RIP: Jack Warden
And here we are with another sad day for The Poseidon Adventure. Only, unlike Red Buttons, who died last week, Jack Warden appeared in the sequel, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure. Yes, the great supporting actor -- he was nominated twice for the best supporting actor Oscar and won a supporting Emmy -- passed on Wednesday at the age of 85. My introduction to Warden was with The Great Muppet Caper (there I go showing my age again), in which he played the news editor who sends Kermit, Gonzo and Fozzie to London, but eventually I came to enjoy the man I continually referred to in my youth as "Buttermaker" (because I must have seen the TV-series of The Bad News Bears before the movie, which starred Walter Matthau as the character) in nearly all of his roles. It helped that he was in some damn good films, like All the President's Men, Twelve Angry Men, The Verdict, From Here to Eternity, Being There, Bullets Over Broadway and Run Silent Run Deep. He worked on a number of films with Warren Beatty, including Shampoo and Heaven Can Wait, the films that netted him those Academy Award nominations, and occasionally worked for directors Sidney Lumet and Woody Allen. His greatest achievement, though, might be that he stuck it out through all three Problem Child movies (even that damn kid didn't reprise the title role in the third, made-for-TV installment).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-22-2006 @ 12:13PM
Harold Roth said...
Jack Warden was a SUPerb Actor. The roles he played, such as the lawyer in The Verdict where he assists Paul Newman was just GREAT! He will be missed.
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7-22-2006 @ 1:09PM
Joe said...
How can anyone talk about thew great work of Jack Warden WITHOUT so much as a mention of him as the suicidel judge in the much too overlooked Pacino flick "And Justice For All"?
The man absolutely stole the show from start to finish - and has kept me out of helicopters to this very day!
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7-22-2006 @ 7:59PM
paul williams said...
Did Jack have a will? Does his long-time girlfriend, Marucha receive all that he had, or does the wife?
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7-22-2006 @ 9:15PM
cacashgirl said...
Mr W was a gifted actor and a great guy. I wish his loved ones solace in their time of grief. He will be missed!
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7-23-2006 @ 12:47AM
gregg miller said...
Jack Warden was one of the great supporting character actors of all time. Unfortunately He's from a vast dying breed of great actors who are from the "old school" method of being a trained thespian. future generations will not see this kind of actor come along everyday. His work was direct, and honest.
the old saying definitely applies here. "they don't make em like they used to".
JACK WARDEN will be missed.
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8-28-2006 @ 1:41PM
bongiobul said...
what about the most classic of movies, used cars?
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7-23-2006 @ 10:30AM
Tim said...
I remember him well in the 1980 movie "Used Cars" with Kurt Russell. Also great was "Crazy Life A Fox" He always played the crass old man really well. It was kind of his trademark screen persona. He'll be missed by a lot of people. It's too bad the only movie his obit pages will mention is the terrible movie "Heaven Can Wait" - Out of about 100 movies he was in, why did they choose that one???? Rest in peace Jack.
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