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Anthony Quinn 1915 - 2001

Anthony Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca of Bristol, Bristol County, RI was born on April 21, 1915 at Chihuahua, Mexico in Chihuahua, Chih. Mexico, and died at age 86 years old on June 3, 2001.

Anthony Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca

Anthony Quinn, Birth Name: Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca

Bristol, Bristol County, RI 02809

April 21, 1915

Chihuahua, Mexico in Chihuahua, Chih., Mexico

June 3, 2001

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Anthony Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca's History: 1915 - 2001

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04/21

1915

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April 21, 1915

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Chihuahua, Mexico in Chihuahua, Chih. Mexico

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Professional Career

Anthony Quinn Born April 21, 1915, in Chihuahua, Mexico Died June 3, 2001, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA (pneumonia and respiratory failure from throat cancer) Birth Name Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca Nickname Tony Height 6' 1½" (1.87 m) Anthony Quinn was born Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (some sources indicate Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca) on April 21, 1915, in Chihuahua, Mexico, to Manuela (Oaxaca) and Francisco Quinn, who became an assistant cameraman at a Los Angeles (CA) film studio. His paternal grandfather was Irish, and the rest of his family was Mexican. After starting life in extremely modest circumstances in Mexico, his family moved to Los Angeles, where he grew up in the Boyle Heights and Echo Park neighborhoods. He played in the band of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson as a youth and as a deputy preacher. He attended Polytechnic High School and later Belmont High, but eventually dropped out. The young Quinn boxed (which stood him in good stead as a stage actor, when he played Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" to rave reviews in Chicago), then later studied architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright at the great architect's studio, Taliesin, in Arizona. Quinn was close to Wright, who encouraged him when he decided to give acting a try. Made his credited film debut in Parole! (1936). After a brief apprenticeship on stage, Quinn hit Hollywood in 1936 and picked up a variety of small roles in several films at Paramount, including an Indian warrior in The Plainsman (1936), which was directed by the man who later became his father-in-law, Cecil B. DeMille. As a contract player at Paramount, Quinn's roles were mainly ethnic types, such as an Arab chieftain in the Bing Crosby-Bob Hope comedy, Road to Morocco (1942). As a Mexican national (he did not become an American citizen until 1947), he was exempt from the draft. With many other actors in military service during WWII, he was able to move up into better supporting roles. He married DeMille's daughter Katherine DeMille, which afforded him entrance to the top circles of Hollywood society. He became disenchanted with his career and did not renew his Paramount contract despite the advice of others, including his father-in-law, with whom he did not get along (whom Quinn reportedly felt had never accepted him due to his Mexican roots; the two men were also on opposite ends of the political spectrum) but they eventually were able to develop a civil relationship. Quinn returned to the stage to hone his craft. His portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" in Chicago and on Broadway (where he replaced the legendary Marlon Brando, who is forever associated with the role) made his reputation and boosted his film career when he returned to the movies. Brando and Elia Kazan, who directed "Streetcar" on Broadway and on film (A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)), were crucial to Quinn's future success. Kazan, knowing the two were potential rivals due to their acclaimed portrayals of Kowalski, cast Quinn as Brando's brother in his biographical film of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, Viva Zapata! (1952). Quinn won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for 1952, making him the first Mexican-American to win an Oscar. It was not to be his lone appearance in the winner's circle: he won his second Supporting Actor Oscar in 1957 for his portrayal of Paul Gauguin in Vincente Minnelli's biographical film of Vincent van Gogh, Lust for Life (1956), opposite Kirk Douglas. Over the next decade Quinn lived in Italy and became a major figure in world cinema, as many studios shot films in Italy to take advantage of the lower costs ("runaway production" had battered the industry since its beginnings in the New York/New Jersey area in the 1910s). He appeared in several Italian films, giving one of his greatest performances as the circus strongman who brutalizes the sweet soul played by Giulietta Masina in her husband Federico Fellini's masterpiece La strada (1954). He met his second wife, Jolanda Addolori, a wardrobe assistant, while he was in Rome filming Barabbas (1961). Alternating between Europe and Hollywood, Quinn built his reputation and entered the front rank of character actors and character leads. He received his third Oscar nomination (and first for Best Actor) for George Cukor's Wild Is the Wind (1957). He played a Greek resistance fighter against the Nazi occupation in the monster hit The Guns of Navarone (1961) and received kudos for his portrayal of a once-great boxer on his way down in Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). He went back to playing ethnic roles, such as an Arab warlord in David Lean's masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and he played the eponymous lead in the "sword-and-sandal" blockbuster Barabbas (1961). Two years later, he reached the zenith of his career, playing Zorba the Greek in the film of the same name (a.k.a. Zorba the Greek (1964)), which brought him his fourth, and last, Oscar nomination as Best Actor. The 1960s were kind to him: he played character leads in such major films as The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) and The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969). However, his appearance in the title role in the film adaptation of John Fowles' novel, The Magus (1968), did nothing to save the film, which was one of that decade's notorious turkeys. In the 1960s, Quinn told Life magazine that he would fight against typecasting. Unfortunately, the following decade saw him slip back into playing ethnic types again, in such critical bombs as The Greek Tycoon (1978). He starred as the Hispanic mayor of a southwestern city on the short-lived television series The Man and the City (1971), but his career lost its momentum during the 1970s. Aside from playing a thinly disguised Aristotle Onassis in the cinematic roman-a-clef The Greek Tycoon (1978), his other major roles of the decade were as Hamza in the controversial The Message (1976) (a.k.a. "Mohammad, Messenger of God"); as the Italian patriarch in The Inheritance (1976); yet another Arab in Caravans (1978); and as a Mexican patriarch in The Children of Sanchez (1978). In 1983, he reprised his most famous role, Zorba the Greek, on Broadway in the revival of the musical "Zorba" for 362 performances (opposite Lila Kedrova, who had also appeared in the film, and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance). His career slowed during the 1990s but he continued to work steadily in films and television, including an appearance with frequent film co-star Maureen O'Hara in Only the Lonely (1991). Quinn lived out the latter years of his life in Bristol, Rhode Island, where he spent most of his time painting and sculpting. Beginning in 1982, he held numerous major exhibitions in cities such as Vienna, Paris, and Seoul. He died in a hospital in Boston at age 86 from pneumonia and respiratory failure linked to his battle with throat cancer. Family (2) Spouse Kathy Benvin (7 December 1997 - 3 June 2001) (his death) (2 children) Jolanda Addolori (2 January 1966 - 19 August 1997) (divorced) (3 children) Katherine DeMille (3 October 1937 - 21 January 1965) (divorced) (5 children) Parents Francisco Quinn Manuela Oaxaca Trade Mark (2) Rich, smooth voice Multiethnic roles, especially onstage and in films Trivia (42) Had appeared in more movies with other Oscar-winning actors than any other Oscar-winning actor - a total of 46 Oscar-winning co-stars (28 male, 18 female). Had five children, Christopher Quinn (born October 27, 1938 - died March 15, 1941), Christina Quinn (born December 1, 1941), Catalina Quinn (born November 21, 1942), Duncan Quinn (born August 4, 1945) and Valentina Quinn (born December 26, 1952), with Katherine DeMille. Had three children, Francesco Quinn (born March 22, 1963 - died August 5, 2011), Danny Quinn (born April 16, 1964) and Lorenzo Quinn (born May 7, 1966), with Jolanda Addolori. Had two children, Sean Quinn (born February 7, 1973) and Alex A. Quinn (born December 30, 1976), with Friedel Dunbar and had two children, Antonia Quinn (born July 23, 1993) and Ryan Quinn (born July 5, 1996), with Kathy Benvin.
Personal Life & Family

Became a naturalized United States citizen in 1947, just before he was "gray-listed" for his association with Communists such as screenwriter John Howard Lawson and what were termed "fellow travelers", though he himself was never called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. When warned of his gray-listing by 20th Century-Fox boss Darryl F. Zanuck (a liberal), Quinn decided to go on the Broadway stage where there was no blacklist rather than go through the process of refuting the suspicions. He had to shave his hair for The Magus (1968). He had an insurance policy against the risk that it might not grow back. Lived in Bristol, Rhode Island, and befriended controversial Providence mayor Buddy Cianci. Quinn was posthumously inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2015. Before he launched his acting career, Quinn worked odd jobs as a butcher, a boxer, street corner preacher and a slaughterhouse worker. He also won a scholarship to study architecture with Frank Lloyd Wright, with whom he developed a close relationship. Won his second Oscar for a movie in which he only appeared on screen for a total of 23 minutes and 40 seconds. Brother-in-law of screenwriter Martin Goldsmith. Anthony Quinn was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1915, during the Mexican revolution, in which his father was allegedly a soldier in the army of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. After the revolution, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, where Quinn's father eventually secured a job as a cameraman at Selig Film Studios. Quinn often accompanied his father to work, and became acquainted with such stars as Tom Mix and John Barrymore, with whom he kept up the friendship into adulthood. Quinn's first job in Hollywood was tending animals at the Selig Studio. Quinn's father died when Anthony was 9 years old. He grew up in East Los Angeles, shining shoes and selling newspapers. For extra cash, he entered dance contests and sold the statues he won. In 1991 he was scheduled to appear in David Lean's adaptation of Joseph Conrad's Nostromo, but Lean's death in April 1991 brought the production to an end. Was nominated for Broadway's 1961 Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) for Becket. Around 1972, he announced his desire to play Henry Cristophe, the 19th-century emperor of Haiti. Upon this announcement, several prominent black actors, including Ossie Davis and Ellen Holly, stated that they were opposed to a "white man" playing "black". Davis stated, "My black children need black heroes on which to model their behavior. Henry Cristophe is an authentic black hero. Tony, for all my admiration of him as a talent, will do himself and my children a great disservice if he encourages them to believe that only a white man, and Tony is white to my children, is capable of playing a black hero.". Studied acting with Stella Adler and Michael Chekhov. According to Joseph McBride's Searching for John Ford (St. Martin's Press, 2001 - ISBN 0312242328), director John Ford was urged to cast Richard Boone and Quinn as the Little Wolf and Dull Knife characters in Cheyenne Autumn (1964), as both allegedly had Native American blood. Ricardo Montalban and Gilbert Roland, who were of Mexican ancestry, were cast instead. In later years, he would recount how, while growing up in Echo Park, young Chicano toughs would come over to his house to enlist his help in brawling with the Irish gangs, and that later in the same day, young Irish bruisers would visit him to enlist his services in fighting the Mexicans. He would always beg off choosing sides by having his mother chase the young delinquents out of her house, after which he would resume one of his favorite pastimes, drafting and drawing. Ex-father-in-law of Lauren Holly and Melissa Quinn. He was one of the few actors to move easily and successfully between starring and supporting roles throughout his career. In both categories, the Irish-Mexican Quinn played a vast array of characters and ethnicities, including American, Arab, Basque, Chinese, English, French, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hun, Irish, Italian, Mexican, Mongol, Native American, Filipino, Portuguese, Spaniard and Ukrainian. Donated blood to John Barrymore whenever the older actor needed a transfusion. Underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in February 1990. Was very fond of Keanu Reeves. They became friends during the filming of A Walk in the Clouds (1995). Was good friends with actress Maureen O'Hara, they starred together six times. The films are The Black Swan (1942), Buffalo Bill (1944), Sinbad, the Sailor (1947), Against All Flags (1952), The Magnificent Matador (1955) and Only the Lonely (1991). Had appeared with Irene Papas in seven films starting as far back as 1954. The films are Attila (1954),The Guns of Navarone (1961), Zorba the Greek (1964), A Dream of Kings (1969), the Mexican produced, Spanish languaged and filmed in Rome short film El asesinato de Julio César (1972), The Message (1976) and The Lion of the Desert (1980). He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6251 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960. "The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)", a Bob Dylan song which was popularized by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, was based on Quinn's character in The Savage Innocents (1960). Starred in four Oscar Best Picture nominees: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), The Guns of Navarone (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Zorba the Greek (1964). Lawrence of Arabia is the only winner. On August 26, 2018, he was honored with a day of his film work during the TCM Summer Under The Stars. Maintained a friendship with Pancho Villa's widow, Doña María Luz Corral, with whom Quinn frequently visited at her home in Chihuahua City, La Casa de Villa (later the Historical Museum of the Revolution) and provided economic support through the years. A photo of Quinn and Corral hangs in the museum. In Quinn's 1972 autobiography, "The Original Sin: A Self-portrait by Anthony Quinn", he denied being the son of an "Irish adventurer" and attributed that tale to Hollywood publicists. Quinn was outspoken on social issues and, at one point, considered running for Governor of California until labor leader Cesar Chavez told him he was more valuable as an actor than in politics. Appeared on Broadway in "Becket" with Laurence Olivier, and in "A Streetcar Named Desire" in New York and Chicago and on tour. He owned a suit of armor give to him by John Barrymore who wore it in "Richard III". Appeared in five films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Daughter of Shanghai (1937), Road to Morocco (1942), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1969). Has made over 100 films. Had homes in Rome and New York. He paints, sculpts and doesn't like the colour violet. Used to be friends with Jackie Onassis but since making the film "Greek Tycoon" she hasn't spoken to him despite the fact that when Onassis was alive he said for Quinn to do the film. He admitted he never felt accepted in Mexico because of his surname. He was being treated for lung cancer at the time of his death. He dropped out of high school, but was given an honorary high school diploma in June 1987. Like Charlie Chaplin and Steve Martin, Quinn was one of very few celebrities to have children very late in life. He was 78 years old when a son was born in 1993, and 81 years old when his youngest son was born in 1996. While filming the movie in the south of Brazil in 1998, it was reported on many media outlets that Anthony Quinn wanted to adopt Maria Rosa da Silva, an 11-year-old local girl he met while signing autographs. Quinn claimed that they lived together on a past life (which also relates with the movie's theme about reincarnation) and he said he'd pay for her studies while living abroad. The girl's mother didn't decline the offer since she didn't want her daughter to live in the poor fisherman community where they lived and Quinn even left his phone number to be reached. The contact between the girl's family and the actor was never made after the filming resumed and Quinn would die a couple of years later. He along with Peter Ustinov. Shelley Winters and Jason Robards all won 2 Best Supporting Actor Oscars each. Personal Quotes (47) In Europe, an actor is an artist. In Hollywood, if he isn't working, he's a bum. [when asked about his ethnicity] It doesn't make a difference as long as I'm a person in the world. I never get the girl. I wind up with a country instead. They said all I was good for was playing Indians. I can't retire. I mean, I started working when I was a year and a half old, and I worked all my life. [In the 1980s] I don't see many men today. I see a lot of guys running around on television with small waists, but I don't see many men. I never satisfied that kid [referring to himself], but I think he and I have made a deal now. It's like climbing a mountain. I didn't take him up Mount Everest, but I took him up Mount Whitney. And I think that's not bad. I have lived in a flurry of images, but I will go out in a freeze frame. [on Ingrid Bergman] I reckon there wasn't a man who came within a mile of her who didn't fall in love with her. [on Marlon Brando] I admire Marlon's talent, but I don't envy the pain that created it. [on Marilyn Monroe] An empty-headed blonde with a fat rear. Oh, Monroe was pretty enough to look at, but there were hundreds of better-looking actresses poking around Hollywood. Even after she hit the big time, with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), I never could see what all the fuss was about. [on Zorba the Greek (1964)] Nobody wanted to do this role. Burl Ives and Burt Lancaster turned it down. They said "Who cares about an old man making love to a broken-down old broad?". [In 1962] Ten years ago, there wasn't an actor who didn't envy Brando. He was superb. His potential was enormous. But what happened? He went out to Hollywood, and instead of fighting giants, he fought pygmies. He stopped growing. He threw his potential away. [on Spencer Tracy] Spencer Tracy's a dangerous actor. You never know what he's going to do. He's one of the few actors you can never steal a scene from. He and Olivier and Jean Gabin. When I was just starting in movies, I got a reputation for being a scene stealer. Once I was in a film with a famous star and had to stand behind him in one scene. "Now watch that Quinn," this star told the director, "I don't want him stealing the scene behind my back." The director parked me in a chair and I just sat there. Next day, when we were looking at the rushes, the star said "See, I told you! Look at him!" The director exclaimed: "But he's only sitting there!" "Only," rejoined the star, "Maybe so, but he's thinking!". [on Marlon Brando] We forget how he revolutionized acting. Look at the chances he takes - think of all the stars who drift along playing themselves. [In 1996] The painter leaves his mark. And I just put in two statues in Rhode Island that I'm working on. And I think that's going to make me last longer than me. I mean, who remembers "Zorba"? Nobody remembers "Zorba". Nobody remembers "Requiem for a Heavyweight". One of the reasons I did all the Greeks and Arab parts I did was because I was trying to identify myself as a man of the world. I lived in Greece, in France, Iran and all over the world, Spain, trying to find a niche where I would finally be accepted. My mother and father were both young kids fighting in the revolution, and we always lived a Mexican life, even when we moved to Texas. But to be Mexicans with the name of Quinn, that was not a nice thing to do. If your name isn't Gonzalez or Montoya or whatever, they just don't acknowledge you as a Mexican. I think I'm lucky. I was born with very little talent but great drive. I am of the opinion - and I'm not afraid to say it - that men are slightly lost today. They don't know where in the hell they are with this women's liberation. A man is responsibility. I think that's what I represent: responsibility. The size of the actor makes a difference. I'm six feet two and I look at life a lot different from a man who is five feet three or ten. The parts dried up as I reached my 60th birthday, loosely coinciding with my growing disinclination to pursue them. Indeed, I could not see the point in playing old men on screen when I rejected the role for myself. I held out my arms, in a traditional Greek stance, and shuffled along the sands. Soon Alan Bates picked up on the move ... We were born-again Greeks, joyously celebrating life. We had no idea what we were doing, but it felt right, and good. [on "The Brave Bulls" (1951)] The supporting cast was entirely Mexican, and I was thrilled to be in such company. After so many years as the token Latin on the set, I found tremendous security in numbers. For the first time, I belonged. It took the faith of 750 million Muslims to restore my faith in myself. [on his early film roles] I was the bad guy's bad guy. I rarely made it to the final reel without being dispatched by a gun or a knife or a length of twine, typically administered by a rival hood. Some days, I paint like an Indian. Some days, I paint like a Mexican ... I steal from everybody - Picasso, Kandinsky ... I steal, but only from the best. Probably it's the Irish in me that makes me speak out. But there are about 800 boys in my profession who have a political ideal and want to express it. How can an actor be real in his work if he hasn't some convictions regarding the problems in the world around him? Funny thing, you know, one of my favorite characters in all my films was Zorba the Greek. And somehow, I think I've become more like Zorba ever since I played him. Many people remember Jack Barrymore as either a wit or a drunk, but what impressed me was his courage of conviction. He used to tell me that you can only be as right as you dare to be wrong. That you must be willing to take chances to achieve superiority in your craft. He gave me his armor from 'Richard III.' He was like a retiring matador, who gives his sword to the most promising newcomer he knows. I love, love, love women. I fought early to go beyond the stereotypes and demand Mexicans and Indians be treated with dignity in films. You know, the character in 'The Ox-Bow Incident' was the most influential depiction of a Mexican for its time. He was a young outlaw but a young outlaw who spoke eight languages. Those were rough times, right from the beginning. With a name like Quinn, I wasn't totally accepted by the Mexican community in those days, and as a Mexican I wasn't accepted as an American. So as a kid I just decided, well, 'A plague on both your houses. I'll just become a world citizen.' So that's what I did. Acting is my nationality. [on his painting style] I'd guess you'd just have to call it Mexican abstract. I don't really think about it. I just do it. I dunno, I was born in a revolutionary era, so maybe that's why I've always been sort of a revolutionary figure. I steal from everyone. Picasso did it. Modigliani did it. So did da Vinci. Rufino Tamayo stole from the Mayan civilization. The thing is, a big talent steals; a small talent borrows. I have never, never, never talked about my son's death. I've never used the term death in connection with my son. But every night doing the show I had to say, 'He's dead.' At first I cut the line out of the play. The director came to me and said, 'It's wrong. I know how painful it is, but you'll have to do it.' He loved his son very much, this Zorba. He left his family because he couldn't bear being with them after the loss of his son. Zorba and I are very much alike. My father, Francesco, had the same problem I did with people making fun of him because of his name. And he joined the revolution to prove that he was a good Mexican. But I must say that I think it was a good thing, if there is such a thing as a good thing, that I wasn't accepted 100 percent by the Mexican people. Because it drove me mad, it drove me absolutely crazy.' I live a revolutionary life. I believe in karma. One is guided by la duende , a worm inside your stomach that makes you do all sorts of things. This worm, no matter what you do, how you try to change, this duende calls the shots. When I die I want to return and claim my six feet of Mexican soil. It's my way of saying 'accept me'. If I go back maybe then they will say, 'He was one of us.' I've never accepted discrimination against myself. I've always walked proudly, maybe too much so, never apologizing for being Mexican. If I stayed in Hollywood, I'd still be playing Indians. I went on stage, where I had the chance to play many nationalities. I was an English king, a Polish worker in 'Streetcar', taking over the role from Brando. I hope I opened the door for ethnic leading men. Many Mexican actors didn't reach out to play other nationalities, other roles, but now they can. I'm sorry to say my home country never really accepted me as Mexican. If I had a Mexican name and won two Oscars, I'd be a god to Mexicans everywhere. But I've never been taken up as anyone's hero. They don't know whether to treat me as Mexican or Irish because of my name. At that time Hollywood - hell, America - looked down on anybody not blond or blue-eyed as potential enemies. We all had to put up with it. I always said I was Mexican, Indian and Irish. The only Mexican leading man was Gilbert Roland but he told everyone he was Spanish. For so many years I defied Mexico, angry for not recognizing me. I had no backing. I'm no longer angry or disappointed. I made my own life out of defiance and I'm proud of it. A career in pictures did not look promising. I was either too dark, or too Mexican, or too unusual looking, and the good parts always seemed to go to the actors who fit a more conventional mold.
06/3

2001

Death

June 3, 2001

Death date

Unknown
Cause of death

Unknown
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Obituary

Anthony Quinn Dies at 86; Played Earthy Tough Guys By Anita Gates June 4, 2001 Anthony Quinn, whose six-decade acting career established the enduring image of a joyful primitive with a fierce passion for life, died yesterday at a Boston hospital. He was 86 and lived in Bristol, R.I., near Providence. The cause was respiratory failure, said a hospital spokeswoman. Although he appeared in perhaps 130 movies, Mr. Quinn was probably best known for the title role in Michael Cacoyannis's 1964 film, ''Zorba the Greek.'' Mr. Quinn's Zorba is an earthy peasant of indeterminate age and occupation whose philosophy is that ''a man needs a little madness'' or else ''he never dares cut the rope and be free.'' Zorba charms an elderly former prostitute, giving her the tenderness she craves before her death. He defends a young widow attacked by her neighbors for having an affair. And he shows an overly intellectual Englishman (Alan Bates) how to dance and to live. If some critics accused Mr. Quinn of playing the same character under different names for decades, even of coming to believe that he was Zorba, the life force personified, he did it convincingly. When a musical version of ''Zorba'' opened on Broadway in 1968 with Herschel Bernardi in the title role, it quickly closed. In 1982, at age 67, Mr. Quinn revived the musical and took it on a triumphant national tour for four years, with a stop on Broadway in 1983. Benedict Nightingale, reviewing Mr. Quinn's performance for The New York Times, noted that he really could neither sing nor dance, but ''he has his moments, plenty of them,'' and ''that lordly, grizzled charisma is undiminished throughout.'' In the decade before ''Zorba,'' Mr. Quinn, who had been acting in films since the 1930s, twice won the Academy Award as best supporting actor. He was given the 1952 Oscar for Elia Kazan's ''Viva Zapata!,'' in which he played the dissolute brother of the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, played by Marlon Brando. Four years later he received the award again for his performance as an intense Paul Gauguin in Vincente Minnelli's ''Lust for Life,'' opposite Kirk Douglas's wan Vincent van Gogh. Mr. Quinn was nominated for the best-actor Oscar for ''Zorba,'' but lost that year to Rex Harrison in ''My Fair Lady.'' Mr. Quinn achieved another memorable success in 1954 when he agreed to appear in a young Italian director's third film. The director was Federico Fellini, and the film was ''La Strada,'' in which Mr. Quinn played a sideshow strongman. Mr. Quinn received an acting award at the Venice Film Festival, and when ''La Strada'' was released in the United States, it won the Academy Award for best foreign film. Anthony Rudolph Oaxaca Quinn was born on April 21, 1915, in Chihuahua, Mexico. His mother, Manuela, took him across the border to El Paso, Tex., when he was an infant. His father, Francisco, who had fought with Pancho Villa's forces, joined them, and the family soon moved to California. After some years as migrant farm workers, the Quinns settled in Los Angeles, where Francisco found work as a grip, camera operator, and animal handler in the movie industry. He died in a car accident when Anthony was a boy. Anthony Quinn tried a number of colorful careers. He has recalled working for the evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson as a musician and street preacher. He was a boxer. He studied for the priesthood. He was an aspiring architect, advised by Frank Lloyd Wright to improve his speech because of the importance of communication in that profession. With that goal in mind, Mr. Quinn took acting lessons. He joined a small theater troupe and was cast, at the age of 21, in Mae West's play ''Clean Beds.'' His character was based on the actor John Barrymore, and when Barrymore saw the play, he was so impressed that the two men became close friends, and Mr. Quinn was introduced to a whole new circle of actors, artists, and writers. ''I think I'm lucky,'' Mr. Quinn once said. ''I was born with very little talent but a great drive.'' Drive won him his first movie role, a nonspeaking part in 1936 as a convict in ''Parole,'' and his first speaking part, as a Cheyenne warrior in Cecil B. DeMille's ''Plainsman'' later that year. During the 1930s and 40s, he appeared in dozens of films, usually in bit parts as an ethnic lout or outlaw. The film historian David Thomson said that Mr. Quinn was cast in parts in which he ''dutifully let every Paramount white man slug him.'' Mr. Quinn, whose parents were Mexican-Indian and Mexican-Irish, was sometimes cast as a Mexican, but Hollywood seemed to consider his looks ideal to represent almost every ethnicity. He played a Filipino soldier (''Back to Bataan''), a Libyan guerrilla (''Lion of the Desert''), a Spanish matador (''Blood and Sand''), various American Indians, pirates (''The Black Swan,'' among others), a Chinese warrior (''China Sky''), an Algerian peasant (''Lost Command''), a Basque guide (''The Passage''), a Colombian bandit (''High Risk'') and a long list of Italians and Italian-Americans. Even after his success in ''Zapata'' and ''Zorba,'' he continued to be cast in exotic or ethnic roles, only then the characters were more likely to be noble, like the Eskimo in ''The Savage Innocents'' and the Russian pope in ''The Shoes of the Fisherman.'' Mr. Quinn was also frequently called on to play historical figures, among them Chief Crazy Horse (''They Died With Their Boots On,'' 1941), Sheik Auda Abu Tayi (''Lawrence of Arabia,'' 1962), a thinly disguised Aristotle Onassis (''The Greek Tycoon,'' 1978) and Attila the Hun (''Attila,'' 1954). The 1950s and '60s were good for Mr. Quinn's career, even if his directing debut was less than a hit. (In 1958 he directed a remake of ''The Buccaneer,'' a film about the pirate hero Jean Lafitte; he had appeared in the original in 1938 for DeMille, who had been his father-in-law.) His salary soared and he was much in demand, but after ''Zorba'' he never found another role as powerful. Of the films in that period, he favored his performance in ''Requiem for a Heavyweight'' (1962) as the proud but battered prizefighter Mountain Rivera because he felt he had most successfully sublimated his personality in the character. Rivera was modeled on the fighter Primo Carnera, and the film was adapted by Rod Serling from his famous television play by the same name. After World War II Mr. Quinn went to New York to try the stage, making his Broadway debut in 1947 in ''The Gentleman From Athens.'' He was then cast as Stanley Kowalski in the first touring company of ''A Streetcar Named Desire,'' which led to his following Mr. Brando in the role in New York, in a 1950 production at City Center. Later, in 1960, when he was a star, he returned to Broadway as Henry II in ''Becket,'' opposite Laurence Olivier. In the 1962-63 season he appeared with Margaret Leighton in ''Tchin-Tchin,'' a romantic fantasy. In New York he also appeared on early live television shows like the anthology series ''Danger'' and ''Philco TV Playhouse.'' In the early 1970's he starred in a series called ''The Man and the City,'' about a rugged, independent mayor, but it lasted only one season. In 1994 he appeared with Katharine Hepburn in the television film ''This Can't Be Love.'' Mr. Quinn also took pride in his work as a visual artist. Exhibitions of his paintings and sculpture were held in the United States and abroad, and his work brought respectable prices. The actor's personal life seemed to reflect his macho screen roles. He married twice, divorced twice, and fathered 13 children by five women, appearing in gossip columns at the age of 78 when his former secretary announced that she was pregnant with his child. His marriages created something of a scandal on each occasion. In 1937 he married Katherine DeMille, the adopted daughter of the Hollywood director. But the marriage almost ended on the wedding night, when Mr. Quinn learned that his 26-year-old bride was not a virgin, a shock he described in ''One Man Tango,'' the 1995 autobiography he wrote with Daniel Paisner. In that book he also boasted of affairs with numerous film stars, including Carole Lombard, Rita Hayworth and Ingrid Bergman. Cecil B. DeMille was not fond of his son-in-law and appeared not to have aided his career. The Quinns' first child, Christopher, died in 1941, at age 3, when he wandered onto the property of a neighbor, W. C. Fields, fell into a swimming pool and drowned. The Quinns had four other children and remained married until the 1960's. In 1961, on location in Italy, Mr. Quinn met Iolanda Addolari, a costumer on the film ''Barabbas.'' They began a romance, and she gave birth to two of Mr. Quinn's sons. In 1966, when she was pregnant with their third child, they married. Mr. Quinn told the press his actions were those of a responsible, honorable man, who now owed loyalty to his new family. In an interview with The Washington Post in the 1980's he summed up that view: ''I am of the opinion -- and I'm not afraid to say it -- that men are slightly lost today. They don't know where in the hell they are with this women's liberation. A man is responsibility. I think that's what I represent: responsibility.'' In 1993, after having lived in Italy with his second family for most of the previous three decades, he acknowledged that his former secretary, Kathy Benvin, who was roughly half a century his junior, had given birth to his daughter, Antonia. The second Mrs. Quinn, when asked to step aside by granting a divorce, did not immediately agree, though the divorce later became final. Ms. Benvin and Mr. Quinn had a second child, a son, Ryan, in July 1996. Katherine DeMille Quinn died in 1995. In addition to Ms. Benvin, and their two children, Mr. Quinn is survived by seven other sons: Duncan, Francesco, Daniele, Lorenzo, Sean, Alex and one other, whom he acknowledged but whose first name he did not make public; three other daughters, Christina, Catalina and Valentina. To the end, he continued to be typecast as Zorba or the outlaw. In ''A Walk in the Clouds'' (1995), Mr. Quinn played the Mexican patriarch of a family vineyard in California, a man with an excess of exuberance and a strong belief in the life-affirming power of love. He played a mobster in ''Gotti,'' a 1996 HBO film, and a Mafia chieftain in his final role in ''Avenging Angelo,'' a movie still in production, with Sylvester Stallone and Madeleine Stowe. Quinn Filmography Anthony Quinn acted in about 130 films. Here are some of them. Blood and Sand, 1941 The Ox-Bow Incident, 1943 Back to Bataan, 1945 Viva Zapata!, 1952 Attila, 1954 La Strada, 1954 Lust for Life, 1956 Wild Is the Wind, 1957 The Savage Innocents, 1959 The Guns of Navarone, 1961 Requiem for a Heavyweight, 1962 Lawrence of Arabia, 1962 Zorba the Greek, 1964 The Secret of Santa Vittoria, 1969 The Greek Tycoon, 1978

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