My Five Favorite Movies with John Heard (1945-2017)

Douglas Van Hollen

Software engineer. Kravist. Oenophile. MSTie. Trekker. Last of the V8 Interceptors. On permanent sabbatical in Winter River, CT.

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4 Responses

  1. Richard Shirley says:

    I really liked and discovered Heard in Chilly Scenes of Winter and Cat People among many others. Thought he would become a leading man but he had a great career nonetheless.

  2. I’m with Richard Shirley, particularly on “Chilly Scenes of Winter,” which I watched a million times on HBO and is my #4 movie of all-time (on my Flickchart; it alternates places with “Slap Shot” on occasion). The film left a deep divot on my conscious and it’s Heard’s performance that propels that. He himself admitted he had drifted to a career as a “hack actor” (His words) and appeared angry and dissatisfied in many of his roles (Think of his character on “The Sopranos” for a perfect example; I wouldn’t be surprised if David Chase wrote the role for him). Years after seeing “Chilly” and its impact it and Heard had on me, I caught his large role in the (classic, I think) prison film, “On the Yard.” His turn as a doomed prisoner was heartbreaking. He aced the leading roles, but fate took his career in a second-tier character acting direction. A great shame. A great actor. Rest in Peace, John Heard.

  3. Anonymous says:

    No one says anything about heaven help us. He played in as a catholic school dude, he was the nicest one in the whole school when it came to teachers.

  4. Oh man, getting some great leads here. More!