kiss of Death
1948   The Street with No Name
1948   Road House
1948   Yellow Sky
1949   Down to the Sea in Ships
1949   Slattery's Hurricane 
1950   Night and the City
1950   Panic in the Streets 
1950   No Way Out 
1950   Halls of Montezuma
1951   The Frogmen 
1952   Red Skies of Montana 
1952   Don't Bother to Knock
1952   O. Henry's Full House
1952   My Pal Gus
1953   Destination Gobi
1953   Pickup on South Street 
1953   Take the High Ground! 
1954   Hell and High Water
1954   Garden of Evil 
1954   Broken Lance 
1955   A Prize of Gold
1955   The Cobweb 
1956   Backlash 
1956   Run for the Sun
1956   The Last Wagon 
1957   Saint Joan 
1957   Time Limit
1958   The Law and Jake Wade
1958   The Tunnel of Love
1959   The Trap 
1959   Warlock
1960   The Alamo
1961   The Secret Ways
1961   Two Rode Together
1961   Judgment at Nuremberg
1962   How the West Was Won
1962   The Long Ships
1964   Flight from Ashiya
1964   Cheyenne Autumn
1965   The Bedford Incident
1966   Alvarez Kelly
1967   The Way West
1968   Madigan
1969   A Talent for Loving
1969   Death of a Gunfighter
1970   The Moonshine War 
1972   When the Legends Die
1973   Brock's Last Case 
1974   Murder on the Orient Express   
1976   To the Devil a Daughter 
1976   The Sell-Out
1977   Twilight's Last Gleaming 
1977   The Domino Principle 
1977   Rollercoaster
1978   Coma 
1978   The Swarm 
1979   Bear Island 
1982   National Lampoon Goes to the Movies
1982   Hanky Panky
1982   Who Dares Wins
1984   Against All Odds 
1991   True Colors 
1992   Lincoln