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Warren Oates is a Actor American born on 5 july 1928 at Depoy (USA)

Warren Oates

Warren Oates
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Birth name Warren Mercer Oates
Nationality USA
Birth 5 july 1928 at Depoy (USA)
Death 3 april 1982 (at 53 years) at Los Angeles (USA)

Warren Mercer Oates (July 5, 1928 – April 3, 1982) was an American actor best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch (1969) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). He starred in numerous films during the early 1970s which have since achieved cult status including The Hired Hand (1971), Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) and Race with the Devil (1975). Oates also portrayed John Dillinger in the biopic Dillinger (1973) and Sgt. Hulka in the comedy Stripes (1981).

Biography

Warren Oates est né à Depoy dans le Kentucky. Son père était épicier mais a très vite changé de métier pendant la Dépression. Comme tous les jeunes de son âge, le jeune Warren aide sa famille en participant à des cueillettes, à des récoltes dans les immenses champs de fraisiers. Par la suite il chargera des camions dans une sablière pour un salaire de misère. Très jeune, il s'engage dans les Marines; une époque qui marquera le jeune Warren et influencera son maniement d'arme si caractéristique dans ses futurs rôles. Après sa démobilisation, il s'inscrit à l'université de Louisville, se passionne pour le théâtre et tente de gommer son accent du Sud afin de commencer une carrière d'acteur sur les planches. Il reprendra son accent natal quand Peckinpah le fera jouer un soldat confédéré dans Major Dundee. En 1954 il tente de percer à Broadway mais n'obtient que de petits rôles dans des émissions de télé comme Studio One. En attendant de décrocher des rôles, il se fait engager comme vestiaire au Club 21 à New York. Déçu de la qualité des rôles qu'on lui propose, il part tenter sa chance à Hollywood.

Il joue dans plusieurs feuilletons western comme Gunsmoke (où il fait la rencontre de Sam Peckinpah) ou bien encore the Rifleman. Il décroche son tout premier rôle au cinéma dans Up Periscope de Gordon Douglas qui l'avait déjà repéré dans ces apparitions à la télévision new-yorkaise. Il est à nouveau engagé par ce même Douglas pour Le Géant du Grand Nord. Après avoir joué dans des films plus ou moins réussis, il décroche en 1962 un rôle dans Coups de feu dans la Sierra de Sam Peckinpah. Il joue le rôle de Henry Hammond, celui qui refuse de se laver pour le mariage de son frère. Il joue un homme timide qui semble communiquer uniquement avec son corbeau. Ce rôle lui permet d'aborder un personnage complexe, marginal et anormal qui fera sa renommée dans les films suivants.
Trois ans plus tard dans Major Dundee, malgré un montage massacré du producteur Breslin qui fait enlever de nombreuses de scènes dans lesquels Oates jouait, Warren Oates livre dans ce chef-d'œuvre une interprétation remarquable d'un soldat confédéré prisonnier qui doit aider Charlton Heston pour arrêter un chef indien. Il incarne comme à son habitude un vaurien dont le rôle du frère est à nouveau joué par Ben Johnson. Dans une scène mémorable, il supplie son supérieur Richard Harris de ne pas être fusillé après sa tentative de désertion. Grâce à ce rôle, Peckinpah fera encore appel à lui pour ces futurs projets. Oates enchaîne les rôles et alterne avec le cinéma et la télévision tout au long des années 1960.

Warren Oates se fait remarquer très vite du grand public grâce à ses brillantes prestations dans Dans la chaleur de la nuit de Norman Jewison et La Balade sauvage de Terrence Malick où ses rôles de marginaux font de lui l'un des acteurs les plus talentueux de sa génération. Sa manière d'endosser les personnages n'est pas sans rappeler Robert Mitchum où il parvient à faire passer beaucoup d'émotion sans avoir beaucoup de dialogues. En 1968, il joue dans le légendaire The Wild Bunch, célèbre western baroque de Sam Peckinpah. Il joue le rôle d'un acolyte de William Holden.

En 1971, il est au générique d'un film de Peter Fonda L'Homme sans frontière où il donne la réplique à ce dernier ainsi que dans le film culte de Monte Hellman Macadam à deux voies.

En 1973, il est à l'affiche de Dillinger de John Milius et l'année suivante, il a le rôle principal dans un film de Monte Hellman, Cockfighter où il livre une de ses plus probantes performances et parvient à transcender son personnage de Frank Mansfield.

L'année 1974 marque son retour avec Sam Peckinpah, c'est sa quatrième collaboration avec « Bloody Sam ». Il joue le rôle de Benny, pianiste minable qui part à la recherche de Garcia en compagnie d'une prostituée Isela Vega pour toucher une grosse prime. À la suite de la mort de sa compagne, son personnage se révolte et entame sa rédemption qui le conduira jusqu'à sa mort. C'est son film le plus personnel où il réalise la meilleure interprétation de toute sa carrière. Les cinéphiles s'accordent pour dire que c'est le rôle de sa vie. Il incarne le double de Peckinpah, (il emprunta les légendaires lunettes de soleil du cinéaste) pour exorciser tous ses démons. Il joue un homme marginal, en proie à des doutes sur son existence, sur la vie, sur la notion de bien et de mal. Le film est un échec commercial et critique mais contribua à renforcer l'amitié indéfectible de Warren et Peckinpah. Le cinéaste dira de lui de manière ironique et sarcastique « Warren Oates is a poet, a singer, and a piss poor actor. For some reason I keep using him all the time ».

À la fin des années 1970, il tourne encore mais ne retrouve plus de rôles intéressants. Il joue un de ses derniers meilleurs rôles dans un film de William Friedkin The Brink's Job avec aussi celui d'un marin rescapé dans le film The White Dawn de Philip Kaufman.

Le réalisateur Alain Corneau eut l'intention de faire tourner Warren Oates après avoir acquis les droits d'un roman de Jim Thompson 1275 Ames

Warren Oates était facilement reconnaissable par son physique particulier avec ses tenues mal soignées, sa moustache mal taillée, sa démarche chaloupée et sa chevelure ébouriffée.

Il meurt d'une crise cardiaque le 3 avril 1982 à Los Angeles.

Best films

Stripes (1981)
(Actor)
Blue Thunder (1983)
(Actor)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
(Actor)

Usually with

Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Warren Oates (50 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Blue Thunder, 1h49
Directed by John Badham
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Thriller, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Transport films, Aviation films
Actors Roy Scheider, Malcolm McDowell, Warren Oates, Candy Clark, Daniel Stern, Joe Santos
Roles Braddock
Rating63% 3.197143.197143.197143.197143.19714
Francis McNeil "Frank" Murphy (Roy Scheider) is a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) helicopter-pilot-officer and troubled Vietnam War veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). His newly assigned field partner is Richard Lymangood (Daniel Stern). The two patrol Los Angeles at night and give assistance to police forces on the ground.
Tough Enough, 1h46
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Romance
Themes Sports films, Martial arts films, Boxing films, Le boxe anglaise, Children's films
Actors Dennis Quaid, Stan Shaw, Pam Grier, Warren Oates, Bruce McGill, Wilford Brimley
Roles James Neese
Rating55% 2.7537652.7537652.7537652.7537652.753765
Un pays / chanteur ouest en herbe, dont l'argent est de disparaître plus vite que ses possibilités de carrière, entre dans un "dur Man" concours de boxe amateur pour gagner un peu d'argent pour payer ses factures. Chose étonnante, il gagne, et est choisi pour aller sur les finales nationales. Il est déchiré entre son premier amour, la musique, et les paillettes, le glamour et l'argent du monde "Tough Man".
The Border
The Border (1982)
, 1h48
Directed by Tony Richardson
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes La corruption policière, Films about immigration
Actors Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, Valerie Perrine, Warren Oates, Elpidia Carrillo, Dirk Blocker
Roles Red
Rating63% 3.1970553.1970553.1970553.1970553.197055
Immigration enforcement agent Smith (Jack Nicholson) lives in California with his wife (Valerie Perrine) in a trailer. She persuades him to move to a duplex in El Paso shared by her friend and border agent Cat (Harvey Keitel). She opens a charge account and starts to purchase expensive items like a water bed as she tries to build a dream home.
Stripes
Stripes (1981)
, 1h46
Directed by Ivan Reitman
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Action
Themes Military humor in film, Political films, Buddy films
Actors Bill Murray, Warren Oates, P. J. Soles, Sean Young, John Candy, Harold Ramis
Roles Sgt. Hulka
Rating67% 3.398873.398873.398873.398873.39887
John Winger is a cab driver, who, in the span of a few hours, loses his job, his apartment, his car, and his girlfriend. Realizing that his life is a failure, he decides to join the United States Army. Talking his best friend Russell Ziskey (a teacher of English to foreign students) into joining with him, they go to a recruiting office and are soon off to basic training.
1941
1941 (1979)
, 1h58
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Origin USA
Genres War, Comedy, Action
Themes Military humor in film, Seafaring films, Christmas films, Transport films, Political films, United States Armed Forces in films
Actors Dan Aykroyd, Ned Beatty, John Belushi, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Christopher Lee
Roles Col. 'Madman' Maddox
Rating58% 2.9000752.9000752.9000752.9000752.900075
On Saturday, December 13, 1941 at 7:01 a.m., a woman goes swimming somewhere on the California coast, only to find a Japanese submarine surfacing beneath her. The submarine crew believes they have arrived in Hollywood, and the vessel submerges while the woman swims to safety.
My Old Man
My Old Man (1979)
, 1h42
Directed by John Erman
Genres Drama
Themes Films about animals, Sports films, Films about horses, Horse sports in film
Actors Kristy McNichol, Warren Oates, Peter Maloney, Eileen Brennan, Joseph Maher, Howard Rollins
Roles Frank Butler
Rating59% 2.956722.956722.956722.956722.95672
A cantankerous horse trainer and his jockey daughter attempt to reconcile their troubled relationship.
The Brink's Job, 1h44
Directed by William Friedkin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Action, Historical, Crime, Politic
Themes Heist films, Gangster films, Escroquerie
Actors Peter Falk, Peter Boyle, Allen Garfield, Warren Oates, Gena Rowlands, Paul Sorvino
Roles Specs O'Keefe
Rating64% 3.2452953.2452953.2452953.2452953.245295
Small-time Boston crook Tony Pino (Peter Falk) tries to make a name for himself. He and his five associates pull off a robbery whenever they can. Tony and his gang easily rob over $100,000 in cash from a Brink's armored car, after which Tony disguises himself as a sparkplug salesman to get an inside look at Brink's large and so-called "impregnable fortress" headquarters in the city's North End, a company renowned for unbreachable security as a private "bank" throughout the East Coast.
The Shooting, 1h22
Directed by Monte Hellman
Origin USA
Genres Action, Western
Actors Warren Oates, Millie Perkins, Will Hutchins, Jack Nicholson, Charles Eastman
Roles Willett Gashade
Rating64% 3.248633.248633.248633.248633.24863
Willet Gashade (Oates), a former bounty hunter, returns to his small mining camp after a lengthy absence and finds his slow-witted friend Coley (Will Hutchins) in a state of fear. Coley explains to Gashade that their partner, Leland Drum (B. J. Merholz), had been shot to death two days before by an unseen assassin. The killing was possibly committed in revenge for the accidental trampling death of "a little person" in town, which may have been caused by Gashade's brother, Coin. Coin had inexplicably rushed away from their camp moments before the shooting death. Gashade and Coley become increasingly paranoid, and Gashade takes his friend's gun away from him.
China 9, Liberty 37, 1h42
Directed by Monte Hellman
Origin USA
Genres Action, Western
Actors Fabio Testi, Warren Oates, Jenny Agutter, Sam Peckinpah, Isabel Mestres, Franco Interlenghi
Roles Matthew Sebanek
Rating59% 2.995312.995312.995312.995312.99531
Gunslinger Clayton Drumm (Testi) is in jail, about to be hanged, when railroad company men offer him a chance to live if he will agree to murder Matthew (Oates), a miner who has steadfastly refused to sell his land to the railroad.
True Grit: A Further Adventure, 1h40
Directed by Richard T. Heffron
Origin USA
Genres Western
Actors Warren Oates, Lisa Pelikan, Lee Meriwether, James Stephens, Lee Montgomery, Ramon Bieri
Roles Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn
Rating60% 3.00093.00093.00093.00093.0009
The further adventures of U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn are told here. He battles criminals and injustice in his own unorthodox way. Meanwhile, he must also contend with the ever tough-as-nails Mattie Ross, a teenage girl hellbent on reforming him.
Sleeping Dogs, 1h47
Directed by Roger Donaldson
Origin Nouvelle zelande
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Political films, Dystopian films
Actors Sam Neill, Tony Martin, Warren Oates, Ian Mune, Bill Johnson, Don Selwyn
Roles Col. Willoughby
Rating62% 3.1441253.1441253.1441253.1441253.144125
Following the break-up of his marriage caused by his wife's affair with another man named Bullen (Mune), "Smith" (Neill) arranges to live on the Coromandel peninsula on an island owned by a Maori tribe. Meanwhile, political tensions escalate as an oil embargo leaves the country in an energy crisis. Tensions boil over into a civil war and guerrilla activity. However, Smith enjoys his peaceful island life and has little interaction with the rest of society and his dog which was given to him by a friend.
American Raspberry, 1h15
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Kinky Friedman, Warren Oates, Dick O'Neill, George Furth, Joanna Cassidy, Harry Shearer
Roles Celebrity Sportsman
Rating49% 2.4714852.4714852.4714852.4714852.471485
American Raspberry tells the story of what happens when some strange unknown sources takes over the air waves and replaces the normal programs with rude, crude, and politically incorrect programming and commercials. The President of the United States (George Furth) demands that something be done about the distasteful programming.
Drum
Drum (1976)
, 1h50
Directed by Burt Kennedy, Steve Carver
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Historical
Themes Films about slavery, Films about racism
Actors Warren Oates, Pam Grier, Isela Vega, Yaphet Kotto, John Colicos, Fiona Lewis
Roles Hammond Maxwell
Rating54% 2.7042852.7042852.7042852.7042852.704285
This film picks up the story 15 years after the events of the first film. Drum (Norton) has been born to a white prostitute (Vega), who raises him with her black lesbian lover (Kelly). Drum grows up to be a fighter and is often forced to bare-knuckle-box other slaves for the entertainment of the owners, one of whom is a gay Frenchman named Bernard DeMarigny (Colicos). DeMarigny wants to sleep with Drum, but his advances are rejected by the slave and DeMarigny vows revenge against Drum. Drum and his friend Blaise (Kotto) are eventually sold to plantation owner Hammond Maxwell (Oates) and are both taken to his plantation to work. Drum's girlfriend Regine (Grier) is purchased by Maxwell as well and is taken to the plantation for his own personal desires.
Dixie Dynamite
Origin USA
Genres Thriller, Action
Actors Warren Oates, Christopher George, Stanley Adams, R.G. Armstrong, Steve McQueen, John Bliss
Roles Mack
Rating51% 2.5710752.5710752.5710752.5710752.571075
A man who makes liquor illegally from a still is in cahoots with the sheriff, who then double-crosses him. The moonshiner is shot dead by the sheriff's deputy. His two daughters decide to take over the family business, but when the sheriff and a corrupt local banker disrupt their operation and eventually destroy their still, the girls decide to get even.