Richard Ward

Profile

Richard Ward, (March 15, 1915 – July 1, 1979) was a gravel-voiced African American actor on the stage, television, and in films, from 1949 until his death. Though best known through his TV appearances late in life, both in sitcoms and police procedurals, Ward also had an extensive film resume and a distinguished stage career, one of the highlights of the latter being his portrayal of Willy Loman in the 1972 production of Death of a Salesman, staged in Baltimore's Center Stage (the first African American production of Arthur Miller's signature opus, produced with the playwright's blessing); Ward's own favorite among his theatrical vehicles was Ceremonies in Dark Old Men. Born : 15th-Mar-1915

Movie Credits

The Jerk

After discovering he's not really black like the rest of his family, likable dimwit Navin Johnson sets off on a hilarious misadventure that takes him from rags to riches and back again. The slaphappy jerk strikes it rich, but life in the fast lane isn't all it's cracked up to be and, in the end, all that really matters to Johnson is his true love.
Released : 14th-Dec-1979

Mandingo

Warren Maxwell, the owner of a run-down plantation, pressures his son, Hammond, to marry and produce an heir to inherit the plantation. Hammond settles on his own cousin, Blanche, but purchases a sex slave when he returns from the honeymoon. He also buys his father a new Mandingo slave named Mede to breed and train as a prize-fighter.
Released : 6th-Jun-1975

Family Enforcer

A kid from the neighborhood goes to work for the Mafia as a collector.
Released : 29th-Oct-1976

Nothing But a Man

A proud black man and his school-teacher wife face discriminatory challenges in 1960s America.
Released : 27th-Dec-1964

Brother John

An enigmatic man (Sidney Poitier) returns to his Alabama hometown as his sister is dying of cancer and incites the suspicion of notable town officials.
Released : 15th-Aug-1971

Starsky & Hutch

A young couple in a car exactly like Starsky's is killed by hitmen and word is out on the street that there's a contract out on Starsky and Hutch. This is a TV-pilot that was an ABC Movie of the Week and later turned into the TV-series.
Released : 1st-May-1975

The Learning Tree

The story, set in Kansas during the 1920's, covers less than a year in the life of a black teenager, and documents the veritable deluge of events which force him into sudden manhood. The family relationships and enmities, the fears, frustrations and ambitions of the black teenager in small-town America are explored with a strong statement about human values.
Released : 6th-Aug-1969

Brubaker

The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
Released : 20th-Jun-1980

Across 110th Street

In a daring robbery, some $300,000 is taken from the Italian mob. Several mafiosi are killed, as are two policemen. Lt. Pope and Capt. Mattelli are two New York City cops trying to break the case. Three small-time criminals are on the run with the money. Will the mafia catch them first, or will the police?
Released : 19th-Dec-1972

Cops and Robbers

Two disillusioned New York policemen plan a $10 million robbery to fuel their low pensions, only to run into one debacle after another in the process.
Released : 15th-Aug-1973

Black Like Me

Black Like Me is the true account of John Griffin's experiences when he passed as a black man.
Released : 1st-Jan-1964

The Cool World

A fifteen-year-old boy wants to buy a gun from an adult racketeer named Priest, in order to become president of the gang to which he belongs, and to return them to active "bopping" (gang fighting) which has declined in Harlem.
Released : 2nd-Sep-1963

Carib Gold

The hard-working but struggling crew of a shrimp boat discover a sunken treasure. Trouble ensues in this dramatic black-cast production.
Released : 30th-Sep-1957

For Pete's Sake

Henry is a woman who would do anything for her husband Pete, including borrow money so he has a chance of making his dreams come true. But now there's the loan sharks to deal with...
Released : 26th-Jun-1974

All Men's Dead

“As the German blitz raids reach their 39th day further air raids are to be expected at anytime…” At BBC broadcasting House, Bruce Belfrage and the rest of the staff are preparing the nightly news for millions of anxious listeners, but when the building suffers a direct hit they must pull together to face a terrible choice. Inspired by a true story.
Released : 1st-Jan-2012

Contract on Cherry Street

A policeman devises an unorthodox plan for bringing criminals to justice after his partner is brutally gunned down.
Released : 19th-Nov-1977

Freeman

This 1977 drama by Phillip Hayes Dean, deals with the sad division between what a man hopes for and what he achieves. In the title role, Dick Anthony Williams portrays a naïve, ambitious, recklessly optimistic man who is not understood by those closest to him and who finds himself in difficulty because of his unrealistic hopes.
Released : 31st-Dec-1977

Police Story: No Margin for Error

Two policemen are suspected of excessive violence and causing two deaths. The investigation brings to light, little by little, the whole truth.
Released : 30th-Apr-1978

Sty of the Blind Pig

After moving to Chicago from the South just as the civil rights movement takes hold, the members of an African American family led by steely matriarch Weedy Warren have different reactions to the social upheaval surrounding them.
Released : 29th-May-1974

Barefoot in Athens

The last few days in the life of Socrates, including his trial.
Released : 11th-Nov-1966

TV Credits

The Jeffersons

- Sitcom following a successful African-American couple, George and Louise “Weezyö Jefferson as they “move on up” from working-class Queens to a ritzy Manhattan apartment. A spin-off of All in the Family.
Released : 18th-Jan-1975

Naked City

Lee (uncredited) - Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”.
Released : 30th-Sep-1958

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Pharoah - Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, though the program began with live telecasts of dramas and then changed to videotaped productions before finally changing to filmed ones. The series has received eighty Emmy Awards, twenty-four Christopher Awards, eleven Peabody Awards, nine Golden Globes, and four Humanitas Prizes. Once a common practice in American television, it is the last remaining television program such that the title includes the name of the sponsor. Unlike other long-running TV series still on the air, it differs in that it broadcasts only occasionally and not on a weekly broadcast programming schedule.
Released : 24th-Dec-1951