American actor Anthony Quinn, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Zorba in Zorba the Greek, has appeared or starred in over 200 appearances in film and television, and has credits as producer and director; he also enjoyed writing and painting during his lifetime.

He was born Antonio Rudolfo Oaxaca Quinn in Chihuahua, Mexico, on April 21, 1915 to an Irish father and Mexican mother. Growing up in Los Angeles, he did not graduate from high school, but instead was awarded a diploma from Tucson High School in the 1990s. This did not stop him from attempting to achieve; he had once studied art and architecture with Frank Lloyd Wright in Arizona and Wisconsin, and they became good friends. Wright eventually encouraged Quinn to try acting when the latter expressed an interest in it.

After spending some time in theatre work, Quinn finally landed a character part in Parole. After this break, he largely played villain roles, mostly ethnic roles due to his Mexican heritage and blended appearance. Because of his versatile looks, he played roles from Italians and Indians to Hawaiians and Filipinos, as well as Chinese and Arabs. Not satisfied with his lack of starring role, however, he returned to theatre in the Broadway production A Streetcar Named Desire.

Over the years he returned to film, and used his looks again to win a role playing Zapata's brother in the highly-acclaimed Viva Zapata! with Marlon Brando. Here he won his first Oscar, and became the first person of his heritage-Mexican American-to win an Academy Award. His last film was Avenging Angelo, an action crime comedy, in 2002. Soon after he completed this film, he died from complications of throat cancer, and the world lost on of its finest actors of all time.