Actor Richard Widmark died 24 March 2008. His wife, Susan Blanchard, said he had fractured a veterbra several months ago, and that his condition had worsened. Born on 26 December 1914 in Sunrise, Minnesota, he became an overnight star because of his first movie. He played the giggling, psychopathic killer Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death (1947), and received his only Oscar nomination for that role. It was his first movie after establishing himself as a radio actor. His last film role was as a voice actor in the 1992 biopic Lincoln.
He made more than 75 movies, but had only a few genre roles, including: Blackout (1985), The Swarm (1978), and To the Devil a Daughter (1976).
Widmark grew up throughout the Midwest, as the family followed his traveling salesman father. He graduated high school in Princeton, Illinois, and received a full scholarship to Lake Forest College, where he was a football player and actor. After graduating in 1936, he spent two years as an instructor in the drama department, and then moved to New York City and got into radio soap operas through a classmate. He was refused enlistment in the Army (perforated eardrum) at the outbreak of World War II, so he turned to Broadway in 1943. His first role was as an Army lieutenant in F. Hugh Herbert’s Kiss and Tell, which was directed by George Abbott.
His first wife, Jean Hazelwood, died in 1997, after 55 years of marriage. In addition to his second wife, Susan Blanchard (whom he married in 1999), he is survived by his daughter, Anne Heath Widmark, who was once married to baseball pitcher Sandy Koufax.