Quinn, Anthony Rudolph Oaxaca

▪ 2002

      Mexican-born American actor (b. April 21, 1915, Chihuahua, Mex.—d. June 3, 2001, Boston, Mass.), appeared in more than 150 films but was universally identified with one role especially—the earthy full-of-life title character in Zorba the Greek (1964), whom he inhabited so completely and comfortably that many of his later parts seemed also to be infused with that character's spirit. He embraced his offscreen life with the same gusto, a fact that was evidenced in part by the fact that his 13th child was born when he was in his 80s. Quinn had a variety of jobs—prizefighter, painter, and musician and preacher for an evangelist among them—and, besides studying for the priesthood, considered becoming an architect. To aid him in the latter, he began taking acting lessons after Frank Lloyd Wright suggested that he improve his speech, and before long he had been cast in the play Clean Beds. In 1936 Quinn appeared in a small part in the movie Parole, and he thereafter garnered a number of roles of various ethnic and/or outlaw characters in the films They Died with Their Boots On (1941), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), Guadalcanal Diary (1943), and Back to Bataan (1945). His first lead role came in 1947 in Black Gold. That same year Quinn went to New York City and made his Broadway debut in The Gentleman from Athens. He followed that with touring as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, returning to New York in 1950 to replace Marlon Brando in that role, and then touring in Born Yesterday and Let Me Hear the Melody. He also appeared in a number of live television programs. Returning to Hollywood, Quinn had roles in The Brave Bulls (1951) and Viva Zapata! (1952), for which he won the first of his two Academy Awards for best supporting actor. He then made a few films in Italy, the most notable of which was Federico Fellini's La Strada (1954), in which he gave one of his finest performances. Quinn won his second Oscar for Lust for Life (1956) and went on to roles in the memorable motion pictures Wild Is the Wind (1957), The Savage Innocents (1959), The Guns of Navarone (1961), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), and Lawrence of Arabia(1962). Quinn returned to the stage in 1982 to tour with and appear on Broadway in a revival of the musical version of Zorba, and he also became a successful artist and sculptor. His final movie role was in the not-yet-released Avenging Angelo.

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