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With his straightforward jaw , inviolable body-build , and weathered boldness , Fred Ward seemed like he would be as perpetual as the broken topography he resembled , but the prolific character role player passed away late at 79 . Over a calling that spanned six ten , Ward lent his intensity level as a charismatic everyman to myriad genres , shit movies as varied from one another asTremorsandThe Right Stuff .
Whether he was battling belowground worms or blasting into outer blank , Ward ’s best performances were imbued with his signature tune trait of dependability , sincerity , and unity . Though he will be sorely missed , his piles of lover - favorite films remain to memorialize his bequest .
Gus Grissom (The Right Stuff)
To be warded off by the running clip ofThe Right Stuffwould be to miss an incredibly reliable space movie and Fred Ward ’s telling turn as Gus Grissom , one of several gang members of the historic Mercury political platform in the great eld of the space raceway .
Ward turn what could have in effect been a nervous whiner into a man with kernel and sentence even as he ’s blame for the space vehicle ’s sinking . With a combination of archival test footage and melodrama , it playact as a sorting of docudrama , and Grissom ’s part is essential for revealing the difference between the applied scientist and the astronaut .
Remo Williams (Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins)
Remo Williams : The Adventure Beginsfollows its titular hero , a New York cop enrol for espionage , as he investigates an organisation dealing in armaments on an outside exfoliation . Like a downcast - collar James Bond , Remo Williams outsmarts the bad cat and gets the fille all while look good in denim .
If ever there was an'80s movie that deserve a sequelit ’s this action - dangerous undertaking frolic , with Ward manducate the scenery as its blistering - blooded hero during montage after collage of training scenes and gamey - speed chases , even learning how to dodge bullet before Neo . If a continuation ever pass off , the powers that be can retch Jon Bernthal .
Earl Bassett (Tremors)
One of Ward ’s most well - known part is in the horror - comedyTremorswhere he plays Earl Bassett , a Graboid - wear hero who teams up with Kevin Bacon ’s Val to exterminate the giant worms teem under the small-scale town of Protection .
Bassett is one ofthe deadliest fiend hunters in theTremorsfranchise , and it ’s not hard to see why ; Ward emanates honest-to-goodness - fashioned know - how and efficacy in the role and come up with several cunning methods to destroy Graboids , becoming a true cult authoritative ikon .
Lyle Swann (Timerider: The Adventure Of Lyle Swann)
InTimerider : The Adventure of Lyle Swann , Ward work a dirt bike racing car from the ' 80s who , due to a temporal experiment , gets broadcast back into the ' 1870s . Using his imagination and wit , he essay to find a direction back to his own time .
Rocco (Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult)
The third installment in theNaked Gunfilm serial starring Leslie Neilson as Frank Drebin , Naked Gun 33 + 1/3 : The Final Insultsees him arrive out of retreat to square off against a terrorist — act by Ward — engrossed on blowing up the Academy Awards .
Anyone unfamiliar with Ward ’s ability to be fishy will be surprised at how well he handle the incredibly over - the - top fashion of comicality underlying to the franchise . Rocco referring to Drebin throughout the movie as " shaver " is just one example of Ward ’s charm as a hammy baddie .
Henry Miller (Henry & June)
base on the lifespan and times of author Henry Miller as expose in AnaÏs Nin ’s memoir , Henry & Juneexplores the throuple he entered into with her and his married woman during their time in Paris . It has the preeminence of being one of only a handful of NC-17 rated movies to be nominated for any Academy Awards .
Even amidst all the heavy - handed symbolism used in tandem bicycle with the sexual practice scenes to amplify their erotic revelations , Ward ca n’t help but imbue the movie with his signature earthiness . It ’s gentle to see why Miller was pass into a forestall family relationship of experiment , and why anyone would want to enter with him , despite being anything but seductive .
Cpl. Reece (Southern Comfort)
While he played problematic guys and Italian sandwich for most of his career , Ward was very effective as a villain , especially inSouthern Comfort , in which he plays Corporal Reece . Reece is part of a squad from the Lousiana Army National Guard who , while doing routine weekend manoeuvre , begins engaging in aggressive skirmish with local Cajun people in the rural bayou .
Reece is sadistic right from the beginning , impart live ammo to a training chronological succession that should only involve blanks . Ward does a peachy job of presenting American hubris when face an unseen enemy ( allegoric to the Vietnam War ) , as well as its barbarism , particularly when torturing a captured Cajun valet . He uses his prayer as a seemingly intrepid everyman to make the viewer increasingly uncomfortable as his sense of " justice " turn to brutality .
Sgt. Hoke Moseley (Miami Blues)
As a ex-serviceman investigator whose identity gets slip by a criminal psychopath , Ward holds his own against Alec Baldwin inMiami Blues . He ’s ideally suit for the grizzled Sergeant Moseley , whose old age have given him the experience and insightfulness necessary to outride one footstep before of Baldwin ’s killer .
Ward manages to play humor and heat into several scene - steal moments while not being demonstrate as entirely competent all the metre . He ’s imperfect , even perceived to be downright chintzy at clip , and definitely more than a petty quirky .
Harry Phillip Lovecraft (Cast A Deadly Spell)
Amovie instigate by the works of H.P. Lovecraft , Cast a Deadly Spellimagines a ' 40s rendering of the universe where magic is a part of everyday life . Ward ’s investigator Harry Phillip Lovecraft is assigned to place the Necronomicon , and along the way must dodge crafty gunmen , femme fatales , and the occasional baneful spell .
Similar toBrightbut with somewhat more appealingness , the moving-picture show welfare from having someone like Ward prime it in realism . Fans trust that a movie involving zombie chauffeurs exists because Ward takes its world - building in earnest .
Stuart Kane (Short Cuts)
Ward appeared in several Robert Altman moving picture , but his most famous wasShort Cuts , about several twine stories layered over one another , all beginning with a waitress running over a son with her car . Altman ’s dialogue is often very naturalistic and does n’t feel like it ’s being talk by actors , heightened by social scenes in which role let the cat out of the bag over one another .
Ward plays Stuart Kane , a salesman as disconnected from biography as the rest of the characters who surround him , striving for a way to make his life discover meaning . Even with a sprawl cast of characters including Altman favorites like Tim Robbins and Lily Tomlin , he manages to make the most of his small but not peanut role .
NEXT : William Hurt ’s Most Memorable Roles , Ranked Least To Most Villainous
