After a short time performing on the stage, Quinn launched his film career performing character roles in the 1936 films The Plainsman (1936) as a Cheyenne Indian after Custer's defeat with Gary Cooper,  Parole (in which he made his debut) and The Milky Way.
He played "ethnic" villains in Paramount films such as Dangerous to Know (1938) and Road to Morocco, and played a more sympathetic Crazy Horse in They Died with Their Boots On with Errol Flynn.

A breakthrough in his career occurred in 1941 when he received an offer to play a matador in the bullfighting-themed Blood and Sand with Tyrone Power and Rita Hayworth.
In 1942, he co-starred alongside Power in another critical and financial success, the swashbuckling adventure The Black Swan.
In 1943, he had a role in the Oscar-nominated western The Ox-Bow Incident.
He co-starred in Sinbad the Sailor (1947) with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Maureen O'Hara.

By 1947, he had appeared in more than fifty films and had played a variety of characters, including Indians, Mafia dons, Hawaiian chiefs, Filipino freedom-fighters, Chinese guerrillas, and Arab sheiks.
He returned to the theater, replacing Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway.
In 1947, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

He returned to Hollywood in the early 1950s and was cast in a series of B-adventures such as Mask of the Avenger (1951).
He solidified his position as one of Hollywood's premier actors in Elia Kazan's Viva Zapata! (
1952) opposite Marlon Brando.
Quinn's performance as Zapata's brother won Quinn an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor while Brando lost the Oscar for Best Actor to Gary Cooper in High Noon.
He holds the distinction of being the first Mexican-American to win an Academy Award.
After a short time performing on the stage, Quinn launched his film career performing character roles in the 1936 films The Plainsman (1936) as a Cheyenne Indian after Custer's defeat with Gary Cooper,  Parole (in which he made his debut) and The Milky Way. He played "ethnic" villains in Paramount films such as Dangerous to Know (1938) and Road to Morocco, and played a more sympathetic Crazy Horse in They Died with Their Boots On with Errol Flynn.
A breakthrough in his career occurred in 1941 when he received an offer to play a matador in the bullfighting-themed Blood and Sand with Tyrone Power and Rita Hayworth. In 1942, he co-starred alongside Power in another critical and financial success, the swashbuckling adventure The Black Swan. In 1943, he had a role in the Oscar-nominated western The Ox-Bow Incident. He co-starred in Sinbad the Sailor (1947) with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Maureen O'Hara.
By 1947, he had appeared in more than fifty films and had played a variety of characters, including Indians, Mafia dons, Hawaiian chiefs, Filipino freedom-fighters, Chinese guerrillas, and Arab sheiks. He returned to the theater, replacing Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway. In 1947, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
He returned to Hollywood in the early 1950s and was cast in a series of B-adventures such as Mask of the Avenger (1951). He solidified his position as one of Hollywood's premier actors in Elia Kazan's Viva Zapata! (1952) opposite Marlon Brando. Quinn's performance as Zapata's brother won Quinn an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor while Brando lost the Oscar for Best Actor to Gary Cooper in High Noon. He holds the distinction of being the first Mexican-American to win an Academy Award.
Anthony Quinn