It’s been sadly revealed that actor Fred Ward, known for his roles in films like Tremors, Cast a Deadly Spell, and True Detective has died at age 79. It’s been reported that his death occurred on Sunday, May 8.
This information comes via NPR, although “no cause of death was given.” His publicist, Ron Hofmann, did write a statement which was also shared.
He wrote:
“The unique thing about Fred Ward is that you never knew where he was going to pop up, so unpredictable were his career choices,” Hofmann began.
Ron Hofmann continued to describe Fred Ward’s incredible career and the variety of work in which he starred.
“He could play such diverse characters as Remo Williams, a cop trained by Chiun, Master of Sinanju (Joel Grey) to become an unstoppable assassin in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, or Earl Bass, who, alongside Kevin Bacon, battle giant, worm-like monsters hungry for human flesh in ‘cult’ horror/comedy film, Tremors (1990), or a detective in the indie film Two Small Bodies (1993) directed by underground filmmaker Beth B., or a terrorist planning to blow up the Academy Awards in The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994), or the father of the lead character in Jennifer Lopez’s revenge thriller Enough (2002).”
As noted above, this is a sad revelation. Fred Ward was a celebrated actor with an incredible career to show for it. For example, Tremors has remained a cult classic to this day. While co-star Kevin Bacon didn’t return for Tremors II: Aftershocks, Fred Ward did. With that said, many fans consider his performance an additional highlight of the creature feature franchise. With so many other memorable roles both on the big screen and in television, his absence will surely be felt.
Fred Ward is survived by Marie-France Ward, who was his wife of 27 years, as well as his son Django Ward.