Richard Widmark grew up in Princeton, Illinois, and attended Lake Forest (IL) College, where he first began acting. He taught acting at Lake Forest after graduation until 1938, when he made his radio debut in New York in "Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories". Widmark made his Broadway stage debut in 1943 in "Kiss and Tell". He had been rejected as unsuitable for military service because of a perforated eardrum. In 1947 he got his big break, making film history as Tommy Udo in Kiss of Death, beginning a seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox. His hand and footprints were cast in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1949. After his contract with Fox expired, Widmark went independent. He first appeared on TV as himself in an episode of I Love Lucy, and began producing films om the late 1950s. His film career slowed after the 1970s, but he remained active in made-for-TV movies. He starred in his own TV series in 1972, Madigan, based on his hit movie of 1968, but only six episodes were produced before the show was canceled. In 1988 The American Movie Classics cable TV channel honored Widmark by airing "The Richard Widmark Film Festival."


Unforgettable in his screen debut in Kiss of Death (1947) as Tommy Udo, a psychopathic mob hit-man, who giggles gleefully even as he shoves a wheelchair-bound old woman, portrayed by Mildred Dunnock, tumbling down a long stairway to her demise. He was the Friday night host for CBS Radio's "Sears Mystery Theater" (1979). Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 2002. Was honored with a retrospective of his films by the Museum of Modern Art (New York, New York) in May 2001. His daughter with wife Jean Hazlewood, Anne Heath Widmark, an artist and author, married baseball legend Sandy Koufax on 1 January 1969. At 5' 10" he was one of the shorter leading men of his era. He was the step-father of Amy Fonda, daughter of Henry Fonda and Susan Blanchard. When his contract at Fox expired in 1954 after seven years, he deliberately went independent in order to have more artistic control over his films. He formed his own company, Heath Productions. Despite playing heartless killers and bigots on film, he personally denounced all kinds of violence and the usage of guns. He admitted that once he went fishing and regretted the fact he caught a trout and took its life. He also apologized profusely to Sidney Poitier during the shoot of the movie No Way Out (1950) after filming scenes together which called for Widmark to spew out racist remarks. In high school he wrote for the school newspaper. Spent his later years divided between a ranch in Hidden Valley, California, and a farm in Connecticut. Activist for strengthening gun control laws in the United States. Was on the first cover of German teen magazine "Bravo" together with Marilyn Monroe (1956). His acting idol was Spencer Tracy. Featured in "Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir" by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry (McFarland, 2003).