Happy 108th Birthday Anthony Quinn

Today is the 108th birthday of the actor and artist Anthony Quinn. Frank Lloyd Wright was his mentor and encouraged him to go to acting school to improve his public speaking. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters “marked by a brutal and elemental virility” in numerous critically acclaimed films both in Hollywood and abroad. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

NAME: Anthony Quinn
AKA: Antonio Rudolfo Oaxaca Quinn
DATE OF BIRTH: 21-Apr-1915
PLACE OF BIRTH: Chihuahua, Mexico
DATE OF DEATH: 3-Jun-2001
PLACE OF DEATH: Boston, MA
CAUSE OF DEATH: Cancer – Throat
REMAINS: Buried, Quinn Estate, Bristol, RI
WIFE: Katherine deMille (m. 5-Oct-1937, div. 1963)
WIFE: Iolanda Addolori (m. 1966, div. 19-Aug-1997)
WIFE: Kathy Benvin (m. 1997)
OSCAR for Best Supporting Actor 1953 for Viva Zapata!
OSCAR for Best Supporting Actor 1957 for Lust for Life
HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME 6251 Hollywood Blvd.

BEST KNOWN FOR: Anthony Quinn was an Oscar-winning Mexican American actor known for his roles in ‘Viva Zapata!,’ ‘Lust for Life’ and ‘Zorba the Greek.’

Anthony Ruldolph Oaxaca Quinn was born on April 21, 1915, in Chihuahua, Mexico. Quinn and his family left Mexico for the United States shortly after his birth and eventually settled in Los Angeles, California. His father died when he was only 9 years old. Quinn then worked odd jobs to help support his family.

In high school, he won an architecture competition and was thus mentored by Frank Lloyd Wright, who had Quinn enroll in acting school with the idea of helping him hone his speech for future professional opportunities.

In 1936, Quinn made the leap into acting. That year he had a role in the play Clean Beds with Mae West and appeared in the film Parole! This opened the door to other film roles, often playing the part of the bad guy with an “ethnic” background.

Quinn did some of his finest film work in the 1950s and 1960s. Alongside Marlon Brando, he played Mexican revolutionary Eufemio Zapata in Viva Zapata! (1952), a performance that won him the Academy Award for Actor in a Supporting Role. Quinn received that same honor again for his portrayal of the painter Paul Gauguin in Lust for Life (1956) with Kirk Douglas. He had also starred in Federico Fellini’s La Strada (1956), which won the Foreign Language Film Oscar.

He was also nominated for best actor for Wild Is the Wind (1957) and Zorba the Greek (1964). Quinn achieved box-office success with starring roles in The Guns of Navarone (1961) with Gregory Peck and David Niven and Lawrence of Arabia (1962) with Peter O’Toole.

Quinn also established a solid career on the stage, appearing in the 1947 Broadway production on The Gentleman From Athens. He had worked as a replacement actor in the 1947 production of A Streetcar Named Desire and took over the famed role of Stanley Kowalski in the play’s 1950 revival at City Center. Additional Broadway projects included Borned in Texas (1950), Becket (1960), for which he earned a Tony nomination, and Tchin-Tchin (1962).

Two decades later, Quinn led the cast of a 1982 touring production of Zorba, a revival which later had a highly successful Broadway run from 1983-84, subsequently hitting the road again.

Over the course of his career, Quinn appeared in more than 200 films. In his later years, he took on fewer acting roles and pursued his interest in art by painting, sculpting, and designing jewelry. Still, he maintained a screen presence with projects like Jungle Fever (1991), Somebody to Love (1994), A Walk in the Clouds (1995), Oriundi (2000) and Avenging Angelo (2002), his last movie. He also played the Greek mythological god Zeus in several Hercules TV movies.

Quinn had also authored two memoirs: Original Sin: A Self-Portrait (1972) and One Man Tango (1995).

Married three times with multiple mistresses, Quinn was not known for his progressive statements towards women and was also accused of abuse by his second wife Iolanda, with the actor disputing the charges. He ultimately fathered 13 children, one of whom had died as a toddler. The actor was able to face his grief via his live stage work with Zorba, a character who lost a child as well.

Quinn died of respiratory failure on June 3, 2001, in Boston, Massachusetts.

FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
The Buccaneer (1-Dec-1958) 

FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Avenging Angelo (30-Aug-2002)
Gotti (17-Aug-1996)
A Walk in the Clouds (27-May-1995)
Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur (19-Nov-1994) · Zeus
Hercules in the Underworld (12-Nov-1994) · Zeus
Somebody to Love (15-Sep-1994)
Hercules and the Lost Kingdom (7-May-1994) · Zeus
Hercules and the Amazon Women (30-Apr-1994) · Zeus
Last Action Hero (18-Jun-1993) · Vivaldi
Mobsters (26-Jul-1991) · Don Masseria
Jungle Fever (5-Jun-1991) · Lou Carbone
Only the Lonely (24-May-1991) · Nick
The Old Man and the Sea (25-Mar-1990)
Revenge (16-Feb-1990) · Tibey
Ghosts Can’t Do It (17-Oct-1989)
Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1-May-1988)
Valentina (12-Nov-1982)
High Risk (May-1981)
The Salamander (1981)
Lion of the Desert (1980) · Omar Mukhtar
The Passage (13-Apr-1979)
The Children of Sanchez (22-Nov-1978)
Caravans (2-Nov-1978)
The Greek Tycoon (29-Jul-1978)
The Inheritance (21-Oct-1976)
The Con Artists (13-Aug-1976)
Target of an Assassin (1976)
The Message (1976) · Hamza
The Marseille Contract (5-Sep-1974)
The Don Is Dead (14-Nov-1973)
Across 110th Street (19-Dec-1972) · Capt. Mattelli
Arruza (23-Aug-1972) · Himself
Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears (1972) · Deaf Smith
Flap (Nov-1970)
R.P.M. (16-Sep-1970)
A Walk in the Spring Rain (17-Jun-1970) · Will Cade
King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis (24-Mar-1970) · Himself
A Dream of Kings (15-Dec-1969) · Matsoukas
The Secret of Santa Vittoria (29-Oct-1969) · Bombolini
The Magus (10-Dec-1968)
The Shoes of the Fisherman (14-Nov-1968) · Kiril Lakota
Guns for San Sebastian (20-Mar-1968)
The Happening (Mar-1967) · Roc Delmonico
The 25th Hour (16-Feb-1967)
The Rover (1967)
Lost Command (May-1966)
Marco the Magnificent (6-Aug-1965)
A High Wind in Jamaica (16-Jun-1965)
Zorba the Greek (17-Dec-1964) · Alexis Zorba
The Visit (11-Sep-1964)
Behold a Pale Horse (14-Aug-1964) · Viñolas
Lawrence of Arabia (10-Dec-1962) · Auda abu Tayi
Requiem for a Heavyweight (16-Oct-1962) · Mountain Rivera
Barabbas (10-Oct-1962) · Barabbas
The Guns of Navarone (22-Jun-1961) · Andrea
The Savage Innocents (1-Nov-1960)
Portrait in Black (27-Jul-1960)
Heller in Pink Tights (29-Feb-1960)
Last Train from Gun Hill (29-Jul-1959) · Craig Belden
Warlock (1-Apr-1959)
Hot Spell (17-Sep-1958)
The Black Orchid (Sep-1958)
Wild is the Wind (11-Dec-1957) · Gino
The Ride Back (29-Apr-1957) · Bob Kallen
The River’s Edge (11-Apr-1957) · Ben Cameron
The Wild Party (21-Dec-1956)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (19-Dec-1956)
Man From Del Rio (30-Oct-1956)
Lust for Life (17-Sep-1956) · Paul Gauguin
Seven Cities of Gold (Sep-1955) · Capt. Gaspar de Portola
The Naked Street (Aug-1955) · Phil Regal
The Magnificent Matador (24-May-1955)
Ulysses (8-Feb-1955) · Antinoos
Attila (27-Dec-1954)
La Strada (6-Sep-1954) · Zampanò
The Long Wait (26-May-1954)
Blowing Wild (16-Sep-1953)
East of Sumatra (11-Sep-1953)
Ride, Vaquero! (15-Jul-1953) · Josd Esqueda
City Beneath the Sea (11-Mar-1953)
Seminole (Mar-1953) · Osceola
Against All Flags (24-Dec-1952)
The World in His Arms (9-Oct-1952)
The Brigand (25-Jun-1952)
Viva Zapata! (7-Feb-1952) · Eufemio
Mask of the Avenger (27-Jun-1951) · Viovanni Larocca
The Brave Bulls (18-Apr-1951)
Tycoon (27-Dec-1947)
Black Gold (16-Sep-1947) · Charley Eagle
The Imperfect Lady (25-Apr-1947)
Sinbad the Sailor (17-Jan-1947) · Emir
California (14-Jan-1947) · Don Luis Rivera
Back to Bataan (31-May-1945) · Capt. Andres Bonifacio
Where Do We Go from Here? (23-May-1945) · Chief Badger
China Sky (21-Apr-1945)
Irish Eyes Are Smiling (19-Oct-1944) · Al Jackson
Buffalo Bill (13-Apr-1944) · Yellow Hand
Guadalcanal Diary (27-Oct-1943) · Jesus “Soose” Alvarez
The Ox-Bow Incident (21-May-1943) · Francisco Morez
The Black Swan (23-Dec-1942) · Wogan
Road to Morocco (5-Oct-1942) · Mullay Kassim
Larceny, Inc. (24-Apr-1942) · Leo Dexter
They Died with Their Boots On (1-Jan-1942) · Crazy Horse
The Perfect Snob (19-Dec-1941)
Bullets for O’Hara (19-Jul-1941) · Tony Van Dyne
Blood and Sand (22-May-1941) · Manolo de Palma
Thieves Fall Out (3-May-1941) · Chic Collins
Knockout (29-Mar-1941) · Trego
Texas Rangers Ride Again (13-Dec-1940)
City for Conquest (21-Sep-1940) · Murray Burns
The Ghost Breakers (21-Jun-1940)
Road to Singapore (14-Mar-1940) · Caesar
Island of Lost Men (16-Aug-1939)
Union Pacific (27-Apr-1939) · Cordray
King of Alcatraz (30-Sep-1938)
Bulldog Drummond in Africa (24-Aug-1938) · Fordine
Dangerous to Know (11-Mar-1938)
The Buccaneer (7-Jan-1938) · Beluche
The Last Train from Madrid (18-Jun-1937) · Capt. Ricardo Álvarez
Waikiki Wedding (23-Mar-1937)
Swing High, Swing Low (15-Mar-1937)
The Plainsman (1-Jan-1937) · A Cheyenne Indian