Anthony Quinn was born in Chihuahua, Mexico on April 21, 1915. His surname, Quinn, comes from a paternal grandfather of Irish descent. His family moved to Los Angeles to escape poverty while he was still very young. During his childhood, he supported his family as a butcher, a street corner preacher prizefighter and an artist. At the age of eleven, he won a statewide competition for his sculpture of Abraham Lincoln. Later, he was awarded a scholarship to study architecture with Frank Lloyd Wright. The two became close friends and Frank Lloyd Wright even paid for surgery to fix a speech impediment that Quinn had.

His film career started in 1936. Many of his early roles included bandits and other stereotypical villains and ethnic characters. In 1937, he married Katherine De Mille. Katherine was the adopted daughter of Cecil B. De Mille. By the late 1940s, he had finished over 50 films but still wasn't very successful. In 1947, he returned to Broadway for three years where he played Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire and other roles.

When he returned to film in the 1950s, he found success with Viva Zapata! (1952). Marlon Brando played Emilio Zapata and Quinn played his brother. Quinn's performance won him his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Afterwards he worked on several films in Italy. His work there includes Federico Fellini's La Strada (1954). His second Oscar came from playing Gaugin in Lust for Life (1956). He was nominated, unsuccessfully, again for Wild is the Wind. In the sixties, his more successful roles included Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Zorba the Greek (1964). Zorba offered him yet another Oscar nomination. His last films in the 1990s include Jungle Fever (1991), The Last Action Hero (1993) and A Walk in the Clouds (1995).

In 1956, he divorced Katherine and married a costume designer. That marriage lasted until 1997, when the marriage fell apart after one of Anthony's affairs resulted in another child. The divorce was very public because of abuse charges that Quinn denied as a ploy to get more money. Between his wives and mistresses, Anthony Quinn has fathered 13 children.

While his career spans more than 150 films (some say 300) and many stage roles, he was also an accomplished artist. His memoirs include The Original Sin: A Self Portrait (1972) and One Man Tango (1995). He passed away on June 3, 2001 leaving a legacy of a true renaissance man and larger than life figure. Having evolved from the dark era of Hollywood, where the stereotypes were clearly defined and his ethnicity placed direct limits of him, he marveled at the growth of culture and acceptance during his lifetime. During the Hispanic Heritage Awards in 2000, he expressed joy at finally being able to hear the words "The Mexican Actor" behind his name and to hear it with admiration. Anthony Quinn, the great Mexican Actor, lived to the age of 86.

His name sometimes appears as:

• Antonio Quiñones
• Anthony Rudolfo Oxaca Quinn

Elsewhere on the Web:

Anthony Quinn is a legend
A look at Anthony Quinn, the artist.

Anthony Quinn Limited Editions
A gallery showing some of Quinn's patining and sculpture, offering them for sale.