Richard Widmark, a fine noir knave and more

Richard Widmark, who died today at 93, began his career as the quintessential film noir villain in 1947’s seminal “Kiss of Death.” And though he is best known for his villainous roles, he also excelled at westerns (“Broken Lance,” “Cheyenne Autumn”), dramas (“Time Limit,” “Judgment at Nuremberg”) and even comedy (remember his guest stint on “I Love Lucy”?). He was one of a kind and one of the greats from the golden age of Hollywood.

Here’s a look at some of the highlights of his illustrious career.

“Kiss of Death”

Widmark made an electrifying film debut – receiving his one and only Oscar nomination, for supporting actor – for this seminal 1947 film noir as Tommy Udo, a insanely psychotic killer who is out to get revenge on the small-time crook (Victor Mature) who had informed on him.

Variety wrote that Widmark was the “acting sensation of the piece … the most shuddery menace of the year.”

With this high-pitch laugh and steely-eyed glint, Widmark’s Tommy will kill anybody and everybody – including pushing an elderly woman (Mildred Dunnock) in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs.

“You know what I do to squealers,” he tells the granny before she meets her maker. “I let ‘em having it in the belly, so they can roll around for a long time thinkin’ it over.”

“Road House”

Jean Negulesco directed this underrated 1948 film noir that casts Widmark in another psychotic role: Jefty Robbins, the owner of a roadhouse in a small town who hires a sexy torch singer (Ida Lupino) for the club despite the protestations of his level-headed manager Pete (Cornel Wilde). Before you can say “trouble,” Jefty becomes obsessed with Lupino’s Lily. But she only has eyes for Pete. Jefty goes over the edge and erupts into a murderous rage when Lily turns down his marriage proposal.

“Panic in the Streets”

Widmark plays the hero in Elia Kazan’s harrowing 1950 thriller revolving around an outbreak of pneumonic plague in New Orleans. Widmark gives a strong turn as Dr. Clinton Reed of the Public Health Service who has 48 hours to find the killers and their associates who have the plague and inoculate them while keeping a news blackout of the impending health epidemic.

“Night and the City”

In this 1950 Jules Dassin classic noir shot in London, Widmark pulls out all the stops as Harry Fabian, a small-time London hustler who never achieved his dreams of financial success. And he makes a big mistake when he believes promoting professional wrestling in the city will be his ticket to fame.

“No Way Out”

Widmark plays a racist gangster in Joseph Mankiewicz’s uncompromising 1950 socially conscious drama. Widmark is terrifying as Ray Biddle, who, with his brother Johnny, is shot in the leg, and both are brought into the hospital’s prison ward for care. Poitier plays a young resident at the urban county hospital who must contend with the vicious Ray, who keeps hurling racial slurs at Poitier’s Luther. It only gets worse once Johnny dies while Luther gives him a spinal tap. Widmark and Poitier became friends during the production and collaborated on several films together over the next three decades

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“Don’t Bother to Knock”

Widmark isn’t the crazy one in this 1952 melodrama that pairs the actor with a young Marilyn Monroe in her first leading dramatic role. Widmark plays Jed Towers, an airline pilot who has just checked into the New York hotel where his girlfriend (Anne Bancroft, in her film debut) works as a singer. Jed quickly notices Nell (Monroe), a buxom young woman in the window opposite his room. Nell is a baby sitter who also happens to be psychotic, a fact that Jed doesn’t realize until after he befriends the young woman. Soon Nell believes that Jed is her fiance and will stop at nothing to have him.

“Pickup on South Street”

Iconoclast Samuel Fuller directed this gritty 1953 thriller about selling secrets to the Communists. Widmark plays lowlife thief Skip McCoy who lifts the wallet of a young woman (Jean Peters) in the subway, not knowing that the wallet contains film of government secrets, which is suppose to be delivered to the “commies.”

“Broken Lance”

Widmark is up to no good in this sturdy 1954 Western, which owes a lot to Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” Widmark plays Ben Devereaux, the back-biting, ruthless son of rancher Matt Devereaux (Spencer Tracy). Not only does Ben cause the death of his father, he also tries to kill his half-breed younger brother Joe (Robert Wagner) in vicious hand-to-hand combat.

“Judgment at Nuremberg”

Widmark is a member of the all-star cast of this acclaimed 1961 drama, which also features Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland and Montgomery Clift. Directed by Stanley Kramer from a script by Abby Mann, the drama revolves around the infamous 1948 Nuremberg trials in which numerous German judges were put on trial for supporting Hitler’s final solution. Widmark plays Col. Tad Lawson, the impassioned prosecuting attorney who offers a take-no-prisoners opening statement advocating that the judges get the maximum sentence.

“The Bedford Incident”

Widmark and Sidney Poitier collaborated for this razor-sharp 1965 Cold War thriller. Widmark excels as Capt. Eric Finlander, a tough, proficient commander of the Bedford, a new submarine-catching destroyer. No one but his assistant (Eric Portman), a former U-boat commander, questions his authority. Poitier plays an American journalist on board to write a story about the commander and crew. Off the coast of Greenland, they find a Russian submarine and begin stalking it, waiting for it to surface.

“Madigan”

Widmark gives a hard-nosed performance in this semi-documentary-style 1968 police thriller directed by Don Siegel. He plays Det. Daniel Madigan, a New York police detective who has just 72 hours to find the mobster, wanted on a homicide, who got away with his gun. Madigan also has a sexually frustrated wife (Inger Stevens).Widmark later said that Siegel was one of the three best directors he ever worked with: “He’s efficient, organized, quiet, and in total command.”

“Cold Sassy Tree”

Widmark gets to show his more sensitive, romantic side in this lovely 1989 TV movie adaptation of Olive Ann Burns’ novel beautifully directed by Joan Tewkesbury. Widmark plays the sixtysomething owner of a general store in the small Georgia town of Cold Sassy, circa 1906, who marries a milliner (Faye Dunaway) with a past, just three weeks after the death of his first wife. Though the townspeople shun her because of the quick marriage, the unlikely pair fall in love.

susan.king@latimes.com