RICHARD WIDMARK

December 26, 1914

Richard Weedt Widmark was born in Sunrise Township, Minnesota, but grew up in Illinois, moving frequently because of his father’s job as a traveling salesman. He attended Lake Forest College, where he graduated in 1936.

He made his debut as a radio actor in 1938 and by 1941 he was heard daily in the title role of the daytime serial “Front Page Farrell”.

Widmark appeared on Broadway in 1943 in F. Hugh Herbert’s Kiss and Tell and in William Saroyan’s Get Away Old Man, which ran for 13 performances. He was unable to join the military during World War II because of a perforated eardrum. He was in Chicago appearing in a stage production of Dream Girl with June Havoc (in the same role played by Lucille Ball in a different production of the play) when 20th Century Fox signed him to a seven-year contract.

During his career he made more than 75 motion pictures. He made his mark on Hollywood with his debut in the 1947 film Kiss of Death (1947) which earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer.

He lost the Oscar to Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street. It’s hard to compete with Santa Claus!

Widmark made his TV acting debut playing himself on “I Love Lucy” in the episode “The Tour” (ILL S4;E30), which aired on May 30, 1954, but was filmed on April 14, 1955.  In the episode, Lucy and Ethel go on a bus tour of the Hollywood homes, and decide to disembark in front of Richard Widmark’s mansion to pick a souvenir grapefruit. 

After scaling the wall, Lucy gets trapped on the inside and has to exit through the house, at exactly the same time as Ricky and Widmark come back from their lunch meeting!  The second-unit footage of Widmark’s Beverly Hills mansion the home depicted actually belonged to Lucy and Desi, although only doubles for Lucy and Ethel went on location. 

Although in this episode he is depicted as a big game hunter – even pointing a gun at Lucy – by 1975 he had changes his views:

“I know I’ve made kind of a half-assed career out of violence, but I abhor violence. I am an ardent supporter of gun control.”

While chatting with Ricky, Widmark gets in a plug for his new film A Prize of Gold, which was released a few months after this episode aired.

Although that was their last time acting together, Widmark and Ball were both present for “AFI Salutes Henry Fonda” which aired on March 15, 1978 as well as the “Friar’s Club Tribute to Gene Kelly” on November 9, 1985.  Widmark had done five films with Fonda, and 1958′s Tunnel of Love with Kelly. 

His final screen appearance was in 1991′s True Colors, in which he played a Senator. 

Widmark married writer Jean Hazelwood in 1942, and was briefly the father-in-law of baseball legend Sandy Koufax. After Hazelwood’s death in 1997, he married Susan Blanchard, becoming son-in-law of Oscar Hammerstein II, a name frequently mentioned on “I Love Lucy.” 

“I don’t care how well known an actor is – he can still live a normal life, if he wants to. I still believe it. That’s the trouble with actors. If they’re not recognized, they think it’s all over.” ~ Richard Widmark, 1971

Richard Widmark died on March 24, 2008, at age 93.