Anthony Quinn

The tempestuous screen image of two-time Academy Award winner and Renaissance man Anthony Quinn at times seemed to mirror the prolific actor's much publicized, unquenchable thirst for life. His exotic background enabled him to play a nearly limitless variety of ethnic characters, ranging from Crazy Horse in "They Died with Their Boots On" (1942), to the marauding Mongol warrior in "Attila" (1955), to an Eskimo in "The Savage Innocents" (1961). An accomplished artist and painter in his own right, it came as no surprise when he embraced the role of impressionist Paul Gauguin in "Lust for Life" (1956), a role that won him his second Oscar. It was, however, for his embodiment of the garrulous "Zorba the Greek" (1964) that Quinn would be forever remembered, so perfectly did he capture the free-spirited, unrestrained nature of the irascible character. Incredibly prolific, he continued to work steadily over the decades, appearing in such films as "The Greek Tycoon" (1978) and the telepic adaptation of "Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea" (NBC, 1990). A man of deep appetites and diverse passions, both in film and in his own life, Anthony Quinn became one of cinema's most beloved and respected actors in a career that spanned nearly 70 years and more than a 150 memorable performances.