Richard Ward

Richard Ward

Born: March 15, 1915
Died: July 1, 1979
in Glenside, Pennsylvania, US
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.

Movies for Richard Ward...

All Men's Dead
Title: All Men's Dead
Character: Heinrich Maksimov
Released: January 1, 2012
Type: Movie
“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.
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Brubaker
Title: Brubaker
Character: Abraham Cook
Released: June 20, 1980
Type: Movie
The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.
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The Jerk
Title: The Jerk
Character: Father
Released: December 14, 1979
Type: Movie
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.
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Police Story: No Margin for Error
Title: Police Story: No Margin for Error
Released: April 30, 1978
Type: Movie
Two policemen are suspected of excessive violence and causing two deaths. The investigation brings to light, little by little, the whole truth.
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Freeman
Title: Freeman
Character: Ned
Released: December 31, 1977
Type: Movie
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.
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Contract on Cherry Street
Title: Contract on Cherry Street
Character: Jack Kittens
Released: November 19, 1977
Type: Movie
A policeman devises an unorthodox plan for bringing criminals to justice after his partner is brutally gunned down.
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Family Enforcer
Title: Family Enforcer
Character: Gunsmith
Released: October 29, 1976
Type: Movie
A kid from the neighborhood goes to work for the Mafia as a collector.
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Title: Starsky & Hutch
Released: September 10, 1975
Type: TV
Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.
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Title: Starsky & Hutch
Character: Captain Dobey
Released: September 10, 1975
Type: TV
Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.
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Title: Beacon Hill
Released: August 25, 1975
Type: TV
Short lived soap opera about rich family and their servants in 1920s Boston.
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Mandingo
Title: Mandingo
Character: Agamemnon
Released: June 6, 1975
Type: Movie
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.
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Starsky & Hutch
Title: Starsky & Hutch
Character: Captain Dobey
Released: May 1, 1975
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: The Jeffersons
Released: January 18, 1975
Type: TV
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.
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Title: Baretta
Character: Santine
Released: January 17, 1975
Type: TV
Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma. While popular, Toma received intense criticism at the time for its realistic and frequent depiction of police and criminal violence. When Musante left the series after a single season, the concept was retooled as Baretta, with Robert Blake in the title role.
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For Pete's Sake
Title: For Pete's Sake
Character: Bernie
Released: June 26, 1974
Type: Movie
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...
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Sty of the Blind Pig
Title: Sty of the Blind Pig
Character: Blind Jordan
Released: May 29, 1974
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: Good Times
Released: February 8, 1974
Type: TV
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer. Good Times is a spin-off of Maude, which is itself a spin-off of All in the Family along with The Jeffersons. The series is set in Chicago. The first two seasons were taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood. In the fall of 1975, the show moved to Metromedia Square, where Norman Lear's own production company was housed.
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Cops and Robbers
Title: Cops and Robbers
Character: Paul Jones
Released: August 15, 1973
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: Police Story
Released: March 20, 1973
Type: TV
Police Story is an anthology television crime drama. The show was the brainchild of author and former policeman Joseph Wambaugh and represented a major step forward in the realistic depiction of police work and violence on network TV. Although it was an anthology, there were certain things that all episodes had in common; for instance, the main character in each episode was a police officer. The setting was always Los Angeles and the characters always worked for some branch of the LAPD. Notwithstanding the anthology format, there were recurring characters. Scott Brady appeared in more than a dozen episodes as "Vinnie," a former cop who, upon retirement, had opened a bar catering to police officers, and who acted as a sort of Greek chorus during the run of the series, commenting on the characters and plots.
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Across 110th Street
Title: Across 110th Street
Character: Doc Johnson
Released: December 19, 1972
Type: Movie
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?
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Title: The Brian Keith Show
Released: September 15, 1972
Type: TV
The Brian Keith Show is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1972 to March 1974. The series stars Brian Keith and Shelley Fabares.
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Title: Sanford and Son
Released: January 14, 1972
Type: TV
The misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son.
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Brother John
Title: Brother John
Character: Frank
Released: August 15, 1971
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: All in the Family
Character: Ed Lewis
Released: January 12, 1971
Type: TV
Archie Bunker, a working class bigot, constantly squabbles with his family over the important issues of the day.
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Title: The Immortal
Released: September 24, 1970
Type: TV
The Immortal is an American television series, which aired on ABC from September 1970 to January 1971. The series is based on a pilot movie of the same name, which aired in September 1969. The pilot is based on the science fiction novel The Immortals, by James Gunn. Although the series was canceled at midseason, episodes were rerun by ABC in the summer of 1971. It was later shown in reruns on the Sci Fi Channel.
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The Learning Tree
Title: The Learning Tree
Character: Booker Savage
Released: August 6, 1969
Type: Movie
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.
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Barefoot in Athens
Title: Barefoot in Athens
Character: Satyros
Released: November 11, 1966
Type: Movie
The last few days in the life of Socrates, including his trial.
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Nothing But a Man
Title: Nothing But a Man
Character: Mill Hand
Released: December 27, 1964
Type: Movie
A proud black man and his school-teacher wife face discriminatory challenges in 1960s America.
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Black Like Me
Title: Black Like Me
Character: Burt Wilson
Released: January 1, 1964
Type: Movie
Black Like Me is the true account of John Griffin's experiences when he passed as a black man.
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The Cool World
Title: The Cool World
Character: Street speaker
Released: September 2, 1963
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: Naked City
Character: Lee (uncredited)
Released: September 30, 1958
Type: TV
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”.
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Title: Naked City
Character: Packer
Released: September 30, 1958
Type: TV
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”.
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Title: Naked City
Character: Nova Scotia
Released: September 30, 1958
Type: TV
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”.
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Title: Decoy
Character: Alex
Released: October 14, 1957
Type: TV
New York City policewoman Casey Jones' assignment to fight crime often entails her going undercover in some of the seediest and most dangerous parts of the city. Decoy is a groundbreaking American crime drama television series created for syndication and initially broadcast from October 14, 1957, to July 7, 1958, with thirty-nine 30-minute black-and-white episodes. It was the first American police series with a female protagonist. Many Decoy episodes are in the public domain.
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Carib Gold
Title: Carib Gold
Character: Lechock
Released: September 30, 1957
Type: Movie
The hard-working but struggling crew of a shrimp boat discover a sunken treasure. Trouble ensues in this dramatic black-cast production.
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Title: Hallmark Hall of Fame
Character: Satyros
Released: December 24, 1951
Type: TV
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.
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Title: Hallmark Hall of Fame
Character: Pharoah
Released: December 24, 1951
Type: TV
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.