Anthony Quinn

Birthday: Apr 21, 1915
Birthplace: Chihuahua, Mexico

Bio: Anthony Quinn was born Antonio Rudolfo Oaxaca Quinn on April 21, 1915 in Chihuahua,Mexico to an ethnic Irish Mexican father and an ethnic Mexican mother. Afterstarting life in extremely modest circumstances in Mexico, his family moved to LosAngeles, California, where he grew up in the Boyle Heights and the Echo Parkneighborhoods. In Los Angeles, he attended… More Bio: Anthony Quinn was born Antonio Rudolfo Oaxaca Quinn on April 21, 1915 in Chihuahua,Mexico to an ethnic Irish Mexican father and an ethnic Mexican mother. Afterstarting life in extremely modest circumstances in Mexico, his family moved to LosAngeles, California, where he grew up in the Boyle Heights and the Echo Parkneighborhoods. In Los Angeles, he attended Polytechnic High School and laterBelmont High, the latter of which he dropped out of. The young Quinn boxed (whichstood him in good stead as a stage actor, when he played Stanley Kowalski to ravereviews in Chicago), then later studied architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright atthe great architect's studio, Taliesin, in Arizona. Quinn was close to Wright, whoencouraged him when Quinn decided to give acting a try. After a briefapprenticeship in theater, Quinn made his movie acting debut in 1936 in a varietyof small roles in several films at Paramount, including playing a Native Americanin The Plainsman (1936), which was directed by the man who later became hisfather-in-law, Cecil B. DeMille.As a contract player at Paramount, he mainly played villains and ethnic types, suchas the Arab in the Crosby-Hope vehicle Road to Morocco (1942) (1942). As a Mexicannational (he did not become naturalized until 1947), he was exempt from the draft:With many actors in the service fighting World War II, Quinn was able to move upinto better supporting roles. He had married DeMille's daughter Katharine, whichenabled him to move in the top circles of Hollywood society.However, he was disenchanted with his career and did not renew his Paramountcontract despite the advice of others, including his father-in-law (whom Quinn neverfelt accepted him due to his Mexican roots). Instead, he returned to the stage tohone his craft. His portrayal of Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) inChicago and on Broadway (where he replaced the legendary Marlon Brando, who isforever associated with the role) made his reputation and boosted his film careerwhen he returned to the movies.Brando and Elia Kazan, who directed "Streetcar" on Broadway and on film, werecritical to Quinn's future success. Kazan, knowing the two were potential rivals dueto their acclaimed portrayals of Kowalski, cast Quinn as Brando's brother in hisbiographical film of Emiliano Zapata, Viva Zapata! (1952). Quinn won the BestSupporting Actor Academy Award for 1952, making him the first Mexican-American towin an Oscar. It was not to be his lone appearance in the winner's circle: he wonhis second Supporting Actor Oscar in 1957 for his portrayal of Paul Gauguin inVincente Minnelli' s autobiographical film of Vincent van Gogh , Lust for Life(1956), opposite Kirk Douglas.Over the next decade, Quinn lived in Italy and became a major figure in worldcinema, as many studios shot films in Italy to take advantage of the lower costs(not the first example of "runaway production" that had buffeted the industry sinceits beginnings in the Greater New York Metropolitan area in the 1910s). He appearedin several Italian films, giving one of his greatest performances as the circusstrongman who brutalizes the sweet soul played by the Giulietta Masina in herhusband, Federico Fellini's masterpiece Strada, La (1954).Alternating between Europe and Hollywood, Quinn built his reputation and entered thefront-rank of character actors and character leads. He received his third Oscarnomination (and first for Best Actor) for George Cukor's Wild Is the Wind (1957). Heplayed a Greek resistance fighter in the huge hit The Guns of Navarone (1961) andkudos for his ex-boxer in the film version of Rod Serling's Requiem for aHeavyweight (1962). He went back to the ethnic drag parts, playing an Arab chieftainand warlord in David Lean's masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and played theeponymous lead in the sword and sandals blockbuster Barabba (1961). Two years later,he reached the zenith of his career, playing Zorba the Greek in the 1964 film of thesame name (a.k.a. Alexis Zorbas (1964)), which brought him his fourth, and last,Oscar nomination, as Best Actor. The 1960s were kind to him: he played characterleads in such major films as The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968/II) and The Secret ofSanta Vittoria (1969). However, his appearance in the title role of the 1969 film ofJohn Fowles' The Magus (1968) did nothing to save the film, which was one of thatdecade's notorious turkeys.In the 1960s, Quinn told Life Magazine that he would fight against typecasting.Unfortunately, the following decade saw him slip into replaying a type, (theexuberant ethnic based on his own Zorba the Greek in such cinematic trash as TheGreek Tycoon (1978).He starred as the Hispanic mayor of a southwestern city in in the short-lived 1971TV series "The Man and the City" (1971), but his career lost its momentum during thedecade. Aside from portraying a thinly veiled Aristotle Onnassis in the cinematicroman-a-clef "The Greek Tycoon", his other major roles of the decade was as Hamza inthe controversial 1977 movie The Message (1976) (a.k.a. "Mohammad, Messenger ofGod", as the Italian patriarch in Eredit? Ferramonti, L' (1976), as yet another Arabin Caravans (1978) and as a Mexican patriarch in The Children of Sanchez (1978). In1983, he reprised his most famous role, Zorba the Greek, playing it on Broadway inthe revival of the musical "Zorba" for 362 performances. Though his film careerslowed during the 1990s, he continued to work steadily in films and television.Quinn lived out the latter years of his life in Bristol, Rhode Island, where heoperated a restaurant. He died in hospital in Boston from pneumonia and respiratoryfailure linked to his battle with throat cancer. He was 86 years old.