Fred Ward, ‘The Right Stuff’ And ‘Short Cuts’ Actor, Dead At 79
Ward, who appeared in films such as “The Right Stuff,” “Short Cuts,” and others, died on May 8 at the age of 79.
There was no mention of a cause of death.
Ward began acting in the early 1970s after three years in the United States Air Force. Ward was a renaissance guy who worked as a short-order cook, a boxer, and a lumberjack in Alaska. In 1979, he had his first major part in Clint Eastwood’s film “Escape from Alcatraz.”
“The Right Stuff,” starring Fred Ward, was released in 1983.
Ward played real-life Mercury 7 astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom in “The Right Stuff.” In “Henry & June,” he played Henry Miller, a chain-smoking, hard-drinking author who travels to Paris in 1931 to write his book “Tropic of Cancer.”
Ward obtained the film rights to “Miami Blues” in 1988, in which he played Hoke Mosely, a veteran Miami cop attempting to apprehend a suave ex-con.
Ward went on to work with Robert Altman in “The Player,” appeared as a gangster in Alan Rudolph’s “Equinox,” and portrayed a TV news presenter in Tim Robbins’ “Bob Roberts.” In the 1993 film “Short Cuts,” he played one of three guys who discovers a body while fishing.
In an emailed statement, Hofmann said, “The unusual thing about Fred Ward was that you never knew where he was going to come up, so unpredictable were his career choices.”
“Summer Catch,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” and “Abandon” are among Ward’s other cinematic credits. Ward has been on television in shows such as “The United States of Tara,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Leverage,” “True Detective,” and others.
Ward, who is also an artist, has recently focused part of his creative energy on painting.
His wife of 27 years, Marie-France Ward, and son Django Ward survive him.
Miguel Marquez of CNN contributed to this report.
R.I.P. Fred Ward, From Tremors And The Right Stuff
At the age of 79, actor Fred Ward passed away.
Ward was born in San Diego and lived a variety of lifestyles before breaking into acting in the 1970s. He is most known for his appearances in Tremors, The Right Stuff, and other films. The California native worked as an actress in New York for six months before hitting the road and working as a logger in Alaska, construction worker in California, and even a boxer, where he injured his nose three times.
Ward traveled to Rome, where he dubs Italian films and collaborates with neorealist legend Roberto Rossellini. In 1973, he made his acting debut in the three-part television series The Age Of Medici, directed by Rossellini. Ward returned to the United States and had minor roles in episodes of Quincy M.E. and the Brooke Shields pinball-spoliation cult classic Tilt before making a mark in Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood’s Escape From Alcatraz in 1979.
Ward leaned into his tough-guy character actor groove in the early 1980s, appearing in Walter Hill’s Southern Comfort and assuming the lead in Michael Nesmith’s futuristic, Mad Max-inspired Time rider: The Adventure Of Lyle Swan. His portrayal of Gus Grissom, the second American to travel into space, in The Right Stuff, an Oscar-winning real story about the US space program, raised his prominence.
Ward starred as Remo Williams in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins in 1985. The Destroyer was based on a pulp book series, and Orion Pictures, who produced the film, planned it to be the first in a series: a “red, white, and blue-collar Bond.” Ward signed for three films, and while Remo Williams has gained a cult following in recent years, it was critically lambasted and bombed at the movie office in the fall of 1985.
Throughout the late 1980s, Ward continued to work in modest roles in cinema and television, and in 1990, she reunited with Right Stuff director Phillip Kaufman for Henry & June, a loose version of Anas Nin’s book of the same name about her connection with Henry and June Miller. The film is notable for being the first to obtain the NC-17 rating. The X rating was infamously co-opted by the adult film industry, and NC-17 was created to separate serious, non-pornographic films with adult themes; it’s also worth noting that several newspapers and television stations refused to advertise films with the X rating. Ward told the Washington Post in 1990, “There’s that sort of stench on it.” “They believe they’re going to Debbie.”
Ward also produced and appeared in the cult neo-noir Miami Blues and played Earl Basset in Ron Underwood’s monster movie favorite, Tremors, in the same year.
Ward spent the rest of the 1990s in big-budget comedies (Naked Gun 33 12: The Final Insult), two made-for-television films (Cast A Deadly Spell, Bob Roberts), and collaborations with Robert Altman (The Player, Short Cuts). Ward spent the rest of his career as one of the most memorable character performers on the big and small screens, with appearances in Joe Dirt, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, and his final performance on HBO’s True Detective.
Any memorial contributions should be donated to the Boston University Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center, according to Fred Ward’s wishes.