Boxed as a welterweight under the name "Johnny Costello" in his youth.
Fought in The Battle of the Bulge during WWII.
Fought on the same card as Charles Durning in Madison Square Garden.
He and Gilbert Gottfried are the only two actors to appear in all three "Problem Child" films. Unlike Gottfried, Warden did not participate in the animated series.
He 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 3 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 jump master 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 become an actor.
Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Actors Branch)
Moved to Louisville, Kentucky, as a youth to live with his grandparents. He graduated from DuPont Manual High School in Louisville.
Separated from wife Vanda Dupre some time in the mid 1970s. However, they never got divorced and were still legally married at the time of his death.