Anthony Quinn Biography

MARITAL STATUS
Professions Actor , Executive Producer , Author more
Birth name Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca
Nationalities Mexican, American
Birth April 21, 1915 (Chihuahua – Mexico)
Death June 3, 2001

BIOGRAPHY
Son of an Irish painter-torreador and a Mexican woman, Anthony Quinn was born in Chihuahua, a small town then in the midst of a revolution, and grew up in the poor suburbs of Los Angeles. Destined for the priesthood, he finally abandoned his vocation after developing a taste for comedy. Indeed, following a tongue operation, he took diction lessons from Katherine Hamill who also teaches drama. He left for the United States in 1936, having learned that Cecil B. DeMille was looking for Indian actors to appear alongside Gary Cooper in A Buffalo Bill Adventure . On the set, he met the director’s adopted daughter and married her. Subsequently, he toured with his father-in-law Pacific Express and The Buccaneers , of which he made a remake in 1958 supervised by Cecil B. DeMille himself. Subscribing to Indian or Mexican side jobs until 1947, he changed the game on Broadway with his interpretation of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire .

Subsequently, the proposals multiply. Anthony Quinn then symbolizes the rise of a mixed-race man, one of the first mixed-blood stars in Hollywood. This appearance, both Latina and American, allows her to interpret all ethnic minorities, whether Arab, Native American, Italian, Greek, Mexican or Basque… It is also her passport to all adventures and all cinemas: Henri Verneuil , George Cukor , Jean Delannoy and Tony Scott direct it. From the peplum ( Barabbas ) to the epic ( Lawrence of Arabia ), from the comedy ( Your mother or me! ) to the western ( The Killer and the Beauty ), from the drama ( The Black Orchid ) to the thriller ( Revenge ), his intense and crazy look fascinates many directors. A fan of the big gap between big, insipid productions and masterpieces of the 7th Art, this cinema mercenary obtained a role in 1952 in Viva Zapata! by Elia Kazan : he is Eufemio, the brother of Marlon Brando (aka Zapata), and receives the first Oscar for best supporting actor while the latter leaves empty-handed.

In 1954, maestro Federico Fellini hired him for the role of Zampano alongside Giulietta Masina in La Strada , Oscar winner for best foreign film. Quinn is a force of nature who reveals herself to an intellectual audience. Two years later, he will be the terrifying and sensitive Quasimodo inNotre-Dame-de-Paris , and the same year, Paul Gauguin, the painter friend of Van Gogh (played by Kirk Douglas ) in The Passionate Life of Vincent Van Gogh . This biopic allowed him to win the second Oscar of his career. The big successes follow one another and Quinn becomes an action film star. In 1962, David Lean enlisted a dream cast for his masterpiece, Lawrence of Arabia : alongside Peter O’Toole , Alec Guinness and Omar Sharif , the actor transformed into a grumpy and greedy Bedouin, courageous and loyal.

After going through a dark year (he divorced Katherine DeMille and his personal life made the headlines in the tabloid press), Anthony Quinn returned to the forefront in 1964 with Zorba the Greek , a key role in his career. Critically acclaimed, nominated 7 times for the Oscars, the film definitively established its star status. At the end of his career, he mainly played “patriarch” roles ( Don Angelo is Dead , The Legacy , Zeus in the Hercules series ) and appeared in some big productions alongside Schwarzenegger ( Last Action Hero ), Keanu Reeves . ( The Fire Harvest ), or Sylvester Stallone , with whom he played his last film role in Mafia Love . Half-hearted but unimportant roles as his career is impressive: nearly 200 films, whether on the big or small screen, and in the theater, not to mention his works as a painter and sculptor.

Authors: Hélène Baud / Emilie Schneider