Anthony Quinn
Birthday:
Birthplace:
Chihuahua, Mexico
Earthy and at times exuberant, Anthony Quinn was one of Hollywood's more colorful personalities. Though he played many important roles over the course of his 60-year career, Quinn's signature character was Zorba, a zesty Greek peasant who teaches a stuffy British writer to find joy in the subtle intricacies of everyday life in Zorba the Greek (1964), which Quinn also produced. The role won him an Oscar nomination and he reprised variations of Zorba in several subsequent roles. Although he made a convincing Greek, Quinn was actually of Irish-Mexican extraction. He was born Antonio Rudolfo Oaxaca Quinn in Chihuahua, Mexico, on April 21, 1915, but raised in the U.S. Before becoming an actor, Quinn had been a prizefighter and a painter. He launched his film career playing character roles in several 1936 films, including Parole (his debut) and The Milky Way, after a brief stint in the theater. In 1937, he married director Cecil B. DeMille's daughter Katherine De Mille, but this did nothing to further his career and Quinn remained relegated to playing "ethnic" villains in Paramount films through the 1940s. By 1947, he was a veteran of over 50 films and had played everything from Indians, Mafia dons, Hawaiian chiefs, Chinese guerrillas, and comical Arab sheiks, but he was still not a major star. So he returned to the theater, where for three years he found success on Broadway in such roles as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. Upon his return to the screen in the early '50s, Quinn was cast in a series of B-adventures like Mask of the Avenger (1951). He got one of his big breaks playing opposite Marlon Brando in Elia Kazan's Viva Zapata! (1952). His supporting role as Zapata's brother won Quinn his first Oscar and after that, Quinn was given larger roles in a variety of features. He went to Italy in 1953 and appeared in several films, turning in one of his best performances as a dim-witted, thuggish, and volatile strongman in Federico Fellini's La Strada (1954). Quinn won his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar portraying the painter Gaugin in Vincente Minnelli's Lust for Life (1956). The following year, he received another Oscar nomination for George Cukor's Wild Is the Wind. During the '50s, Quinn specialized in tough, macho roles, but as the decade ended, he allowed his age to show. His formerly trim physique filled out, his hair grayed, and his once smooth, swarthy face weathered into an appealing series of crags and crinkles. His careworn demeanor made him an ideal ex-boxer in Requiem for a Heavyweight and a natural for the villainous Bedouin he played in Lawrence of Arabia (both 1962). The success of Zorba the Greek in 1964 was the highwater mark of Quinn's career during the '60s -- it offered him another Oscar nomination -- and as the decade progressed, the quality of his film work noticeably diminished. The 1970s offered little change and Quinn became known as a ham, albeit a well-respected one. In 1971, he starred in the short-lived television drama Man in the City. His subsequent television appearances were sporadic, though in 1994, he became a semi-regular guest (playing Zeus) on the syndicated Hercules series. Though his film career slowed considerably during the 1990s, Quinn continued to work steadily, appearing in films as diverse as Jungle Fever (1991), Last Action Hero (1993), and A Walk in the Clouds (1995). In his personal life, Quinn proved as volatile and passionate as his screen persona. He divorced his wife Katherine, with whom he had three children, in 1956. The following year he embarked on a tempestuous 31-year marriage to costume designer Iolanda Quinn. The union crumbled in 1993 when Quinn had an affair with his secretary that resulted in a baby; the two shared a second child in 1996. In total, Quinn has fathered 13 children and has had three known mistresses. He and Iolanda engaged in a public and very bitter divorce in 1997 in which she and one of Quinn's sons, Danny Quinn, alleged that the actor
Photos
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | City Beneath The Sea |
|
— | 2011 |
No Score Yet | Hispanic Hollywood - Then and Now |
|
— | 2007 |
No Score Yet | Making 'Avenging Angelo' |
|
— | 2003 |
No Score Yet | From Russia To Hollywood |
|
— | 2002 |
No Score Yet | King of the Streets |
|
— | 2002 |
13% | Avenging Angelo |
|
— | 2002 |
No Score Yet | Hispanic Hollywood |
|
— | 2000 |
No Score Yet | From Russia to Hollywood: The 100-Year Odyssey of Chekhov and Shdanoff |
|
— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | Oriundi |
|
— | 1999 |
No Score Yet | Somebody to Love |
|
— | 1996 |
60% | Gotti |
|
— | 1996 |
No Score Yet | Seven Servants |
|
— | 1996 |
No Score Yet | The Fine Art of Separating People From Their Money |
|
— | 1996 |
44% | A Walk in the Clouds |
|
— | 1995 |
No Score Yet | Old Man and the Sea |
|
— | 1995 |
No Score Yet | Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur |
|
— | 1994 |
No Score Yet | Hercules in the Underworld |
|
— | 1994 |
No Score Yet | Hercules and the Circle of Fire |
|
— | 1994 |
No Score Yet | Hercules and the Lost Kingdom |
|
— | 1994 |
No Score Yet | Hercules and the Amazon Women |
|
— | 1994 |
38% | Last Action Hero |
|
— | 1993 |
6% | Mobsters |
|
— | 1991 |
81% | Jungle Fever |
|
— | 1991 |
64% | Only the Lonely |
|
— | 1991 |
No Score Yet | Ghosts Can't Do It |
|
— | 1990 |
No Score Yet | The Old Man and the Sea |
|
— | 1990 |
35% | Revenge |
|
— | 1990 |
No Score Yet | Stradivari |
|
— | 1989 |
No Score Yet | Onassis: The Richest Man in the World |
|
— | 1988 |
No Score Yet | Circle of Power |
|
— | 1983 |
No Score Yet | The Salamander |
|
— | 1983 |
No Score Yet | Regina |
|
— | 1983 |
No Score Yet | Valentina |
|
— | 1982 |
No Score Yet | High Risk |
|
— | 1981 |
71% | Lion of the Desert (Omar Mukhtar) |
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— | 1981 |
No Score Yet | The Salamander |
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— | 1981 |
No Score Yet | Rembetika: The Blues of Greece |
|
— | 1980 |
No Score Yet | The Passage |
|
— | 1979 |
No Score Yet | Switch |
|
— | 1979 |
No Score Yet | Fatal Assassin |
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— | 1978 |
No Score Yet | Caravans |
|
— | 1978 |
No Score Yet | The Greek Tycoon |
|
— | 1978 |
No Score Yet | The Children of Sanchez |
|
— | 1978 |
No Score Yet | Con Artists |
|
— | 1978 |
No Score Yet | The Inheritance (l'eredità Ferramonti) |
|
— | 1976 |
No Score Yet | The Message |
|
— | 1976 |
No Score Yet | Target of an Assassin |
|
— | 1976 |
No Score Yet | Fatal Assassin |
|
— | 1976 |
No Score Yet | The Marseille Contract (The Destructors) |
|
— | 1974 |
No Score Yet | The Don Is Dead |
|
— | 1973 |
No Score Yet | Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears |
|
— | 1973 |
81% | Across 110th Street |
|
— | 1972 |
No Score Yet | Arruza |
|
— | 1972 |
No Score Yet | Flap |
|
— | 1970 |
No Score Yet | R.P.M. |
|
— | 1970 |
100% | King: A Filmed Record...Montgomery to Memphis |
|
— | 1970 |
No Score Yet | A Walk in the Spring Rain |
|
— | 1970 |
67% | The Secret of Santa Vittoria |
|
— | 1969 |
No Score Yet | A Dream of Kings |
|
— | 1969 |
40% | The Magus |
|
— | 1968 |
No Score Yet | Guns for San Sebastian |
|
— | 1968 |
43% | The Shoes of the Fisherman |
|
— | 1968 |
No Score Yet | La Vingt-cinquième heure (The 25th Hour) |
|
— | 1967 |
No Score Yet | The Happening |
|
— | 1967 |
No Score Yet | Rover |
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— | 1967 |
No Score Yet | Lost Command |
|
— | 1966 |
80% | Zorba the Greek |
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— | 1964 |
No Score Yet | The Visit |
|
— | 1964 |
90% | Behold a Pale Horse |
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— | 1964 |
No Score Yet | A High Wind in Jamaica |
|
— | 1964 |
97% | Lawrence of Arabia |
|
— | 1962 |
89% | Barabbas |
|
— | 1962 |
92% | Requiem for a Heavyweight |
|
— | 1962 |
92% | The Guns of Navarone |
|
— | 1961 |
69% | The Savage Innocents |
|
— | 1961 |
No Score Yet | Portrait in Black |
|
— | 1960 |
No Score Yet | Heller in Pink Tights |
|
— | 1960 |
No Score Yet | Warlock |
|
— | 1959 |
83% | Last Train from Gun Hill |
|
— | 1959 |
No Score Yet | The Buccaneer |
|
— | 1958 |
20% | The Black Orchid |
|
— | 1958 |
No Score Yet | Wild Is the Wind |
|
— | 1957 |
No Score Yet | The River's Edge |
|
— | 1957 |
No Score Yet | The Ride Back |
|
— | 1957 |
No Score Yet | Notre Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) |
|
— | 1956 |
No Score Yet | Man from Del Rio |
|
— | 1956 |
100% | Lust for Life |
|
— | 1956 |
No Score Yet | The Naked Street (The Brass Ring) |
|
— | 1955 |
No Score Yet | Magnificent Matador |
|
— | 1955 |
No Score Yet | Seven Cities of Gold |
|
— | 1955 |
No Score Yet | Ulysses |
|
— | 1954 |
98% | The Road (La Strada) |
|
— | 1954 |
No Score Yet | Long Wait |
|
— | 1954 |
No Score Yet | Seminole |
|
— | 1953 |
No Score Yet | Blowing Wild |
|
— | 1953 |
No Score Yet | Ride, Vaquero! |
|
— | 1953 |
No Score Yet | Against All Flags |
|
— | 1952 |
100% | The World in His Arms |
|
— | 1952 |
65% | Viva Zapata! |
|
— | 1952 |
No Score Yet | The Brave Bulls |
|
— | 1951 |
No Score Yet | Mask of the Avenger |
|
— | 1951 |
No Score Yet | Tycoon |
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— | 1947 |
80% | Sinbad the Sailor |
|
— | 1947 |
No Score Yet | California |
|
— | 1946 |
80% | Back to Bataan |
|
— | 1945 |
No Score Yet | Where Do We Go from Here? |
|
— | 1945 |
No Score Yet | Irish Eyes Are Smiling |
|
— | 1944 |
No Score Yet | Buffalo Bill |
|
— | 1944 |
No Score Yet | Guadalcanal Diary |
|
— | 1943 |
No Score Yet | The Saint Meets the Tiger |
|
— | 1943 |
91% | The Ox-Bow Incident |
|
— | 1943 |
83% | The Black Swan |
|
— | 1942 |
No Score Yet | Larceny, Inc. |
|
— | 1942 |
92% | Road to Morocco |
|
— | 1942 |
100% | Blood and Sand |
|
— | 1941 |
89% | Road to Zanzibar |
|
— | 1941 |
82% | They Died With Their Boots On |
|
— | 1941 |
No Score Yet | Knockout |
|
— | 1941 |
80% | City for Conquest |
|
— | 1940 |
86% | The Ghost Breakers |
|
— | 1940 |
100% | Road to Singapore |
|
— | 1940 |
No Score Yet | Texas Rangers Ride Again |
|
— | 1940 |
60% | Island of Lost Men |
|
— | 1939 |
No Score Yet | Union Pacific |
|
— | 1939 |
20% | King of Chinatown |
|
— | 1939 |
No Score Yet | Bulldog Drummond in Africa |
|
— | 1938 |
No Score Yet | The Buccaneer |
|
— | 1938 |
94% | Daughter of Shanghai |
|
— | 1937 |
No Score Yet | The Last Train from Madrid |
|
— | 1937 |
No Score Yet | Waikiki Wedding |
|
— | 1937 |
No Score Yet | Swing High, Swing Low |
|
— | 1937 |
100% | The Plainsman |
|
— | 1936 |
No Score Yet | The Milky Way |
|
— | 1936 |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet |
The Cosby Show
1984-1992
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Jesus of Nazareth
1977
|
|
|
Quotes from Anthony Quinn's Characters
Louis "Mountain" Rivera: | I coulda been a contender, instead of a bum, which is what I am. Let's face it, it was you Charlie, it was you. |
Alexis Zorba: | You think too much, that is your trouble. Clever people and grocers, they weigh everything. |
Basil: | An overhead cable? You're mad. |
Alexis Zorba: | Why? |
Basil: | That forest doesn't belong to us. |
Alexis Zorba: | Well, it doesn't, and then it does. |
Basil: | What does that mean? |
Alexis Zorba: | It belong to the monastery. The monastery belongs to God, and God belongs to everybody. Do you agree? |
Santiago: | A man can be destroyed, but not defeated. |
T.E. Lawrence: | My friends, we have been foolish. Auda will not come to Aqaba. Not for money... |
Auda abu Tayi: | No. |
T.E. Lawrence: | ... For Feisal... |
Auda abu Tayi: | No! |
T.E. Lawrence: | ...nor to drive away the Turks. He will come... because it is his pleasure. |
Auda abu Tayi: | Thy mother mated with a scorpion. |
Auda abu Tayi: | [to Lawrence] I carry twenty-three great wounds, all got in battle. Seventy-five men have I killed with my own hands in battle. I scatter, I burn my enemies' tents. I take away their flocks and herds. The Turks pay me a golden treasure, yet I am poor! Because *I* am a river to my people! |
Auda abu Tayi: | It is my pleasure that you dine with me in Wadi Ram. ( someday CGI may get there but that arrival scene is one for the ages..) |
Auda abu Tayi: | It is my pleasure that you dine with me in Wadi Ram. [someday CGI may get there but that arrival scene is one for the ages] |
Alexis Zorba: | God has a very big heart but there is one sin he will not forgive [slaps table]. |
Alexis Zorba: | God has a very big heart but there is one sin he will not forgive. [slaps table] |
Alexis Zorba: | If a woman calls a man to her bed and he will not go. |
Alexis Zorba: | How can I not love them? Poor weak creatures... and they take so little, a man's hand on their breast, and they give you all they got. |
Basil: | I don't want any trouble. |
Alexis Zorba: | Life is trouble. Only death is not. To be alive is to undo your belt and *look* for trouble. |
Alexis Zorba: | Damn it boss, I like you too much not to say it. You've got everthing except one thing: madness! A man needs a little madness, or else... |
Basil: | Or else? |
Alexis Zorba: | ...he never dares cut the rope and be free. |
Alexis Zorba: | If a woman sleeps alone, it puts a shame on all men. |