Fred Ward’s bio says that he’s still active but it also seems that he hasn’t done much since 2015 other than the 2018 TV version of Tremors, which is enough to shake your head since his time as Earl Bassett was too great to really cheapen with another Tremors movie. That’s personal opinion of course since he was one of the greatest actors in the movie, but oh well. He did take up his role as Earl in the second Tremors, but after that he moved on, which was a good idea since it was already getting too silly and the character of Earl was likely dealing with enough PTSD at that point since he’d become something of a scared and hesitant character at that time. The Earl in the original Tremors was more of a bada** without a doubt, even though dealing with giant, worm-like creatures that pull you under and can sense seismic vibrations would put anyone off their game. From the second movie on though it was Michael Gross’s movie and he was more than welcome to it. But as far as Fred Ward goes it almost seems as though he didn’t do a whole lot after Tremors 2.
FYI Fred Ward was an awesome “guys” actor as far back as the early 80s (here’s looking at you Remo Williams). He always had a penchant for playing a masculine role (even in the movie Road Trip). Fortunately or unfortunately it’s always Tremors that sticks out to us with regards to Ward. This is one of those guys that you can’t help but think about at times when you bring up mention of the 90s since he was one of the guys that was always there making it worth it to watch certain movies. Tremors of course is one of those that you can’t help but give him a huge amount of credit for since his part was so great as he and Kevin Bacon seemed to feed off of one another throughout the entire thing.
As far as his personal life goes there’s not a lot to tell other than he’s been married and divorced three times, which unfortunately seems to happen quite a bit in show business, though for a lot of different reasons for certain. Speculating on them all is kind of a headache just to think about so we’ll leave that little tidbit where it lays at the moment and not kick it into wakefulness. As far as Fred goes though he’s one of the most pleasing faces to see on a set since quite honestly he seems to enjoy what he does and has a good time making things happen. At this point in his career it does seem as though he might be the pleasing mentor that’s there to help younger actors when they need it and just guide them along as they continue the project together.
It does sound as though he was rumored to come on for the 2018 movie Tremors but at this point it no longer matters since according to Nellie Andreeva of Deadline that opportunity went up in smoke since there just wasn’t enough interest. It’s like I’ve been saying for a while now, Tremors was better off just being one cult classic and possibly over and done with once the second one was through with, since Earl and Val had both moved on and finally gotten out of Perfection like they wanted.
As for Fred Ward, hopefully he’ll keep showing up since he’s a welcome face and a reminder of what helped to keep acting great back in the day. It’s hard to believe that thirty years has passed since Tremors came out, but maybe we’ll get his input when the documentary hits in January. After all he’s one reason why the movie is even remembered, the other being Kevin Bacon, and of course the other being that the movie has been given no less than six sequels at this point and people are still clambering for more.
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