Richard Weedt Widmark

 Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914 – March 24, 2008)

He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, Kiss of Death, for which he also won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. Early in his career Widmark was typecast in similar villainous or anti-hero roles in film noirs, but he later branched out into more heroic leading and support roles in westerns, mainstream dramas and horror films, among others. Widmark made his debut as a radio actor in 1938 on Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories. In 1941 and 1942, he was heard daily on the Mutual Broadcasting System in the title role of the daytime serial Front Page Farrell, introduced each afternoon as "the exciting, unforgettable radio drama... the story of a crack newspaperman and his wife, the story of David and Sally Farrell." During the 1940s, Widmark was also heard on such network radio programs as Gang Busters, Inner Sanctum Mysteries, Joyce Jordan, M.D., Molle Mystery Theater, Suspense and Ethel and Albert. In 1952 he portrayed Cincinnatus Shryock in an episode of Cavalcade of America titled "Adventure on the Kentucky."He returned to radio drama decades later, performing on CBS Radio Mystery Theater (1974–82), and was also one of the five hosts on Sears Radio Theater (as the Friday "adventure night" host) from 1979–81. Widmark was also a guest on What's My Line? in 1954. The following year, he made a rare foray into comedy on I Love Lucy, portraying himself when a starstruck Lucy trespasses onto his property to steal a souvenir. Widmark finds Lucy sprawled out on his living room floor underneath a bearskin rug. Returning to television in the early 1970s, Widmark received an Emmy nomination for his performance as Paul Roudebush, the President of the United States, in the TV movie Vanished! (1971), a Fletcher Knebel political thriller. In 1972–73, he reprised his detective role from Don Siegel's Madigan (1968) with six 90-minute episodes on the NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie.

Having retired in 2001, Widmark died, after a long illness, on March 24, 2008, at his home at the age of 93. Widmark's illness had been aggravated by a fall he had suffered during the previous year. At the 2009 Academy Awards, Richard Widmark was honored in the Memorial Tribute. His interment is at Roxbury cemetery in Roxbury, CT.