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Oscar-nominated character actor Jack Warden, best known for starring alongside Warren Beatty in "Shampoo" and "Heaven Can Wait," has died at 85, his longtime business manager said.
Warden, who appeared in dozens of films and won an Emmy award as the star of the 1980s TV series "Crazy Like a Fox," died on Wednesday in New York, business manager Sidney Pazoff said.
Warden, who was born John Lebzelter in New Jersey and began acting after serving in World War Two, had a breakthrough role in "Twelve Angry Men" in 1957.
Pazoff said the veteran character actor had retired several years ago and had been suffering from medical problems in recent years.
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"Tom's former platoon Sgt, Jack Lebzelter, was a stocky redhead from Newark, N.J. Jack left the outfit just before Normandy, after landing on an English fence on a practice night jump and severely breaking his leg. Lebzelter's men had laughed when he announced that after the war he intended to act in movies. Jack Lebzelter now resides in Malibu Beach, CA and is better known to movie fans as Jack Warden. Although his paratrooper buddies phone him from the 501st regimental reunion each year, he refuses to meet them at the reunions. He feels he doesn't belong, because he had to leave the 501 before combat. His buddies have the utmost pride and affection for him, and wish he would attend. Life is short, but such is Jack Warden's personal code of honor. "
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He also acted in roles such as, Here to Eternity, Darby's Rangers, Run Silent, Run Deep and The Thin Red Line.
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He was a US Army paratrooper in WW2 with the 101st Airborne Division. On the last practice jump over England prior to D-Day, Warden broke his leg and injured his back, which prevented him from making the D-Day jump. In the 1980 TV movie, A Private Battle, he portrayed Cornelius Ryan, who as a correspondent did jump with the 101st Airborne Division at D-Day.
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