ZORBA THE GREEK (1964) Yes, it's mediocre, full of simple-peasant daily affirmations, and responsible for hamstringing his career thereafter. (Though he once claimed, "I've become more like Zorba ever since I played him.") But criticizing Zorba is like criticizing Crete.
JUNGLE FEVER (1991) Quinn's late-career choices could lack surprise, but his barbed-wire turn as John Turturro's abusive dad is a shock. Trust Spike Lee to bring out Zorba's dark side--and props to Quinn for knowing where to look.
(Additional reporting by Clarissa Cruz)
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SCENES FROM A LIFE
Anthony Rudolph Oaxaca Quinn is born in Mexico on April 21, 1915, to an Irish father and Mexican mother, both fighters in the Mexican Revolution with Pancho Villa. The family escapes to Texas, then moves to California.
As a teen in California, aspires to a career in architecture. Meets architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who advises him to take acting lessons.
In a stab at professional boxing, wins 16 straight bouts, loses the 17th, and quits. Plays saxophone in the band at evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson's Foursquare Gospel Church, preaching a little on the side.
Debuts on stage opposite Mae West in 1936's Clean Beds, in a role based on the young John Barrymore. The old John Barrymore shows up opening night, befriends Quinn, and introduces him to showbiz inner circles.
Cast in first speaking role, as a Cheyenne in Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman (1936). Gary Cooper gets the lead, Quinn gets DeMille's daughter Katherine: The two wed in 1937 and have five children. To his lifelong sorrow, 3-year-old son Christopher drowns in 1941 in neighbor W.C. Fields' fishpond.
After WWII, plays Stanley Kowalski opposite Uta Hagen in a tour of A Streetcar Named Desire. Later replaces Marlon Brando on Broadway.
Causes a scandale in 1965 when it is revealed that he fathered two children with Iolanda Addolori, an Italian wardrobe assistant. After first wife puts him through DeMille, he marries Addolori, by now pregnant again.
After Herschel Bernardi fails in the 1968 stage musical Zorba, Quinn revives the show in the early '80s (and his late 60s), embarking on a three-year U.S. tour that rakes in $48 million over 1,200 performances.
In 1993, Kathy Benvin, his former secretary, bears him a daughter. A son is born in 1996, when Quinn is 81; the couple wed in 1997. Quinn leaves 13 children in all, including three by two unnamed women. He must have been kidding when he told an interviewer, "I never get the girl."
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