Richard Widmark
Cats: Tribute|I find myself saddened by the passing of this great actor and by all accounts a decent man. He once said “I made a half assed career out of playing violent characters” but he hated violence. He was quoted “I am an ardent supporter of gun control. It seems incredible to me that we are the only civilized nation that does not put some effective control on guns.”
He did, however, make a huge splash in 1947 when Darryl F. Zanuck had him put into Henry Hathaway’s Kiss of Death as vicious killer/punk Tommy Udo. In a shockingly believable performance, his Tommy Udo has no qualms pushing a wheelchair bound Mildred Dunnock down a staircase to her death. He is all teeth and sneer and he made it work so beautifully that it earned him an Oscar nomination. It made him a star.
He was a small town boy who came to New York in 1938. With his midwestern voice he became a favorite of radio soap opera producers. Eventually he made his way to the stage and ultimatly Hollywood (ironically all of Kiss Of Death was shot here in New York). The small town boy made good.
He was one of the last greats of the post war golden age of Hollywood, that special era when the giants had not yet fallen. His talent made him one of those giants. He was special and the cliche “there never was or will be any one like him” applies. He will be missed but he left us an incredible volume of work.
Kiss Of Death (1947), Street With No Name, Panic In The Street, PicK Up On South Street, Night and the City, Judgment At Nuremberg and Madigan (not the greatest picture but some of it was shot on 104th and Broadway so I am prejudiced) are some of the stand outs in his stellar career.
