You don't knock The Duke and stay one of my favorites for long.
RIP Tough Guy, you where a great one.
Love 'The Duke' and his movies - but afraid he was not a very nice man, personally - and he had - what - 5 wives and lots of liaisons?
I only saw him in person one time and a lady greeted him with: "Mr. Wayne. Welcome. How are you!"
To which he replied, with a smirk: "Still able to, lady..."
The woman was a bit taken back and embarrassed.
I thought it was rather crude. 'Don't think Mr. Widmark ever was a rude...
It's rather a dichotomy. We tend to ascribe the actor with the characteristics of the parts they play. Thus, John Wayne, who never served but played the part of war heroes, was held up as a super American - and he WAS patriotic, no doubt about it. But that didn't necessarily translate to a gentleman on a personal level.
Mr. Widmark played many a villain, but he was a real gentleman in private life.