The movie's pivotal scene finds Udo lashing an elderly woman into her wheelchair and gleefully pushing her down a flight of stairs as he leers and sniggers at her demise. He made his movie debut in "Kiss of Death" (1947) and his giggling, dapper psychopath Tommy Udo instantly became one of film noir's more indelible villains, handily upstaging the top-billed Victor Mature. He turned instead to the stage in 1943, and his name was soon splashed across Broadway marquees, appearing in productions such as "Kiss and Tell," "Dunnigan's Daughter" and "Kiss Them For Me." He forged an early relationship with director Elia Kazan during his Broadway run, but it was the postwar years that saw him in his first movie roles. Widmark tried to enlist in the military after the outbreak of WWII, but was rejected for a perforated eardrum. His first role was in "Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories," a 15-minute radio soap opera popular at the time, before starring as a tough-talking reporter in his own radio drama, "Front Page Farrell." By the early 1940s, he was appearing on several radio programs a day and pulling down an astonishing depression-era $100,000 a year. Widmark stayed on at Lake Forest until 1938 as a drama instructor, before moving on to New York and radio dramas. Nervy and charismatic, he auditioned for the lead role in "Counselor at Law," a popular 1930s play, seeing that playing an attorney onstage was more enticing than actually working as one. He was headed towards pre-law when he was sidetracked by debate, football and drama. Later years found him enrolled at Lake Forest College in the Chicago area. He was elected class president in high school, where he developed the ability to sweet-talk his way out of trouble. His grandfather was taking him to moving pictures as early as age four, where Widmark became a fan of Boris Karloff and the Universal stable of monsters. 26, 1914 in Princeton, IL, to a traveling salesman of Swedish descent, young Widmark moved around to South Dakota, Missouri and the Chicago, IL area in his early years. Off-screen, though, the real Widmark was in complete contrast to the roles he excelled at.īorn Dec. Even the more positive roles he played tended towards a high-strung, neurotic intensity that became a trademark. Over the span of 50 years and 75 movies, he built a career of playing men capable of casual cruelty and offhand violence. From his earliest roles, Widmark became an archetype, typically playing hoods, thugs, tough-minded cops or determined, flawed authority figures. Tough, mean, devious and smart all words that could be used to describe the sort of characters Richard Widmark was identified with.
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