Fred Ward, Actor in ‘Remo Williams,’ ‘Henry & June’ and ‘Tremors,’ Dies at 79

Fred Ward, Actor in ‘Remo Williams,’ ‘Henry & June’ and ‘Tremors,’ Dies at 79

He also portrayed astronaut Gus Grissom in 'The Right Stuff' and was impressive in 'Silkwood,' 'Uncommon Valor' and 'Miami Blues.'

Fred Ward, men of action in such films as Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Tremors and The Right Stuff, has died. He was 79.

Ward died Sunday, his publicist Ron Hofmann announced. No cause or place of death was disclosed per the family’s wishes.

“Ward has played many heroes, each with a subtlety that removed them from the cardboard cutout figures that they could have been,”

Ward also starred as hard-drinking expatriate author Henry Miller, who has a ménage a trois in Paris in 1931 with his wife (Uma Thurman) and another writer.

Ward was the head of studio security in The Player (1992) and shared Golden Globe and Venice Film Festival ensemble prizes for his performance in Short Cuts (1993).

His best chance at superstardom came when he was cast as the title character in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985).

Ward was married three times. Survivors include his wife of 27 years, Marie-France Ward, and his son, Django, named for Belgian jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.

Ward paid $4,000 to option Charles Willeford’s 1985 book Miami Blues and got Jonathan Demme to produce the movie and Armitage to write and direct.