Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known asAnthony Quinn, was an American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental virility"[1] in over 100 film, television and stage roles between 1936 and 2002. He was a two-timeAcademy Award winner, and was also nominated for fiveGolden Globe Awards, twoBAFTA Awards and aTony Award.
Aside from his acting career, Quinn was also acivil rights activist, an avidpainter, and the author of several autobiographical books. In 1987, he was presented with the Golden GlobeCecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. Through both his artistic endeavors and activism, he is considered a seminal figure ofLatin-American representation in the media of the United States.[5][6]
Baptism paper for Quinn, which took place on July 11, 1915
Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca was born April 21, 1915, inChihuahua, Mexico, during theMexican Revolution to Manuela "Nellie" (née Oaxaca)[7] and Francisco "Frank" Quinn.[4][2] Frank Quinn was born to anIrish immigrant father fromCounty Cork and a Mexican mother.[8] Frank reportedly rode with Mexican revolutionaryPancho Villa, then later moved to the East Los Angeles neighborhood ofCity Terrace and became an assistant cameraman at a movie studio.[4] In Quinn's autobiography,The Original Sin: A Self-portrait by Anthony Quinn, he denied being the son of an "Irish adventurer" and attributed that tale to Hollywood publicists.[9] Quinn later said he was not accepted in Mexico because of his surname.[9]
When he was six years old, Quinn attended a Catholic church and even contemplated becoming a priest, but at the age of 11, he joined thePentecostals at theInternational Church of the Foursquare Gospel, which was founded and led by the evangelical preacherAimee Semple McPherson.[10] For a time, Quinn played in the church's band and was an apprentice preacher with the evangelist. "I have known most of the great actresses of my time, and not one of them could touch her," Quinn once said of the spellbinding McPherson, whom he credited with inspiring Zorba's gesture of the dramatically outstretched hand.[11]
As a young man, Quinnboxed professionally to earn money, then studied art and architecture underFrank Lloyd Wright at the designer's Arizona residence and his Wisconsin studio,Taliesin. The two men became friends. When Quinn mentioned that he wanted to be an actor, Wright encouraged him. Quinn said he had been offered $800 per week by a film studio and did not know what to do. Wright replied, "Take it, you'll never make that much with me."[3][This quote needs a citation] During a 1999 interview onPrivate Screenings with Robert Osborne, Quinn said the contract was for only $300 per week.[13]
By 1947, Quinn had appeared in more than 50 films and had played a variety of characters, including Indians, Mafia dons, Hawaiian chiefs, Filipino freedom fighters, Chinese guerrillas, and Arab sheiks. He returned to the theater, replacingMarlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski inA Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway. In 1947, he became anaturalized citizen of the United States.[15]
He returned to Hollywood in the early 1950s, and was cast in a series of B-adventures such asMask of the Avenger (1951). He solidified his position as one of Hollywood's premier actors inElia Kazan'sViva Zapata! (1952), oppositeMarlon Brando. Quinn's performance as Zapata's brother won him anOscar for Best Supporting Actor while Brando lost the Oscar for Best Actor toGary Cooper inHigh Noon.[14] Quinn holds the distinction of being the first Mexican-American to win an Academy Award.
Quinn won his second Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of painterPaul Gauguin inVincente Minnelli'sLust for Life (1956), alongside Kirk Douglas, who portrayedVincent van Gogh. Quinn also starred asQuasimodo in the French-language filmThe Hunchback of Notre Dame. Even after his return to the United States, Quinn continued to appear periodically in European films. His frequent portrayal of Italian characters and appearance in Italian films led to the popular misconception that he was, in fact, Italian.
He appeared on Broadway to great acclaim inBecket, as King Henry II toLaurence Olivier's Thomas Becket in 1960. Quinn's performance earned him aTony Award nomination for best leading actor andBecket received the award for best play. An erroneous story arose in later years that during the run, Quinn and Olivier switched roles and Quinn played Becket to Olivier's King. In fact, Quinn left the production for a film, never having played Becket, and directorPeter Glenville suggested a road tour with Olivier as Henry. Olivier happily agreed andArthur Kennedy took on the role of Becket for the tour and brief return to Broadway.[17][18]
As the decade ended, Quinn allowed his age to show and began his transformation into a major character actor. His physique filled out, his hair grayed, and his once smooth, swarthy face weathered and became more rugged. He played a Greek resistance fighter inThe Guns of Navarone (1961), an aging boxer inRequiem for a Heavyweight, and the BedouinshaikhAuda abu Tayi inLawrence of Arabia (both 1962).Lawrence of Arabia would go on to win the Oscar and Golden Globe for best picture, and Quinn received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor alongside co-starPeter O'Toole. He also played the title role in the 1961 filmBarabbas, based on a novel byPär Lagerkvist.[14] In 1962, he returned to Broadway, playing the role of Caesario Grimaldi in the Tony Award-nominatedTchin-Tchin, and had the lead role in the filmRequiem for a Heavyweight.
In 1970 Quinn starred as a liberal sociology professor in the campus unrest dramaR. P. M., oppositeAnn-Margret, and as a Smoky Mountains backwoodsman inA Walk in the Spring Rain,Ingrid Bergman's first American film in 20 years. In 1971, after the success of a TV movie namedThe City, where Quinn played Mayor Thomas Jefferson Alcala, he starred in the television series,The Man and the City. Quinn's subsequent television appearances were sporadic, includingJesus of Nazareth.[14]
In 1972, he co-starred withYaphet Kotto in theblaxploitation filmAcross 110th Street. He played NYPD Captain Frank Martelli, who along with Kotto, was investigating a robbery-homicide of Italian and Black gangsters in Harlem, New York City. He played the old racist, violent captain, against Kotto's modern, educated, enlightened lieutenant.
In 1979, Quinn starred in the filmThe Passage, as a Basque shepherd during WWII. He was tasked with leading a scientist and his family across the Pyrenees, while pursued by Nazis. It also starredJames Mason andMalcolm McDowell.
In 1983, he reprised his role as Zorba for 362 performances in a successful musical version, calledZorba, opposite fellow film co-starLila Kedrova, reprising her role as Madame Hortense. Quinn performed in the musical both on Broadway and at theKennedy Center inWashington, DC.[20]
Quinn's first wife was actressKatherine DeMille, the adopted daughter ofCecil B. DeMille; they wed in 1937. The couple had five children: Christopher (1938–1941), Christina (born December 1, 1941), Catalina (born November 21, 1942), Duncan (born August 4, 1945), and Valentina (born December 26, 1952).[21] Their first child, Christopher, aged two, drowned in the lily pond of next-door neighborW. C. Fields.[21] During his marriage to DeMille, Quinn had an affair with the married actressEvelyn Keyes.[22]
In 1965, Quinn and DeMille divorced because of his affair with Italian costume designer Jolanda Addolori (died 2016), whom he married in 1966. They had three children:Francesco Quinn (March 22, 1963 – August 5, 2011),Danny Quinn (born April 16, 1964), andLorenzo Quinn (born May 7, 1966).[5]
In the 1970s, during his marriage to Addolori, Quinn also had two children with Friedel Dunbar, an event producer in Los Angeles: Sean Quinn (born February 7, 1973) and Alexander Anthony Quinn (born December 30, 1976).
In the 1990s, Quinn had two children with his secretary Katherine Benvin; daughter Antonia Patricia Rose Quinn (born July 23, 1993) and son Ryan Nicholas Quinn (born July 5, 1996).[23] His marriage to Addolori ended in divorce in August 1997. He then married Benvin in December 1997 and remained married to her until his death.
Quinn, who experienced discrimination growing up in Los Angeles, participated in various civil-rights and social causes. He provided funding for Latino advocacy group theSpanish-Speaking People's Congress.[24] He assisted in fundraising efforts for the legal defense of Mexican-American youth in the racially chargedSleepy Lagoon murder trial in 1942.[citation needed] While in Paris, several other prominent Americans and he composed a petition endorsing the 1963March on Washington; the petition, which was reprinted in several high-profile publications, was intended to rally support among Americans living abroad, according toElliott Miller, writing inCounterPunch.[25][better source needed] In 1969, Quinn visited with Native American student activistsoccupying Alcatraz Island in protest, promising to offer assistance.[26] In 1970, Quinn was a panelist at the Mexican-American Conference.[27] In 1971, he narrated a documentary film by theEqual Employment Opportunity Commission, discussing job discrimination faced by Hispanic Americans.[28] He was a supporter of theUnited Farm Workers organization led by his friend and labor activistCesar Chavez.[29]
Art criticDonald Kuspit explains, "Examining Quinn's many expressions of creativity together—his art, collecting, and acting—we can see that he was a creative genius."[30]
Early in life, Quinn had an interest in painting and drawing. Throughout his teenaged years, he won various art competitions in California and focused his studies at Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles on drafting. Later, Quinn studied briefly under Frank Lloyd Wright through the Taliesin Fellowship — an opportunity created by winning first prize in an architectural design contest. Through Wright's recommendation, Quinn took acting lessons as a form of postoperative speech therapy, which led to an acting career that spanned over six decades.[31]
Apart from art classes taken in Chicago during the 1950s, Quinn never attended art school; nonetheless, taking advantage of books, museums, and amassing a sizable collection, he managed to give himself an effective education in the language of modern art. By the early 1980s, his work had caught the eyes of various gallery owners and was exhibited internationally, in Mexico City, Los Angeles, New York City, and Paris. His work is now represented in both public and private collections throughout the world.[32]
He wrote two memoirs,The Original Sin (1972) andOne Man Tango (1997), a number of scripts, and a series of unpublished stories currently in the collection of his archive.
Quinn spent his last years inBristol, Rhode Island. He died ofrespiratory failure (due to complications from radiation treatment for lung cancer) on June 3, 2001, inBoston, at age 86.[4] Quinn's funeral was held in theFirst Baptist Church in America inCollege Hill, Providence, Rhode Island.[33] His wife asked for the permission of Bristol authorities to bury him in his favorite spot in the backyard of his house, near an old maple tree. They had bought the property in 1995; it had a view of theNarragansett Bay.[34] Permission was granted and he was laid to rest there.[34]
On January 5, 1982, theBelvedere County Public Library in East Los Angeles was renamed in honor of Anthony Quinn. The present library sits on the site of his family's former home.[35]
In 1984, artist Eloy Torrez produced a 70-foot-high (21 m) portrait mural of Quinn titled bothAnthony Quinn andThe Pope of Broadway in Los Angeles. It depicts Quinn in his famousZorba the Greek role, and it remains one of the largest portrait murals in California.[36] Both the portrait mural and Anthony Quinn himself are the subject of a 2018 Google Arts & Culture exhibit.[37]
His birthplace of Chihuahua, Mexico,[38] has a statue of Quinn doing his famous "Zorba the Greek" dance.
An Anthony Quinn Bay and Beach is inRhodes, Greece, just 2.7 miles (4.3 km) south of the village ofFaliraki.[39] Quinn bought the land during the filming ofThe Guns of Navarone in Rhodes, but it was reclaimed by the Greek government in 1984 due to a change in property law.[40]
Since 2002,[41] theNational Council of La Raza has given theAnthony Quinn Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures as anALMA Award.[42] His widow, Katherine Benvin Quinn, established the Anthony Quinn Foundation, which advocates the importance of arts in education.[43]
^Marill, Alvin H. (1975).The films of Anthony Quinn. Citadel Press. pp. 14–15.ISBN978-0806505701. RetrievedJuly 24, 2020 – viaInternet Archive.Quinn's paternal grandfather had come to America from County Cork and managed to find work on the Southern Pacific Railroad as a laborer …
^Miller, Elliott (July 3, 2018)."A Baldwinite's Regret".CounterPunch.Author Mary L. Dudziak, in a journal titled, "The 1963 March on Washington: At Home and Abroad," reports that "a drafting committee" was formed, and with the help of actors William Marshall, Anthony Quinn and others, [James] Baldwin composed a "brief petition," which (by way of the international editions of the New York Times and the Herald Tribune) was signed by hundreds of Americans living abroad.
^"Garcia, Anthony Honored at Alma Awards".The Washington Post. Associated Press. May 8, 2006.ISSN0190-8286. RetrievedJuly 20, 2018.Marc Anthony and Andy Garcia were honored with special tributes at Sunday's 2006 ALMA Awards, which celebrated achievements by Hispanic artists from the worlds of music, television and film. Anthony received the Celia Cruz Award for Excellence in Music while Garcia took home the Anthony Quinn Award for Excellence in Motion Pictures.
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