Anthony Quinn

Anthony Quinn was a Mexican-American actor, as well as a painter and writer. He starred in numerous critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, both in Hollywood and abroad. His notable films include La Strada (1954), The Guns of Navarone (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Zorba the Greek (1964), The Message (1976), and Lion of the Desert (1980). He also had an Oscar-nominated title role in Zorba the Greek (1964). Quinn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor twice: for Viva Zapata! in 1952 and Lust for Life in 1956. In addition, he received two Academy Award nominations in the Best Leading Actor category, along with five Golden Globe nominations and two BAFTA Award nominations. In 1987, he was presented with the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. Through both his artistic endeavors and civil-rights activism, he remains a seminal figure of Latin-American representation in the media of the United States. Quinn was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, during the Mexican Revolution to a Mexican mother and a first-generation Irish-Mexican father. He moved to Los Angeles with his family when he was six years old, where he grew up in the Boyle Heights and Echo Park neighborhoods. He played in the band of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson as a youth and as a deputy preacher. He attended Polytechnic High School and later Belmont High, but eventually dropped out. The young Quinn boxed and then later studied architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright at the great architect's studio, Taliesin, in Arizona. Quinn was close to Wright, who encouraged him when he decided to give acting a try. Quinn made his credited film debut in Parole! (1936). After a brief apprenticeship on stage, Quinn hit Hollywood in 1936 and picked up a variety of small roles in several films at Paramount, including an Indian warrior in The Plainsman (1936), which was directed by the man who later became his father-in-law, Cecil B. DeMille. As a contract player at Paramount, Quinn's roles were mainly ethnic types, such as an Arab chieftain in the Bing Crosby - Bob Hope comedy, Road to Morocco (1942). As a Mexican national (he did not become an American citizen until 1947), he was exempt from the draft. With many other actors in military service during WWII, he was able to move up into better supporting roles. He married DeMille's daughter Katherine DeMille, which afforded him entrance to the top circles of Hollywood society. He became disenchanted with his career and did not renew his Paramount contract despite the advice of others, including his father-in-law, with whom he did not get along. Quinn returned to the stage to hone his craft. His portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire in Chicago and on Broadway (where he replaced the legendary Marlon Brando, who is forever associated with the role) made his reputation and boosted his film career when he returned to the movies. Quinn's career took off in the 1950s, when he worked with some of the most renowned directors of the time, such as Elia Kazan, Federico Fellini, Nicholas Ray, and David Lean. He played a wide range of characters, from Mexican revolutionaries to Bedouin sheiks to Greek peasants. He won his first Oscar for his role as Emiliano Zapata's brother in Viva Zapata! (1952), directed by Kazan. He won his second Oscar for his role as Paul Gauguin in Lust for Life (1956), opposite Kirk Douglas as Vincent van Gogh. He also received his first leading actor nomination for his performance as Zorba, a charismatic Greek peasant, in Zorba the Greek (1964). He was nominated again for his role as a deposed tribal leader in The Lion of the Desert (1980), which was banned in Italy for its depiction of the Italian colonialism in Libya. Quinn also pursued his artistic interests in painting and sculpting, exhibiting his works in galleries around the world. He wrote two memoirs, The Original Sin (1972) and One Man Tango (1995), in which he candidly recounted his personal and professional life. He was married three times and had 12 children, some of whom followed his footsteps into acting. He died on June 3, 2001, in Boston, Massachusetts, from pneumonia and respiratory failure due to complications from throat cancer. He was 86 years old. He was buried at his family estate in Rhode Island, where a 9-foot-tall bronze statue of him as Zorba stands as a tribute to his legacy.