Personal Life
From 1942 until her death in 1997, Widmark was married to playwright Jean Hazlewood. The marriage produced a daughter, Anne Heath Widmark, an artist and author who was married to baseball player Sandy Koufax from 1969 to 1982. In 1999, Widmark married socialite Susan Blanchard, who had been Henry Fonda's third wife.
Green City, Missouri, is the site of Widmark Airport ((FAA LID: MO83)) in extreme northeastern Missouri. Towns the size of Green City (pop. 688 in 2000) usually do not have airports, but Richard Widmark owned a cattle ranch in the area during the 1950s and 1960s. Widmark contributed funds to the construction of an airport which led to its being named in his honor.
Despite having spent most of his career appearing countless times in gun-toting roles such as cowboys, policemen, gangsters and military men he loathed real-life gunplay and got involved in several gun-control initiatives and drives. In 1976 he famously stated
I know I've made kind of a half-assed career out of violence, but I abhor violence. I am an ardent supporter of gun control. It seems incredible to me that the United States are the only civilized nation that does not put some effective control on guns. —Richard Widmark,Read more about this topic: Richard Widmark
Famous quotes containing the words personal and/or life:
“Picture the prince, such as most of them are today: a man ignorant of the law, well-nigh an enemy to his people’s advantage, while intent on his personal convenience, a dedicated voluptuary, a hater of learning, freedom and truth, without a thought for the interests of his country, and measuring everything in terms of his own profit and desires.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“Had I but died an hour before this chance,
I had lived a blessed time; for from this instant
There’s nothing serious in mortality.
All is but toys; renown and grace is dead,
The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees
Is left this vault to brag of.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)