Actor Fred Ward dies. He had the right stuff in movies from 'Tremors' to 'The Player'

NPR ^ | May 13, 2022 | Neda Ulaby

[BenLurkin]

Actor Fred Ward has died, according to his publicist, Ron Hofmann.

The star, who brought gentlemanly gruffness to films that included The Right Stuff, Tremors, Henry and June and The Player died Sunday, May 8 at the age of 79. No cause of death was given.

Ward brought reservoirs of tenderness to his tough guy roles, and plenty of street credibility. A former boxer, lumberjack and short-order cook who served in the U.S. Air Force, Ward went to acting school and got his start when he moved to Rome as a young man and worked as a mime, then a voice-over actor. That led to a few appearances in TV productions by Italian neorealist pioneer Roberto Rossellini, and then Hollywood. Ward made his U.S. movie debut as a convict in the Clint Eastwood movie Escape from Alcatraz in 1979.

"The unique thing about Fred Ward is that you never knew where he was going to pop up, so unpredictable were his career choices," Hofmann wrote in an email. "He could play such diverse characters as Remo Williams, a cop trained by Chiun, Master of Sinanju (Joel Grey) to become an unstoppable assassin in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, or Earl Bass, who, alongside Kevin Bacon, battle giant, worm-like monsters hungry for human flesh in 'cult' horror/comedy film, Tremors (1990), or a detective in the indie film Two Small Bodies (1993) directed by underground filmmaker Beth B., or a terrorist planning to blow up the Academy Awards in The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994), or the father of the lead character in Jennifer Lopez's revenge thriller Enough (2002)."

Ward is survived by his wife of 27 years, Marie-France Ward and his son Django Ward.

[pfflier]

Very informative. T book and movie The Right Stuff left the subject very murky but leaned toward implying Grissom panicked. Its is good to see something this definitive is out there, clearing his reputation.

[schurmann]

“...Its is good to see something this definitive is out there, clearing his reputation.” [pfflier, post 61]

NASA fell victim to a couple “wrong turns” in engineering development. Always possible in such programs: in the 1960s, they were forced to work at the cutting edge of technology under severe time constraints and under a microscope, subject to scrutiny both from political leaders and the public at large. Sticking to schedules and budgets under such conditions isn’t an exact science.

In the early 1960s, I recall the fiance of a childhood friend’s older sister deciding to leave NASA - lack of confidence in their engineering approach and leadership.

What is not in doubt: the safety risks attendant to ground operations around helicopters. Rotors generate dangerously large static-charge buildups simply by spinning. As a matter of safety, no one should touch any landing helicopter before it touches the ground, or (while hovering) allows a dangling cable to contact the earth (or water) first.

[wardaddy]

Laconic

In a word.

Maybe I misused it

[Pelham]

Great post.

[Impy]

Naked Gun 33.3

[campaignPete R-CT]

I dropped my home Xfinity for budget reasons

Going with Mobile phone data only ... See if I can do it

10 gb. Hafta stay off YouTube.

[21twelve]

Every so often we use helicopters to haul gear into remote sites using a net and cable. EVERY day the pilot reminds us to let the cable touch the ground first to discharge the static before we touch it.