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Anthony Quinn Biography

(1915–2001)

Related Works

1936 Parole!
1941 They Died With Their Boots On
1947 Black Gold

1952 Viva Zapata
1954 La Strada
1956 Lust for Life
1957 Wild Is the Wind
1959 The Savage Innocents
1962 Requiem for a Heavyweight
1962 Lawrence of Arabia
1964 Zorba the Greek
1980 Lion of the Desert

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Actor. Born Anthony Ruldolph Oaxaca Quinn on April 21, 1915, in Chihuahua, Mexico. Quinn and his family left Mexico for the United States shortly after his birth and eventually settled in Los Angeles, California. His father died when he was only nine years old. Quinn then quit school and worked odd jobs to help support his family.

In 1936, Quinn made the leap into the acting profession. That year he had a role in the play Clean Beds with Mae West and appeared in the film Parole! This opened the door to other film roles, often playing the part of the bad guy.

Quinn did some of his finest film work in the 1950s and 1960s. He played Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata (1952), a performance that won him the Academy Award for Actor in a Supporting Role. Quinn received that same honor again in 1956 for his portrayal of the painter Paul Gauguin in Lust for Life with Kirk Douglas. He was also nominated for Best Actor in 1957 for Wild Is the Wind and in 1964 for Zorba the Greek. Quinn achieved box-office success with starring roles in The Guns of Navarone (1961) with Gregory Peck and David Niven and Laurence of Arabia (1962) with Peter O'Toole.

During the course of his career, Quinn appeared in more than 200 films. In his later years, he took on fewer acting roles and pursued his interest in art by painting, sculpting, and designing jewelry. Married three times, Quinn is said to have fathered 13 children. He died of respiratory failure on June 3, 2001, in Boston, Massachusetts.