RiP Fred Ward of Tremors, The Right Stuff and more

Actors I've followed through their career, tend to be actors who've worked with directors I follow. This was always the case with Fred Ward, going back to my schooldays. He worked with Philip Kaufman twice. He worked with Robert Altman twice, and his protege, Alan Rudolph, too. He worked with old friends George Armitage and Jonathan Demme, who'd worked with Roger Corman. He worked with Dennis Hopper on both sides of the camera.

Fred Ward was a boxer and a military man. He was a formidable action performer in his prime, always in shape, chiselled to the bone, noted within the industry for his stamina. This helped him bag choice character roles on tough location shoots with action supremos like Clint Eastwood, Walter Hill and Ted Kotcheff.

He had a rangey expression and lightness of touch you'd associate with the best of the screwball era. His work in films like David Greenwalt's 'Secret Admirer' (1985), Jim Abrahams' 'Big Business' (1988) and Ron Underwood's 'Tremors' (1990) showed what he was all about.

Fred Ward was a travelling man. He spent serious time in France and Italy. He travelled America. He travelled the world.