Legendary actor Richard Widmark died at age 93 on Monday 3/24. I remember Widmark for the eerie role he played in the 1947 thriller “Kiss of Death.” The most unforgettable scene in this film is the one where he ties up an old lady to a wheelchair and just throws her down the stairs as he malevolently cracks up. It is the most realistic role of a psychotic I’ve ever seen anyone play. Film critics described Widmark’s performance in the film as one of the scariest ever seen on screen. It is memorable indeed, a role which made him a star overnight, and earned him an Oscar nomination.
Early on in his career he was pretty much type casted. He later branched out to other roles, but I think most fans remember him most for his tough guy roles. I heard it once said that he was a close friend of Sydney Poitier. They were both in a film that tackled the day’s race issues, 1950 “No Way Out.” In the film, Widmark played a bigot and used harsh racial slurs. It is said that he had a hard time playing this role. He felt sick inside when he had to read those lines.
That tells me a lot about Widmark. It tells me that he truly was an actor and a good person. He played his roles so well, so much so that he made us believe that Tommy Udo in “Kiss of Death” really existed, and that bigots like Ray Biddie in “No Way Out,” were heartless, ruthless and that the madness had to stop. Only a good actor can do that. It just crushes my heart that we are losing all the great ones… Richard Widmark, gone, but never forgotten.
