
Golden Globe-winning character actor and producer Fred Ward passed away at age 79 on Sunday May 8, 2022.
Ward’s passing was confirmed by his publicist, Ron Hoffmann. No cause of death has yet been revealed, but Hoffmann said Mr. Ward wanted any memorial donations given to a Boston University center for the study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease.
Freddie Joe Ward was born in San Diego on December 30, 1942. Before acting, Ward spent three years in the United States Air Force. He was also a boxer (breaking his nose three times) and worked as a lumberjack in Alaska, a janitor, and a short-order cook.
He studied acting at New York’s Herbert Berghof Studio after serving in the U.S. Air Force. While living in Rome, he dubbed Italian films into English and appeared in films by neorealist director Roberto Rossellini.
In the 1970s he returned to the states to pursue his acting career and made his film debut as a cowboy in Hearts of the West in 1975, but his “big break” was playing John Anglin in the Clint Eastwood film Escape from Alcatraz in 1979.
In the 1980s, Ward continued to make a name for himself in Hollywood, appearing in 19 projects over the decade including Southern Comfort, Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann, The Right Stuff, Uncommon Valor, Silkwood, Swing Shift, Secret Admirer, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Off Limits, Big Business, and with Keanu Reeves in The Prince of Pennsylvania.
In 1990, Ward starred as Earl Bassett in the monster movie Tremors with Kevin Bacon and the movie became a cult classic and inspired a sequel Tremors II: Aftershocks in 1995, in which he also starred.
Also in 1990, he starred in Henry & June with Uma Thurman and as cop Hoke Moseley in his self-produced Miami Blues with Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh. That same year he also played an FBI agent in Dennis Hopper’s film Catchfire.
In 1993 Ward won a special ensemble Golden Globe when he starred in the Robert Altman film Short Cuts, which also won an ensemble award that same year at the Venice Film Festival. During the 1990’s he also starred in such films as Two Small Bodies, Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult , The Blue Villa, Chain Reaction, Best Men, …First Do No Harm with Meryl Streep and Dangerous Beauty.
Ward continued to build his already impressive resume in the 2000s. He starred in the action-thriller The Chaos Factor and appeared in the gangster movie Circus, the teen movie Road Trip and The Crow sequel The Crow: Salvation.
He also co-starred in Joe Dirt, Summer Catch, Wild Iris, the mini-TV-series Dice and the comedy film Corky Romano with Chris Kattan.
In 2002, Ward appeared in Sweet Home Alabama as the father of Reese Witherspoon’s character. He also appeared in Enough and Abandon that year. He had the starring role in Birdseye. After roles in The Last Ride, 10.5 and Coast to Coast, he took a short break from acting and returned as a guest in the TV series Grey’s Anatomy and ER. He then appeared in the ensemble drama Feast of Love, the thriller Exit Speed, Management with Jennifer Aniston, The Wild Stallion DVD and in Armored.
Ward guest-starred as Ronald Reagan in the French political thriller L’affaire Farewell. He appeared in 30 Minutes or Less, guest-starred in the Toni Collette TV series United States of Tara, In Plain Sight and Leverage.
All in all, Ward could boast 89 credits in movies and TV appearances.
Ward lived in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles. His first marriage, to Carla Evonne Stewart in 1965, ended in divorce the following year. His second marriage was to Silvia Ward, with whom he had a son, Django. After they divorced, he married Marie-France Boisselle.
Ward is survived by his wife of 27 years, Marie-France Ward and his son Django Ward.
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Fans and Friends Pay Tribute
Many fans and colleagues took to Twitter to pay their respects:
RIP, Fred Ward, a great character actor whose big shot at leading man status, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, unfortunately flopped, but who kept giving great, lived-in performances for the rest of his career. pic.twitter.com/X3NnD3PgnX
— Alan Sepinwall (@sepinwall) May 13, 2022
So sad to hear about Fred Ward. When it came to battling underground worms I couldn’t have asked for a better partner. I will always remember chatting about his love of Django Reinhardt and jazz guitar during our long hot days in the high desert. Rest In Peace Fred. pic.twitter.com/WLOB0iVwkd
— Kevin Bacon (@kevinbacon) May 13, 2022
RIP Fred Ward. He always elevated the films he was in. pic.twitter.com/eigaiEbn4n
— Alex Winter (@Winter) May 13, 2022
I mourn the loss of Fred Ward, who was so kind to me when we worked together on Remo Williams. Decent and modest and utterly professional, he disarmed with a smile that was at once warm and mischievous. https://t.co/EACXnjvjfU
— Kate Mulgrew (@TheKateMulgrew) May 13, 2022
Rest In Peace Fred Ward. Real good human. ❤️
— Freddie Prinze Jr (@RealFPJr) May 13, 2022
Devastated to learn about the passing of my friend, Fred Ward. I had the absolute pleasure of working with this wonderful man in Robert Altman’s Shortcuts and Alan Rudolph’s Equinox. A tough facade covering emotions as deep as a the Pacific Ocean. Godspeed amigo. ❤️????????????✌???? pic.twitter.com/IRdPrDPrac
— Matthew Modine (@MatthewModine) May 13, 2022
Farewell to Fred Ward who gifted us with so many rugged, funny and relatable characters throughout his career and always had charm to burn. Loved him in ‘Tremors’, ‘Miami Blues’, ‘The Right Stuff’, ‘The Player’, ‘Southern Comfort’ and more. RIP and thanks for all the movies x pic.twitter.com/i7fWmzYzc1
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) May 13, 2022
RIP Fred Ward. Elevated every movie he was in but Miami Blues will always be the gold standard. Brilliant. pic.twitter.com/JxaInb4Gvl
— Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) May 13, 2022
RIP Fred Ward pic.twitter.com/C50cEA541f
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) May 13, 2022
So sad to hear about Fred Ward passing. i loved working with him on Sweet Home Alabama. He was a wonderful man who brought so much joy to every part he played. He will be deeply missed. ???? https://t.co/tP4Y0yRkhn
— Reese Witherspoon (@ReeseW) May 13, 2022
Ward was a very notable character actor who opened the door for many actors like him and he will be missed.
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