Jack Warden died yesterday of heart and kidney failure in New York. He was 85 years old. His prolific career took him from both film and TV and back again with ease. He was at his best when playing the everyman, the average Joe, looking to get by. Warden was, and still is, one of the best at his craft...and will be missed.
He was Jackie in the 1979 remake of The Champ. That same year he appeared in ...And Justice for All as Judge Francis Rayford. Speaking of remakes, in Heaven Can Wait from 1978. he played Rams Coach Max Corkle. Even though Warden had a bad foreign accent in Death on the Nile (1978), his turn as Doctor Ludwig Bessner is still a hoot to watch...Who could forget him in All the President's Men from 1976? As Harry M. Rosenfeld he helped that film crackle with dramatic flair. His greatest film role? That's easy. 12 Angry Men from 1957 where he played Juror #7, amid an all star casr that can't be beat. He also did countless TV shows over the years, but his two episodes of "The Twilight Zone", - The Mighty Casey (1960) in which he played Mouth McGarry, and The Lonely (1959), where he was cast as convict James Corry are among my favorites in the entire series.
As a fan of the Chicago Bears football team, his role as legendary coach George Halas, in the 1971 TV movie Brian's Song, (in which he won an Emmy for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role) is savored on a number of levels.
For more on Warden, be sure to read The Los Angeles Times obituary...
No comments:
Post a Comment