• Served in the 101st Airborne during the Second World War.
• Moved to Louisville, Kentucky, as a youth to live with his grandparents. He graduated from Du Pont Manuel High School in Louisville.
• Boxed as a welterweight under the name "Johnny Costello" in his youth.
• Fought on the same card as Charles Durning in Madison Square Garden.
• Jack Warden had served in the U.S. Navy from 1938-1941 then joined the Merchant Marine as water tender in the engine room but disliked convoy duty because of Axis aircraft attacks and his location 30 decks below the main deck -- this, as he says, ended his "romance with the life of a sailor." He left the Merchant Marine in 1942, joined the Army and became a platoon sergeant and parachute jumpmaster in the 101st Airborne. While hospitalized with a leg injury sustained in a jump, Warden read a play written by Clifford Odets and decided to be come an actor.
• Was married to French actress, Vanda Dupre: one son, Christopher.
• Fought in The Battle of the Bulge during WWII.

Jack Warden began his career in New York in various stage productions including A View from the Bridge, Lullaby, Picnic, Golden Boy, Death of a Salesman and The Man in the Glass Booth.

After his talents were noticed by Hollywood, Warden soon found himself working closely with some of the silver screen's most famous performers including Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity, Henry Fonda in Twelve Angry Men, Clark Gable in Run Silent, Run Deep and John Wayne in Donovan's Reef.

In 1972, Warden jumped form the big screen to television and subsequently earned an Emmy Award for his performance in Brian's Song opposite James Caan. Returning to film, it wasn't long before Warden received two Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor (one for Shampoo and the other for Heaven Can Wait, both opposite Warren Beatty).

Warden's additional film credits include All the President's Men, The Champ, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, Being There, . . . And Justice for All, The Presidio, Toys, Bullets Over Broadway, While You Were Sleeping, Mighty Aphrodite and Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead. Warden recently completed filming the latest untitled Warren Beatty film.