This Is The Last Movie That Fred Ward Was In Before His Tragic Death

The devastating death of Fred Ward on May 8, 2022 was tragic news for fans of the 79-year-old star's work. Ward was a versatile and intense performer who started his career in the 1970s, and went on to appear in TV shows and movies well into the 2010s. 

Ward had no shortage of serious actor accolades, and his acting credits are packed with movies like "Short Cuts," "Henry & June," and "Escape from Alcazar." Still, he was always ready to bring his stone-faced intensity to light, fun projects as well. Fans of the actor remember him as the titular super-agent in "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins," and even better as the fortune-seeking Earl Bassett in the first "Tremors" movies. 

With such a storied and lengthy acting career, it's easy to start wondering what the final role in Ward's lengthy résumé is. Let's take a look at the last movie that Fred Ward was in before his tragic death.

Fred Ward's last movie appearance was in the 2013 buddy cop movie "2 Guns," where he starred opposite Hollywood A-listers Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. In the film, Washington's Bobby Trench joins Wahlberg's "Stig" Stigman on a mission to retrieve a narcotics shipment from a major drug lord, and both men are unaware that the other one is an undercover operator trying to bring the kingpin down. Ward plays Rear Admiral Tuwey, Stig's superior. 

"2 Guns" may be a light-hearted buddy cop comedy, but it has a perfectly respectable 65 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Combine this with the film's absolutely star-studded cast – which also includes folks like James Marsden, Bill Paxton, Paula Patton, and Edward James Olmos — and it's clear that Ward ended his big-screen career on a pretty cool note.   

Incidentally, Ward also had some pretty good company in his final TV appearance. In 2015, he appeared in two episodes of "True Detective" Season 2 as Eddie Velcoro, the father of corrupt Detective Ray Velcoro (Colin Farrell).