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In Remembrance: Jack Warden
Born John H. Lebzelter in September 18, 1920 in Newark, NJ, Warden took up boxing after being expelled from high school for fighting. He participated in 13 welterweight bouts under is mother’s maiden name of Costello, before giving up the ring to work as a bouncer and a lifeguard. He joined the Navy in 1938. After a three year tour of duty which saw him stationed in China patrolling the Yangtze River, he returned to the United States and joined the Merchant Marines. Dissatisfies with the long convoy runs he found himself working on, Warden quit after a year to enlist in the Army.
While in the Army, he served as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division. Although scheduled to be part of the D-Day Invasion, he broke his leg during training shortly before the operation and was hospitalized. Warden’s interest in acting was kindled while recuperating. While in the hospital, he was given the play Waiting For Lefty by Clifford Odets to read by a fellow soldier who was also an actor. Eventually recovering and returning to active duty, Warden fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
Following the war, Warden returned to New York City and began taking acting classes. He also worked a stint performing Tennessee Williams plays in a traveling repertory company.
Warden made his screen debut in a small role in the 1951 comedy You’re In The Navy Now. He made two more minor screen appearances that year before landing a supporting role as Frank Sinatra’s and Montgomery Clift’s barracks-mate in 1953’s From Here To Eternity.
Over the next several years Warden made several television appearances including Campbell Playhouse, Kraft Television Theatre and Studio. He also appeared on Broadway in productions of Clifford Odet’s Golden Boy and Arthur Miller’s A View From The Bridge.
In 1957, Warden returned to the screen in major supporting roles in they dramas, Edge Of The City and The Bachelor Party, before taking would be his breakthrough cinematic performance, that of one of the unnamed jurors in 12 Angry Men. Other notable early film appearances include the submarine thriller Run Silent Run Deep (1958), the drama The Sound And The Fury (1959), the comedy Wake Me When It’s Over (1960), the John Wayne action-comedy Donovan’s Reef (1962) and the western The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing (1973).
Warden also made several television appearance through the 1960s and 70s, making guest appearances on such series as Ben Casey, Naked City, The Twilight Zone, Route 66 and Wagon Train. He also starred in the series The Wackiest Ship In The Army, Jigsaw John and The Bad News Bears.
The 1970s also saw Warden receiving two Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nominations for his roles in Shampoo (1975) and Heaven Can Wait (1978).
Warden would continue to make numerous film appearances in such movies as All The President’s Men (1976), … And Justice For All (1979), Being There (1979), Used Cars (1980), The Verdict (1982), The Presidio (1988), Problem Child (1990), Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Mighty Aphrodite (1995), Bulworth (1998) and Dirty Work (1998).
Warden won a 1971 Best Supporting Actor Emmy for his role as Chicago Bears football coach George Halas in the telemovie Brian’s Song. He was also twice nominated for Best Actor Emmy’s for his work on his 1980s series Crazy Like A Fox.
His final film was the 2000 football drama The Replacements. |
Jack Warden, the twice Academy Award nominated character actor, has
passed away on June 19, 2006 in New York City. He was 85.