JACK WARDENOne of the most recognisable faces on American television during the 1970s and 1980s, Jack Warden died on July 19, 2006 , at the age of 85.Renowned as a character actor during his 60-year career, Warden appeared in more than 100 films in addition to numerous plays and television series.He only turned to acting after reading a Clifford Odets play while recuperating from a badly broken leg that he sustained during a practice night-time parachute jump during the Second World War.But the army’s loss was the acting world’s gain and Mr Warden went on to achieve Oscar and Emmy nominations while starring alongside some of the biggest names in the business including Gene Hackman, Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster and Paul Newman.John H. Lebzelter was born in Newark, New Jersey, on 18 September, 1920, to a poor Jewish family but grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was thrown out of high school for fighting.He went on to become a professional middleweight boxer under the name Johnny Costello but a lack of money led to spells as a nightclub bouncer, tugboat deckhand and lifeguard before he joined the armed forces, initially in the Navy and later as a paratrooper.After the war, he moved to New York, where he studied acting and embarked on a five-year stint with the Dallas Alley Company, which made its name performing Tennesse Williams’ plays.His television debut came in 1948 on The Philso Television Playhouse and Studio One while continuing his stage career with the Broadway revival of Odets' Golden Boy and three years later playing Marco in Miller's A View From The Bridge.During the 1950s, his career took off with his film debut in The Man With My Face in 1951 and three years in the television series Mr Peepers, but his big break come playing Juror No 7 in 12 Angry Men in 1957.In 1958, he married French actress Vanda Dupre and had one son, Christopher, before the couple separated in 1970s and Warden went on to have a long-time relationship with Marucha Hinds.Critical acclaim followed during the 1970s when he won a supporting actor Emmy Award for Brian’s Song in 1971and Oscar nods for his supporting roles in two Warren Beatty films, Shampoo in 1975 and Heaven Can Wait in 1977.Mr Warden continued to work in film and television for the remainder of his showbiz career with notable roles in All The President’s Men in 1976, The Verdict in 1982, Problem Child in 1990, Bullets Over Broadway in 1994 and While You Were Sleeping in 1995.His final film The Replacements was made in 2000 after which he retired to his New York home until his worsening health led to heart and kidney failure in 2006.Few people have made the leap from an army sergeant to an award-winning actor but Mr Warden managed it with aplomb.Although his success came through hard work and perseverance with much of his prolific career spent in supporting roles, Mr Warden came into his own as a lead actor in his later work.His weather-beaten face and rasping voice saw him often play the tough guy from gruff policemen and war-weary soldiers to hard talking sports coaches but his manager Sidney Pazoff declared that in real life, Mr Warden was: “Very gentle. Very dapper.”His talents also extended to comedy, which won him two Oscar nods for his work with Warren Beatty as well as a further two Emmy nominations for the role of a private detective in television show Crazy Like A Fox.
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