NEW YORK (AP) – Veteran actor Fred Ward, who has been overly sensitive to weak roles in movies like The Right Things, The Gambler, and Tremors, has passed away. 79 years old.
His publisher, Ron Hofmann, said on Friday that Ward died on Sunday. At the request of the family, the cause and place of death were not disclosed.
Ward won a Golden Globe for his role in Robert Altman’s Snapshots and the title character in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins and shared the Venice Film Festival Ensemble Award. He also reached new heights in 1983 playing Mercury 7 astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom in the Oscar-nominated film The Right Things.
“I am devastated to hear of the passing of my friend Fred Ward,” tweeted actor Matthew Modine, who co-starred with Ward in Alan Rudolph’s Shortcuts and Equinox. “A tough front that hides emotions as deep as the Pacific Ocean. Good luck my friend. “
Ward, a former boxer, Alaskan lumberjack, and fast food chef who served in the US Air Force, is a San Diego native who is part of the Cherokee. One of his first major roles was with Clint Eastwood in the 1979 film Escape From Alcatraz.
“I mourn the loss of Fred Ward, who was so kind to me when we worked together on Remo Williams,” said actress Kate Mulgrew. “Good, humble, and downright professional, she neutralizes a smile that’s both fiery and mischievous.”
Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon on Tremors. (Universal Pictures, 1990)
Ward’s other roles include a battered cop chasing a psychopathic criminal, played by Alec Baldwin, in George Armitage’s Miami Blues. Freddie Prinze Jr. He is a heavy and scary father figure in his character. in “Summer Catch” and rival David Spade in “Joe Mud”.
Ward played President Reagan in the 2009 Cold War spy thriller The Farewell and had a supporting role in the 2013 action movie 2 Guns starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg.
In the horror comedy Tremors, Ward stars with Kevin Bacon as a pair of mechanics who save an affected Nevada desert community surrounded by giant underground snakes.
With “Henry and June” sexually accused on NC-17, Ward just didn’t show courage. Adapted from the book by Anais Nin, directed by Philip Kaufman, Ward played writer Henry Miller with Nin and his wife June. “My ass seems to have something to do with[that rating],” he told The Washington Post.
He also met Altman as the studio’s chief of security in the director’s 1992 Hollywood satirical The Gambler, and in 1983 played Meryl Streep’s labor activist and running buddy in Mike Nichols’ Silkwood.
Ward showed off his comedic skills by playing a bomber who aims to blow up the Academy Awards in 1994’s The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Last Insult.
On the small screen, she made guest appearances on NBC’s ER, playing Maura Tierney’s father, Abby Lockhart, from 2006-2007, and in Grey’s Anatomy, Leverage, and “The United States of Tara.” Recently, Ward appeared in the second season of HBO’s True Detective as the father of Detective Colin Farrell, a retired police officer. Ray Velcoro.
Ward is survived by his wife, 27-year-old Marie-France Ward, and son, Django Ward.
Source: Breitbart
