Biography
A former prizefighter, nightclub bouncer and lifeguard, Jack Warden took to the stage after serving as a paratrooper in World War II. Warden's first professional engagement was with the Margo Jones repertory troupe in 1947. He made both his Broadway and film debuts in 1951, spending the next few years specializing in blunt military types and short-tempered bullies. Among his most notable screen roles of the 1950s was the homicidally bigoted factory foreman in
Edge of the City and the impatient Juror #7 in Twelve Angry Men (both 1957). He was Oscar-nominated for his portrayal of the cuckolded Lester in
Warren Beatty's
Shampoo (1975) and for his work as eternally flustered sports promoter Max Corkle in another Beatty vehicle,
Heaven Can Wait (1978). He has also played the brusque, bluff President in
Being There (1978); senile, gun-wielding judge Ray Ford in ...And Justice For All (1979); the twin auto dealers--one good, one bad--in
Used Cars (1980);
Paul Newman's combination leg-man and conscience in
The Verdict (1982); shifty convenience store owner Big Ben in the two
Problem Child films of the early 1990s; the not-so-dearly departed in
Passed Away (1992); and Broadway high-roller Julian Marx in
Woody Allen's
Bullets Over Broadway (1994). Extensive though his stage and screen credits may be, Warden has been just as busy on television, winning an Emmy for his portrayal of George Halas in
Brian's Song (1969) and playing such other historical personages as Cornelius Ryan (1981's
A Private Battle) and Mark Twain (1984's Helen Keller: The Miracle Continues). Barely stopping for air, Jack Warden has also starred or co-starred on the weekly TV series Mister Peepers (1953-55),
The Asphalt Jungle (1961),
Wackiest Ship in the Army (1965),
NYPD (1967-68), Jigsaw John (1975),
The Bad News Bears (1979) and
Crazy Like a Fox (1984-85); and, had the pilot episode sold, Jack Warden was to have been the star in a 1979 revival of
Topper. Though this was not to be for Warden, the gruff actor's age and affectionately sour demeanor found him essaying frequent albiet minor feature roles through the new millennium. Remaining in the public eye withn appearances in
While You Were Sleeping (1995),
Ed (1996), Bullworth (1998) and
The Replacements (2000), the former welterweight fighter remained as dependable as ever when it came to stepping in front of the lens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide