Richard Widmark Dies

Richard Widmark (R) and the late Victor Mature (R) in Kiss of Death

The great actor Richard Widmark died today.

Widmark's most memorable role, that of the giggling psychopath Tommy Udo in the original Kiss of Death (not the 1995 David Caruso star-making remake that wasn't so star-making...it's hard to remember a time when David Caruso's name on the marquee was higher than both Nicolas Cage and Samuel L. Jackson) was in his first movie.

I don't think he ever came closing to matching the notoriety from that role, but he worked steadily over the next 50-odd years, churning out one good performance after another in movies like Pickup on South Street, Judgment at Nuremberg, and Cheyenne Autumn (among many, many others).

Amazingly enough, Autumn was based on research Widmark performed himself at Yale and he was the one who got the great John Ford involved.

A long and varied career. He will be missed.

LINKS

NYT Obituary
IMDB Entry