Fred Ward Biography

Fast Facts

• Studied acting at New York's famed Herbert Berghof Studio after serving in the U
• S
• Air Force
• Before his acting career took off, worked as a lumberjack, janitor and short-order cook
• While living in Rome, dubbed Italian films into English and appeared in films by neorealist director Roberto Rossellini
• First high-profile screen role was in Clint Eastwood's 1979 prison thriller Escape From Alcatraz
• His acclaimed performance as doomed astronaut Gus Grissom in The Right Stuff (1983) led to one of his few starring roles, in 1985's Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins