Remembering Anthony Quinn

Anthony Quinn was a prolific actor with 166 credits on IMDB. His career began in 1936 and continued through the rest of the century. Quinn was born in 1915 in Chihuahua, Mexico and died in Boston, Mass. 13 years ago on June 3, 2001.

Anthony Quinn once said of himself “I never satisfied that kid, but I think he and I have made a deal now. It’s like climbing a mountain. I didn’t take him up Mount Everest, but I took him up Mount Whitney. And I think that’s not bad.” He only won two Academy Awards in his lifetime. Both of them were in the 1950s and both were for Best Supporting Actor:

1952 – as Efemio Zapata in Viva Zapata, Emiliano Zapata’s (Marlon Brando) brother. Brando was nominated for Best Actor, but lost to Gary Cooper (“High Noon”)

1956 – as Paul Gauguin in “Lust for Life”. The film’s star, Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh, was nominated for Best Actor but lost to Yul Brynner in “The King an I.”

The 6′ 1″ actor was nominated for two Best Actor Oscars:

1957 – as Gino in “Wild is the Wind”. His co-star Anna Magnani was also nominated for Best Actress. They lost to Alec Guiness in “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and Joanne Woodward in “The Three Faces of Eve,” respectively.

1964 – as Alexis Zorba in “Zorba the Greek”. He lost that one to Rex Harrison in “My Fair Lady.” The film itself was nominated for Best Picture and also lost to “My Fair Lady,” but Lila Kedrova did pick up the Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Madame Hortense

So we guess that’s Anthony Quinn’s finest work according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Jeopardy! as well. Quinn has popped up on the TV quiz show over the years mainly in connection with Zorba, Gauguin and Zapata. Other movies that got a nod were “Road to Singapore” (1940), The Ox-Bow Incident” (1943), “Attila” (1954), “The Guns of Navarone” (1961), “High Wind in Jamaica” (1965), “Lion of the Desert” (1981), and his roles as both Aristotle Onassis and Onassis’ father, Socrates, came up as a clue in 1988.

But Quinn played memorable roles in so many other films, that it’s ridiculous! One of our favorites is “Requiem for a Heavyweight” as Mountain Rivera, a punch-drunk boxer who talks funny because he’s been hit “a million times.”

Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney and Julie Harris also star in the film. Boxers Muhammad Ali (when he was still known as Cassius Clay) and Jack Dempsey had roles as themselves, as did actor Rory Calhoun.