Respect and salutations for the great Fred Ward, who passed last Sunday (5.8) at 79, but whose death wasn’t announced until today.
Ward’s last performance was as “Eddie Velcoro” in True Detective in 2015, when he was 72. I don’t know why Ward didn’t work over the last few years, but I always loved what he brought.
Ward tried to become a movie star in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (’85), but the public wouldn’t bite. He gave a cagey, flavorful performance as the bald-headed Henry Miller in Phil Kaufman‘s Henry & June (’90), but — be honest — nobody wanted to see Ward generate any sexual energy.
Ward just didn’t have that X-factor movie-star schwing — he was more of a quirky, amiable, laid-back oddball type.
My all-time favorite Ward performance was as the yokelish Earl Bassett, the best friend of Kevin Bacon‘s Val McKee, in Tremors (’90).
My second favorite was Sergeant Hoke Moseley in Miami Blues (which Ward also executive produced).
He was also a memorable Gus Grissom in Kaufman’s The Right Stuff, and I loved his cameo-sized performance in Silkwood (’82 — see below video).
Ward lived in Venice (not Italy) for the most part. I ran into him at Gold’s Gym once when he was training for Remo Williams….”yo!”