48 Fun Facts About The Fugitive

Who plays Dr. Richard Kimble in the 1993 film The Fugitive?

Harrison Ford plays Kimble, the Chicago surgeon wrongly convicted of his wife's murder; the role came the year after he led Patriot Games as Jack Ryan.

What is the name of the Deputy U.S. Marshal who leads the hunt for Kimble in the film?

The film's marshal is Samuel Gerard; the TV series' Gerard was a police lieutenant named Philip, and the film renamed him and turned him into a deputy US marshal.

What kind of surgeon is Richard Kimble in the film?

Kimble is a vascular surgeon at Chicago Memorial Hospital; the film trades on his skill when, disguised as a janitor, he rereads a boy's X-ray and sends him straight to surgery.

Kimble escapes custody after the prison bus crashes into the path of what?

The bus rolls onto the tracks in front of an oncoming train; the wreck was staged for real and in a single take, and the wrecked locomotive and bus were left beside the line as a tourist attraction.

Who directed the 1993 film?

Andrew Davis, a Chicago native, directed it; his earlier thrillers Code of Silence (1985) and Above the Law (1988) were both shot in the city.

The film is based on a 1960s TV series that was itself loosely inspired by the trial of which real doctor?

Sam Sheppard, convicted in 1954 of murdering his wife Marilyn, insisted a 'bushy-haired' intruder had done it; F. Lee Bailey later won him a retrial, and a second jury acquitted him.

Which actor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Fugitive?

Tommy Lee Jones won Best Supporting Actor for his Gerard at the March 1994 ceremony, the film's only Oscar; he had been nominated in the same category for JFK two years earlier.

How many Academy Award nominations did The Fugitive receive?

Its 7 nominations were Best Picture, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound and Sound Effects Editing; only the Supporting Actor nomination converted into a win.

For how many weeks was The Fugitive the number-one film at the U.S. box office?

It held the top spot for 6 consecutive weekends from its 6 August 1993 opening, when it knocked Rising Sun off number one.

Roughly how much did The Fugitive, 1993's third-highest-grossing film worldwide, gross?

It grossed about $368 million worldwide, about $184 million of it in the U.S. and Canada, trailing only Jurassic Park and Mrs. Doubtfire among 1993 releases.

Which 1999 film finally broke The Fugitive's record for the biggest August opening weekend?

The Sixth Sense opened to about $26.7 million on 6 August 1999, beating the $23.8 million The Fugitive had taken on the same weekend six years earlier to pass Unforgiven's August mark.

Who plays the fugitive Gerard's team chases in the 1998 sequel U.S. Marshals?

Wesley Snipes plays Mark Sheridan, a former government operative framed for murder; Kimble does not appear, though Gerard's deputies from the first film return alongside Robert Downey Jr. as a new agent.

Kimble's colleague Dr. Charles Nichols is played by which Dutch actor?

Jeroen Krabbé, the Dutch star of Soldier of Orange and The Living Daylights, plays Nichols, the friend who turns out to be behind the conspiracy; he joined the cast after the original choice fell ill.

Which actor was originally cast as Dr. Nichols but had to be replaced after falling ill?

Richard Jordan, known for Logan's Run and for Gettysburg, was replaced after a brain tumour was diagnosed during filming; he died on 30 August 1993, weeks after the film's release.

Which actor plays Fredrick Sykes, the one-armed man?

Andreas Katsulas plays Fredrick Sykes, the one-armed ex-cop who killed Helen Kimble; Katsulas was also G'Kar in Babylon 5 and Tomalak in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Which Chicago hotel hosts the medical banquet where Kimble finally confronts Nichols?

The climax was shot at the Chicago Hilton and Towers on Michigan Avenue, later renamed the Hilton Chicago; the fight spills from the ballroom down to the hotel laundry, where Gerard finally arrests Kimble.

The bus-and-train wreck was staged on which scenic rail line?

The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, a tourist line through Dillsboro, supplied the track and the locomotive; the wreckage was left in place beside the line outside the Dillsboro depot.

Though set in rural Illinois, most of the film's location shooting outside Chicago took place in which state?

North Carolina's Jackson County towns of Dillsboro and Sylva stood in for rural Illinois, along with nearby Bryson City; Kimble's dam leap was also shot in the state's mountains.

Kimble's famous leap into the water was filmed at which dam?

Cheoah Dam, a 1919 Alcoa hydroelectric dam on the Little Tennessee River near Deals Gap, was the site of the leap; a dummy was dropped for the fall itself.

During which Chicago event does Kimble lose Gerard in the crowd?

Kimble slips into the St. Patrick's Day parade downtown; the scene was shot during the real March 1993 parade, with Mayor Richard M. Daley visible marching in it.

The one-armed man, Fredrick Sykes, lives in which historic Chicago neighbourhood?

Sykes's home is in Pullman, the 1880s company town George Pullman built for his railcar workers on the Far South Side, with its distinctive brick rowhouses.

According to the director, whose idea was it to film in Chicago?

It was Ford's suggestion: he was born in Chicago and had admired Davis's earlier films shot there, while Davis had assumed the winter weather would be too harsh.

Which cinematographer earned an Oscar nomination for The Fugitive?

Michael Chapman, who shot Taxi Driver and Raging Bull for Martin Scorsese, received his second Oscar nomination for The Fugitive; his first had been for Raging Bull.

On which US network did the original Fugitive series air from 1963 to 1967?

The Fugitive ran on ABC from September 1963 to August 1967, produced by Quinn Martin's company, which also made the network's The F.B.I.

Which actress's role as a potential love interest for Kimble was cut down heavily in editing?

Julianne Moore's Dr. Anne Eastman was to be a love interest, but the filmmakers decided a romance for a man hunting his wife's killer was unworkable; she survives as the doctor who catches him at the hospital.

Which future Glee star plays Dr. Kathy Wahlund, a colleague who helps Kimble?

Jane Lynch plays Dr. Kathy Wahlund, a colleague who quietly helps Kimble while he is on the run; it was one of her first film roles, sixteen years before Glee began in 2009.

Who played Richard Kimble in the 2000 CBS television remake of The Fugitive?

Tim Daly played Kimble in the CBS remake that premiered in October 2000, with Mykelti Williamson as Gerard; it lasted a single season before cancellation in 2001.

Who composed the film's score?

James Newton Howard wrote the score, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score; the soundtrack album was released by Elektra in 1993.

What is the name of the drug at the centre of the film's conspiracy?

Provasic is the new drug Kimble had found to cause liver damage; the tissue samples he sent for review were swapped to hide the harm, and his discovery is the motive for the conspiracy.

What is the name of the pharmaceutical company developing the drug?

Devlin-MacGregor, the fictional pharmaceutical giant sponsoring the drug trial, employs Sykes as a security man and stands to lose a fortune if the drug's liver toxicity comes out.

Disguised as a janitor, Kimble searches which Chicago institution's records for patients with prosthetic arms?

Cook County Hospital's prosthetics clinic records give Kimble a list of one-armed men; his detour to correct a misdiagnosed boy's chart is what tips off Dr. Eastman and security.

How does Kimble travel to the hotel to unmask Nichols, getting attacked by Sykes on the way?

Kimble travels by elevated train, Chicago's L, toward the hotel; Sykes ambushes him in the carriage and shoots a transit officer, which has the police hunting Kimble as a cop-killer.

What key piece of evidence helped convict Kimble at his trial?

His wife's misinterpreted 911 call, in which the dying Helen says 'Richard', is heard by the jury as an accusation; only later is it clear she was calling out to her husband for help.

The Fugitive was the first Hollywood film released in which country on a revenue-sharing basis?

China admitted The Fugitive in November 1994 as its first revenue-sharing Hollywood import, the start of an annual quota of foreign 'big films'; it was released there as Wangming Tianya.

Which film beat The Fugitive to the Best Picture Oscar for 1993?

Schindler's List won Best Picture at the March 1994 ceremony, where the other nominees were The Fugitive, In the Name of the Father, The Piano and The Remains of the Day.

The Fugitive placed at what position on AFI's list of 100 Years...100 Thrills?

The Fugitive was placed at number 33 on AFI's 2001 list of 100 Years...100 Thrills, which was topped by Psycho, Jaws and The Exorcist.

Who starred as Richard Kimble in the original 1963-67 TV series?

David Janssen played Kimble for all 120 episodes; he won a Golden Globe for the role in 1965 and was nominated three times for the Emmy.

The TV series was created by which writer-producer, also behind Maverick and The Rockford Files?

Roy Huggins created the series and served as executive producer on the 1993 film as well; Quinn Martin's company produced the original show.

In the TV series, what was Richard Kimble's medical specialty and home town?

The TV Kimble was a paediatrician in Stafford, Indiana, a fictional town that was also home to Lt. Philip Gerard, the policeman from whose custody he escaped after a train derailment.

What audience share did the series' two-part finale 'The Judgment' draw in August 1967?

The finale drew a 72 percent share of sets in use, more than 78 million viewers; the record stood until Dallas revealed who shot J.R. in 1980.

The one-armed man in the TV series went by which name?

On television the one-armed man was Fred Johnson, played by Bill Raisch, a real-life amputee; the 1993 film renamed the character Fredrick Sykes.

Which uncredited actor narrated the opening and closing of every episode of the TV series?

William Conrad, later TV's Cannon and Jake of Jake and the Fatman, was the uncredited narrator; he delivered the finale's last line, 'Tuesday, August 29th: the day the running stopped.'

The TV series won the Emmy for Outstanding Dramatic Series in which year?

The Fugitive won Outstanding Dramatic Series at the 1966 Emmys for its third season; the first three seasons were shot in black and white and only the fourth in colour.

What does Gerard reply when Kimble, cornered in the storm drain, denies killing his wife?

Gerard's reply is "I don't care." The line pays off at the end when Kimble says he thought Gerard did not care and Gerard answers that he does not, then asks him to keep that quiet.

What was the production budget of The Fugitive?

Made for $44 million, it returned more than eight times its budget worldwide, the strongest result of any Warner Bros. release that year.

Which producer, an Oscar winner for Platoon, produced The Fugitive?

Arnold Kopelson produced The Fugitive, having won the Best Picture Oscar for 1986's Platoon; he went on to produce Seven and the 1998 sequel U.S. Marshals.

Which actor played Lieutenant Philip Gerard in the 1960s TV series?

Barry Morse, a London-born actor long based in Canada, played the relentless Lt. Gerard for all four seasons; Morse later starred as Professor Victor Bergman in Space: 1999.

Which co-writer's early story draft formed the basis of the screenplay Jeb Stuart shared credit on?

David Twohy wrote the original screenplay drafts and holds the film's story credit; Jeb Stuart, who had written Die Hard, reworked it and shares the screenplay credit.