Warden, who appeared in dozens of films and won an Emmy award as football coach George Halas in the 1971 TV movie Brian's Song, died on Wednesday in New York, business manager Sidney Pazoff said.

His characters were often tough and gruff but also had a soft heart.

He won Oscar nominations for best supporting actor in the Beatty vehicles Shampoo in 1975, playing the businessman Lester, and Heaven Can Wait in 1978, as Beatty's trainer. Warden appeared again with Beatty in Bulworth in 1998.

Among his other roles were in Being There, Mighty Aphrodite and Bullets Over Broadway.