Fred Ward (born December 30, 1942) is an American actor. He began his career in 1979 alongside Clint Eastwood in Escape from Alcatraz.
Ward was born Freddie Joe Ward in San Diego, California, of part Cherokee descent. Before acting, Ward spent three years in the United States Air Force. He was also a boxer, and worked as a lumberjack in Alaska. Ward is divorced from Silvia Ward and currently married to Marie-France Ward.
Ward became an actor after studying at New York's Herbert Berghof Studio and in Rome. While in Italy. he dubbed Italian movies and worked as a mime until he made his debut in two Roberto Rossellini films. Upon returning stateside in the early 1970s, Ward spent time working in experimental theater and doing some television work. He made his first American film appearance playing a cowboy in Hearts of the West (1975). His first major role came in the Clint Eastwood vehicle Escape from Alcatraz (1979) as fellow escapee John Anglin. He was also notable as a violent National Guardsman in Walter Hill's Southern Comfort (1981).
Other notable film roles include Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982), astronaut Gus Grissom in The Right Stuff (1983), the overbearing father in Secret Admirer (1985), the action movie Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985), Earl Bassett in Tremors (1990) (which he reprised in Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996)), the writer Henry Miller in Philip Kaufman's Henry & June (1990), Sgt. Hoke Mosely in Miami Blues (1990), and the covert security chief in Robert Altman's Hollywood satire The Player (1992).
Ward has continued to be active through the 1990s and 2000s, with roles in films such as Bob Roberts (1992), Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994) (which parodied his first film, Escape from Alcatraz), Chain Reaction (1996), The Chaos Factor (2000), and Sweet Home Alabama (2002). He has enjoyed success in comedies, dramas and action thrillers.
