Anthony Quinn - History, Trivia, Family, Painting and writing

Film actor, born in Chihuahua, Mexico. Of Irish-Mexican parentage, he grew up in the USA, and after a few stage roles he made his film debut in Parole! (1936). For many years he was confined to small parts as an ethnic or exotic, usually as a menacing foreigner or Indian. The status of his roles changed when he won Oscars for Viva Zapata (1952) and Lust for Life (1956) and gained critical acclaim in Fellini's La Strada (1954), but his looks and manner kept him playing exotics, the most notable being Zorba the Greek (1964). He later appeared in a musical version of this, and starred in the television series, The Man and the City (1971–2). He was also a serious painter for many years.

Anthony Quinn (April 21, 1915 Chihuahua, Mexico – June 3, 2001 Boston, Massachusetts) was a two-time Academy Award-winning Mexican-American actor, as well as a painter and writer. He is best known for his roles in two Hollywood films, the title role in Zorba the Greek and his Oscar-winning performance in Viva Zapata!.

History

Antonio Rudolfo Oaxaca Quinn was born to an Irish father and a Mexican mother, a combination that later facilitated his playing a wide range of ethnic roles.

In his youth, Quinn boxed, then studied art and architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright at the latter's Arizona residence and studio, Taliesin, and the two men became friends. When Quinn revealed that he was drawn to acting, Wright encouraged this major change in career direction.

After a brief stint in the theater, Quinn launched his film career playing character roles in several 1936 films, including Parole (his debut) and The Milky Way.

Returning to the screen in the early 1950s,Quinn specialized in tough, macho roles. His supporting role as Zapata's brother won Quinn his first Oscar, the first Mexican-American to win any Academy Award. He appeared in several Italian films starting in 1953, turning in one of his best performances as a dim-witted, thuggish, and volatile strongman in Federico Fellini's La Strada (1954), playing alongside Giulietta Masina. Quinn won his second Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for portraying the painter Gauguin in Vincente Minnelli's Van Gogh biopic, Lust for Life (1956). In "The River's Edge" (1957), he played the husband of the former girlfriend (played by Debra Paget) of a killer, played by Ray Milland, who turns up with a stolen fortune and forces Quinn and Paget at gunpoint to guide him safely to Mexico.

As the decade came to a close, Quinn allowed his age to show, and he began his transformation into a major character actor. The success of Zorba the Greek in 1964 was arguably the high water mark of Quinn's career, and resulted in another Oscar nomination.

In the 1970s, Quinn became known as a ham, albeit a well-respected one.

In 1982, he starred in the Lion of the Desert, together with Irene Papas, Oliver Reed, Rod Steiger, and John Gielgud. Quinn played the real-life Bedouin leader Omar Mukhtar who fought Mussolini's Italian troops in the deserts of Libya.

His film career slowed during the 1990s, but Quinn nonetheless continued to work steadily, appearing in Jungle Fever (1991), Last Action Hero (1993), and A Walk in the Clouds (1995).

Quinn spent his last years in Bristol, Rhode Island.

Preceded by: Karl Malden for A Streetcar Named Desire	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 1952 for Viva Zapata!	Succeeded by: Frank Sinatra for From Here to Eternity
Preceded by: Jack Lemmon for Mister Roberts	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 1956 for Lust for Life	Succeeded by: Red Buttons for Sayonara

Trivia

When Quinn made an apprearance on The Tonight Show hosted by Jay Leno, the orchestra played Syrtaki aka "Zorba's Dance", the theme from Zorba the Greek. Quinn came on stage dancing a few steps of the dance, to huge applause.

Family

Quinn's personal life was as volatile and passionate as the characters he played in films. The following year he embarked on a long and tempestuous marriage to costume designer Iolanda Quinn. The union crumbled in 1993 when Quinn impregnated his secretary; Quinn had three known mistresses and fathered a total of 13 children, among them Alex A. Quinn, Francesco Quinn, Lorenzo, Valentina, and Sean Quinn, a New Jersey real estate agent.

Painting and writing

Quinn began painting before he becoming an actor and painted throughout his life, as time permitted, eventually becoming an artist of some repute.

He wrote (sometimes with assistance) two memoirs, The Original Sin (1972) and One Man Tango (1997).