Kiss of Death

(An epitaphany shared with Monty)

Or
Maker's Widmark
Richard Widmark, poster boy for compassionate elder care, has died at the age of 93. Widmark debuted in 1947’s Kiss of Death as Tommy Udo, a sociopath who shoved the mother of a man he thought had ratted him out down a flight of stairs in a wheelchair, all the while giggling maniacally. Udo is still remembered as one of the most frightening characters in film history and Widmark earned Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination. The role cemented Widmark as a heavy in a serious of noir films before he became the cranky, craggy reluctant hero as a doctor in Panic in the Streets, Major General Thalius Slater – a man at war with killer bees in The Swarm, Jim Bowie in John Wayne’s The Alamo, prosecuting attorney Col. Tad Lawson in Judgment at Nuremberg, and an Army captain in Cheyenne Autumn, John Ford’s apology for three decades of cinematic Indian killings. In another Ford movie, Widmark starred opposite Jimmy Stewart. Both actors were hard of hearing, and needed the hair-making help of the make-up department. Ford, a notorious prick, would position himself too far for the actors to hear him, and when they threw up their hands in exasperation, Ford announced that after 40 years in movie-making, he was reduced to directing 2 deaf toupees. Other roles included evil hospital head Dr. Harris in Coma, nuclear war inciting naval officer Eric Finlander in The Bedford Incident, racist creep Ray Biddle in No Way Out, and for a while, Sandy Koufax’s father in law.

While not quite a swarm, there were 3 of us to predict this one: Monty’s Dead? No, Acting, takes 5th, while Nancy and my Better Late Than Never move into a 14th place tie. Of special note, that is Nancy’s first hit since November 2006, though she did take 2007 off, meaning that the cheese standing alone is Joy, nose pressed to the glass since March 6, 2007.