Hollywood Collection - Anthony Quinn

Tony Quinn was a magnetic, charismatic performer. Here he is well-remembered as Zampano, the bestial strongman of Fellini's "La Strada," and as Zorba, Kazantakis's philosophical humanist in Michael Cacoyannis' "Zorba the Greek." Quinn's characters are the most Rabelaisian in film history: outrageous, raunchy, crude in every way, deliberately stubborn when he believed in the truth, relentless against hypocrisy, and against all forms of popular opinion; but, at the same time he was capable of profound insight into the human condition. He won well-deseved Oscars for "Viva Zapata" in 1952 and "Lust for Life" in 1956 stealing every scene from the films' nominal stars, Marlon Brando and Kirk Douglas, a very difficult task. Winning the lead actor award eluded him. I'm surprised he only won the two Oscars as he was very deserving in the leads in "Zorba the Greek" and "La Strada.". Quinn's private life was temptuous: a long list of lovers and relationships, including Katharine DeMille, daughter of Cecil, whom he met on the set of his firsr film "The Plainsman" in 1936, Mae West, and Aimee Semple MacPherson. The couple suffered tragic loss when their son drowned in the swimming pool of neighbor W. C. Fiels, a pool that Quinn had urged the comedian to fence in. Quinn's last film was released posthumously in 2002. Besides his film legacy, he left the world ten children by three wives and scores of great screen moments to cherish,