Jack Warden dead at 85
Usually Bob takes care of celebrity obits, but i found out that Jack Warden, one of my favorite character actors, died on Wednesday at 85, I definitely wanted to give my thoughts.Warden's played just about every gruff role you could imagine in television and movies, from quality productions like All the President's Men and The Verdict (where he used the phrase "he's the prince of fucking darkness" long before Ozzy did), to utter crapola like The Replacements. He's played more coaches, owners, managers, and editors than a person could count.
But the role for which I'll remember him, and a role for which he was nominated twice for an Emmy, was Harry Fox in Crazy Like A Fox. Harry was an unorthodox detective that drove his uptight son Harrison nuts on a weekly basis. The show was only on for a couple of years, but my teenaged self loved the mysteries and, for some reason, found Warden's character endearing and funny (but I also watched Murder, She Wrote and The Golden Girls a lot during those years, too. I was a strange kid). Every time I've seen Warden on the screen, he's given that particular movie or show a little more class and humor.
Warden died in New York of natural causes. "Everything gave out. Old age," said Warden's business manager. Huh. Seems appropriate somehow.

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