Fred Ward, acclaimed film and television actor, has died at 79
CBSN
Acclaimed actor Fred Ward, best known for his roles in films like "The Right Stuff," "Tremors" and "Escape From Alcatraz," died Sunday at age 79, his publicist confirmed to CBS News. Ward's cause of death was not released.
Before Ward's film career began in the early 1970s, he held several other titles, according to a biography from his publicist: He served three years in the U.S. Air Force, and also worked as a short-order cook, a boxer and a lumberjack in Alaska.
Once his acting career began, he became known for the versatility of his roles, the biography said, whether as a cop or an author of erotic stories in "Henry and Jane" — the world's first NC-17 movie. His first major role came in the 1979 Clint Eastwood film "Escape from Alcatraz;" soon after, he played an accidental time traveler in the 1982 film "Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann."
