John Thaw

It is believed that he was shortly due to have received a knighthood when he died from esophageal cancer at the age of 60 in 2002. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Thaw was awarded the CBE in 1994. In 2002, Widmark was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Thaw was eventually cured a year before his death. Other starring roles were in Night and the City, Panic in the Streets, No Way Out, Halls of Montezuma, Destination Gobi, Pickup on South Street, Take the High Ground!, The Cobweb, Backlash, Run for the Sun, The Last Wagon, Warlock, The Alamo, The Secret Ways, Two Rode Together, Judgment at Nuremberg, How the West Was Won, The Long Ships, Cheyenne Autumn, The Bedford Incident, When the Legends Die, Murder on the Orient Express, Coma and Madigan (he also starred in the television series which was based on the latter movie). In her 2004 autobiography Sheila Hancock revealed the extent of Thaw's alcoholism that had started in the late 1970s and caused problems in their marraige and the gaps in Thaw's career in the early 1980s and later 1990s . In the intervening two years, he had appeared in Slattery's Hurricane, Down to the Sea in Ships, Yellow Sky, Road House and The Street with No Name.

Thaw has two daughters, Abigail Thaw from his first marriage, and Joanna Thaw from his second. Widmark became so popular so fast that it was only two years later that he had his handprints cast in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater. He married actress Sheila Hancock in 1973 whom he remained with until his death in 2002. Widmark's character in this film was the inspiration for the song, "The Ballad of Tommy Udo" by the band Kaleidoscope. In 1964 Thaw married Sally Alexander, but they divorced four years later. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the performance. Thaw has appeared in a number of films, including Cry Freedom, which received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and Chaplin for director Richard Attenborough. Widmark first appeared in movies in 1947's Kiss of Death (in which he giggles as he pushes a wheelchair-bound old woman down a flight of stairs), which started his seven year contract with 20th Century Fox.

His only screen project not considered a popular success was the BBC series 'A Year in Provence'. He was unable to join the military during World War II because of a perforated eardrum. Thaw also tried his hand at comedy with his own sitcom called Home to Roost (1985 - 1988). He appeared on Broadway in 1943 in Kiss and Tell. He subsequently played liberal barrister James Kavanagh in Kavanagh QC (1995 - 1999, with a special in 2001). He taught acting at the college after graduation, before debuting on radio in 1938 in Aunt Jenny's Real Life Stories. He won two BAFTA awards for Inspector Morse. He grew up in Princeton, Illinois and attended Lake Forest College, where he studied acting.

Thaw will perhaps be best remembered for two roles: the hard-bitten Flying Squad detective Jack Regan in the television series (and two films) The Sweeney (1975 - 1978), which established him as a major star in the United Kingdom, and as the quietly-spoken, introspective and bitter detective Inspector Morse (1987 - 2001), with specials in 1995 - 1998 and 2000. Richard Widmark (born December 26, 1914 in Sunrise, Minnesota) is an American film actor. His first film role was a bit part in the 1962 adaptation of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner starring Tom Courtney. On leaving RADA Thaw was awarded a contract with the Liverpool Playhouse. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he was a contemporary of Tom Courtney.

Thaw came from a working class background, having been born in West Gorton, Manchester. John Thaw (January 3, 1942 - February 21, 2002) CBE, was a British actor who achieved his first starring role in the military police television drama Redcap (1964 - 1966), and subsequently appeared in a range of television, stage and cinema roles.