The long-time character actor passed away in May at 79 with a long list of credits as a supporting actor. However, over his career, Ward had two opportunities to break into the next level as a lead star and show that in Hollywood, as in life, everything is about timing.
Ward's first chance at stardom was in 1983's The Right Stuff.
Based on the Tom Wolff book of the same name, the story of the original seven Mercury astronauts, Ward was playing the role of Gus Grissom, the second man in space, and arguably the one that had the meatiest real story to tell of the seven as Grissom's Liberty Bell capsule sunk into the Atlantic Ocean when the hatch blew prematurely, took on too much water, became too heavy for the helicopter to lift and plunged into the ocean with Grissom almost drowning in the process.
The Right Stuff was expected to be a huge hit and could have sent Ward into leading man roles but disappointed at the box office (making only twenty-one million and costing twenty-seven million to produce) and despite being a critical hit and an artistic one (the film won four Oscars), the film's length of over three hours in length hurt it when moviegoers were deciding what film to attend.
Ward's career worked best as a co-star with huge stars with memorable roles in Escape From Alcatraz (Clint Eastwood), Uncommon Valor (Gene Hackman), Silkwood (Meryl Streep), and The Player (with several stars including Tim Robbins) but Ward made a few pictures that might not be remembered as brilliant cinema but to its targeted audience are well remembered.
In the 80s teen comedy Secret Admirer, Ward shines above the cast as "Lou Fimple", the angry police officer father, who thinks the secret love letters to his daughter are intended for his wife, and the hijinks that ensue.
Ward also was well-received as "Earl Bassett" in the first two films of the "Tremors" series, where Ward's Earl Bassett and Kevin Bacon's "Val McKee" battle monster worms in the American Southwest.
Tremors would become a cult favorite through the years and much of that is due to Ward's performance helping the series to get off the ground.
The second opportunity for Ward to leap into stardom was thought to be in the leading role in "Remo Williams-The Adventure Begins".
Based on the Destroyer series of novels, Remo Williams was hoped to be an action hit in 1985, which would then lead to a series of films, and send Ward into stardom with it.
Remo Williams was a box office disappointment, was more of an intellectual action film rather than a slam-bang affair, and was not a critical hit.
All of which meant nothing- because I loved it.
Other than Ryan, who has watched it almost as much as I have, no one else that I know has seen the film or mentioned it to me.
It may not have been a hit or a critical darling but for whatever reason, it's one of my favorite films and when it's on somewhere, it's one of those films that I have to stop and watch.
Ward was very good as Remo Williams but while I liked his take on the character, the screenplay may have been better suited with a little more action to hook people unfamiliar with Remo Williams or Ward to make them want to see more films in a potential franchise.
Remo Williams and the Destroyer series had the potential to be rolling to this day with several actors trading the characters every few films or years similar to the James Bond series but the failure of the original film doomed those plans and there hasn't been another attempt to give the franchise a try to the present day.
Ward would not receive another chance at stardom, although he would continue to work regularly as a character and supporting actor, including in some of the roles mentioned above, and worked until 2015 when his final credited role came in HBO's "True Detective" series.
Fred Ward may not have wound up as a big star in acting but Ward had an excellent career, made a nice living, and will be well remembered for being a part of films that are well-loved by their fans.
And we welcome Fred Ward as the latest member of our Forgotten Superstars universe.
