Richard Ward

Acting

Richard Ward

Born — Died

1915-03-15 — 1979-07-01

Place of birth

Glenside, Pennsylvania, US

Known for

Acting

Credits

38 titles

Richard Ward, (March 15, 1915 – July 1, 1979) was a gravel-voiced African American actor on the stage, television, and in films, from 1949 until his death. Though best known through his TV appearances late in life, both in sitcoms and police procedurals, Ward also had an extensive film resume and a distinguished stage career, one of the highlights of the latter being his portrayal of Willy Loman in the 1972 production of Death of a Salesman, staged in Baltimore's Center Stage (the first African American production of Arthur Miller's signature opus, produced with the playwright's blessing); Ward's own favorite among his theatrical vehicles was Ceremonies in Dark Old Men.

Known for

Film credits

1970s · 12 titles

Across 110th Street poster
6.7

In a daring robbery, some $300,000 is taken from the Italian mob. Several mafiosi are killed, as are two policemen. Lt. Pope and Capt. Mattelli are two New York City cops trying to break the case. Three small-time criminals are on the run with the money. Will the mafia catch them first, or will the police?

Across 110th Street

1972

Mandingo poster
6.6

Warren Maxwell, the owner of a run-down plantation, pressures his son, Hammond, to marry and produce an heir to inherit the plantation. Hammond settles on his own cousin, Blanche, but purchases a sex slave when he returns from the honeymoon. He also buys his father a new Mandingo slave named Mede to breed and train as a prize-fighter.

Mandingo

1975

The Jerk poster
6.9

After discovering he's not really black like the rest of his family, likable dimwit Navin Johnson sets off on a hilarious misadventure that takes him from rags to riches and back again. The slaphappy jerk strikes it rich, but life in the fast lane isn't all it's cracked up to be and, in the end, all that really matters to Johnson is his true love.

The Jerk

1979

For Pete's Sake poster
5.8

Henrietta Robbins borrows money from a loan shark to finance her husband's investment in the stock market. However, when their stock plummets, she scrambles to find a way to pay the money back.

For Pete's Sake

1974

Starsky & Hutch poster
6.9

A young couple in a car exactly like Starsky's is killed by hitmen and word is out on the street that there's a contract out on Starsky and Hutch. This is a TV-pilot that was an ABC Movie of the Week and later turned into the TV-series.

Starsky & Hutch

1975

Cops and Robbers poster
6.3

Two disillusioned New York policemen plan a $10 million robbery to fuel their low pensions, only to run into one debacle after another in the process.

Cops and Robbers

1973

Contract on Cherry Street poster
6.8

A policeman devises an unorthodox plan for bringing criminals to justice after his partner is brutally gunned down.

Contract on Cherry Street

1977

Freeman poster
6.0

This 1977 drama by Phillip Hayes Dean, deals with the sad division between what a man hopes for and what he achieves. In the title role, Dick Anthony Williams portrays a naïve, ambitious, recklessly optimistic man who is not understood by those closest to him and who finds himself in difficulty because of his unrealistic hopes.

Freeman

1977

Family Enforcer poster
6.3

A kid from the neighborhood goes to work for the Mafia as a collector.

Family Enforcer

1976

Police Story: No Margin for Error poster
7.0

Two policemen are suspected of excessive violence and causing two deaths. The investigation brings to light, little by little, the whole truth.

Police Story: No Margin for Error

1978

Brother John poster
6.6

An enigmatic man returns to his Alabama hometown as his sister is dying of cancer and incites the suspicion of notable town officials.

Brother John

1971

Sty of the Blind Pig poster
10.0

After moving to Chicago from the South just as the civil rights movement takes hold, the members of an African American family led by steely matriarch Weedy Warren have different reactions to the social upheaval surrounding them.

Sty of the Blind Pig

1974

1960s · 5 titles

Series credits

American Playhouse poster
6.6

American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.

American Playhouse

1982

Starsky & Hutch poster
7.4

Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.

Starsky & Hutch

1975

Naked City poster
5.7

Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”.

Naked City

1958

Naked City poster
5.7

Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”.

Naked City

1958

Naked City poster
5.7

Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”.

Naked City

1958

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman poster
7.3

In the fictional town of Fernwood, Ohio, suburban housewife Mary Hartman seeks the kind of domestic perfection promised by Reader’s Digest and TV commercials. Instead she finds herself suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune: mass murders, low-flying airplanes and waxy yellow buildup on her kitchen floor.

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

1976

All in the Family poster
7.8

Archie Bunker, a working class bigot, constantly squabbles with his family over the important issues of the day.

All in the Family

1971

The Jeffersons poster
7.3

Sitcom following a successful African-American couple, George and Louise “Weezyö Jefferson as they “move on up” from working-class Queens to a ritzy Manhattan apartment. A spin-off of All in the Family.

The Jeffersons

1975

Baretta poster
6.5

Baretta is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a milder version of a successful 1973–74 ABC series, Toma, starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey police officer David Toma. While popular, Toma received intense criticism at the time for its realistic and frequent depiction of police and criminal violence. When Musante left the series after a single season, the concept was retooled as Baretta, with Robert Blake in the title role.

Baretta

1975

Good Times poster
8.0

Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans, and developed by Norman Lear, the series' primary executive producer. Good Times is a spin-off of Maude, which is itself a spin-off of All in the Family along with The Jeffersons. The series is set in Chicago. The first two seasons were taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood. In the fall of 1975, the show moved to Metromedia Square, where Norman Lear's own production company was housed.

Good Times

1974

Police Story poster
7.0

Detective Cheng is commissioned by Interpol to destroy the Empire of Chaiba, a worldwide criminal organization based in Southeast Asia. He initiates an undercover operation to infiltrate the organization.

Police Story

1973

Sanford and Son poster
7.5

The misadventures of a cantankerous junk dealer and his frustrated son.

Sanford and Son

1972

Decoy poster
6.5

New York City policewoman Casey Jones' assignment to fight crime often entails her going undercover in some of the seediest and most dangerous parts of the city. Decoy is a groundbreaking American crime drama television series created for syndication and initially broadcast from October 14, 1957, to July 7, 1958, with thirty-nine 30-minute black-and-white episodes. It was the first American police series with a female protagonist. Many Decoy episodes are in the public domain.

Decoy

1957

The Immortal poster
7.4

The Immortal is an American television series, which aired on ABC from September 1970 to January 1971. The series is based on a pilot movie of the same name, which aired in September 1969. The pilot is based on the science fiction novel The Immortals, by James Gunn. Although the series was canceled at midseason, episodes were rerun by ABC in the summer of 1971. It was later shown in reruns on the Sci Fi Channel.

The Immortal

1970

The Brian Keith Show poster
6.2

The Brian Keith Show is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1972 to March 1974. The series stars Brian Keith and Shelley Fabares.

The Brian Keith Show

1972

Hallmark Hall of Fame poster
8.8

Long-running anthology program sponsored by Hallmark Cards. Beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2019, the series received 80 Emmy Awards, 24 Christopher Awards, 11 Peabody Awards, 9 Golden Globes, and 4 Humanitas Prizes. Early seasons were a weekly live drama, eventually transitioning to videotaped and then filmed productions broadcast as occasional specials.

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951

Hallmark Hall of Fame poster
8.8

Long-running anthology program sponsored by Hallmark Cards. Beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2019, the series received 80 Emmy Awards, 24 Christopher Awards, 11 Peabody Awards, 9 Golden Globes, and 4 Humanitas Prizes. Early seasons were a weekly live drama, eventually transitioning to videotaped and then filmed productions broadcast as occasional specials.

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951

Beacon Hill poster
7.0

Short lived soap opera about rich family and their servants in 1920s Boston.

Beacon Hill

1975