Eli Wallach Born: 7-Dec-1915 Birthplace: Brooklyn, NY Died: 24-Jun-2014 Location of death: Manhattan, NY Cause of death: unspecified
Gender: Male Religion: Jewish Race or Ethnicity: White Sexual orientation: Straight Occupation: Actor Nationality: United States Executive summary: The Magnificent Seven Military service: US Army (1940-45, Captain) At his death in 2014, Eli Wallach was among the oldest old-time Hollywood actors who were still working. He played Tuco ("the ugly") in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with Clint Eastwood, the train robber in the all-star How the West was Won, the leader of the bandits in The Magnificent Seven with Yul Brynner and (ambiguous link, Steve McQueen), and a heartbroken mechanic in The Misfits with Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. He played Don Altobello, the cunning competitor to the Corleone family in The Godfather: Part III, and he was the blind hitman in Tough Guys with Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster. His first film, which Wallach considered his best, was Elia Kazan's Baby Doll with Karl Malden and Carroll Baker.
Wallach grew up poor and Jewish in an Italian neighborhood of Brooklyn. Appearing in a school play at 15, he knew he would be an actor. After college and Army duty, he was one of the early practitioners of method acting, studying at the Actors Studio with Marlon Brando, Patricia Neal, Montgomery Clift, and Kevin McCarthy. As a young, struggling actor, when he got a role in a road show, he sublet his apartment to Brando, who, Wallach complained years later, was often late with the rent.
He made his Broadway debut in Skydrift in 1945, opposite Rita Moreno, also making her first New York appearance. The play bombed and closed within a week. Wallach won a Tony for The Rose Tattoo in 1951 with Maureen Stapleton, and an Obie Award in 1963 for The Typists and the The Tiger, costarring his wife. He won an Emmy for the UN-funded anti-drug film The Poppy Is Also a Flower in 1967.
Wallach was known as a Hollywood actor, but he always lived in New York. He married Anne Jackson, an actress he met in those drama workshops, and they worked together in numerous plays and films. Wallach said that he and his wife were lucky to find scripts where their characters argued, as it kept their marriage healthy. They remained married for life, and Wallach was never arrested, never scandalized.
He was paid $350 to play Mr Freeze on TV's Batman, and was astounded when he read that Arnold Schwarzenegger was paid $20 million to play the same character in the disastrous Batman & Robin. After Wallach grumbled about the injustice of it all, his wife offered sound advice: "Lift weights". After Wallach told that story on a few talk shows in 2005, promoting his autobiography, The Good, the Bad, and Me, he received an unexpected package from Gov. Schwarzenegger -- a small set of ten-pound barbells.
Father: Abraham Wallach Mother: Bertha Schorr Wife: Anne Jackson (actress, m. 5-Mar-1948, one son, two daughters) Son: Peter D. Wallach (movie industry, b. 20-Feb-1951) Daughter: Roberta L. Wallach (actress, b. 2-Aug-1955) Daughter: Katherine B. Wallach (actress, b. 13-Jul-1958)
High School: Erasmus Hall High School, Brooklyn, NY (1932) University: BA, University of Texas at Austin (1936) University: MS Education, City College of New York (1938)
Tony 1951 Emmy 1966 Oscar (honorary) 2010, for lifetime achievement Al Franken for Senate Polish Ancestry
Jewish Ancestry
Risk Factors: Marijuana
TELEVISION The Education of Max Bickford Jay Bickford (2002) Our Family Honor Vincent Danzig (1985-86)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (14-May-2010) · Julie Steinhardt The Ghost Writer (12-Feb-2010) · Old Man Tickling Leo (25-Jul-2009) New York, I Love You (5-Feb-2009) · Abe Mama's Boy (30-Nov-2007) Constantine's Sword (24-Jun-2007) [VOICE] The Holiday (5-Dec-2006) The Hoax (15-Oct-2006) Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (4-Sep-2004) [VOICE] King of the Corner (2004) · Sol Spivak Broadway: The Golden Age (Apr-2003) · Himself Monday Night Mayhem (14-Jan-2002) The Bookfair Murders (9-Apr-2000) Keeping the Faith (5-Apr-2000) Uninvited (26-Nov-1999) The Associate (25-Oct-1996) · Fallon Two Much (15-Mar-1996) Baseball (18-Sep-1994) · Himself Night and the City (16-Oct-1992) Mistress (29-Apr-1992) · George Lieberhoff Article 99 (13-Mar-1992) · Sam Abrams The Godfather: Part III (25-Dec-1990) The Two Jakes (10-Aug-1990) · Cotton Weinberger Nuts (20-Nov-1987) · Dr. Herbert A. Morrison Tough Guys (3-Oct-1986) Christopher Columbus (7-Mar-1985) Sam's Son (17-Aug-1984) The Executioner's Song (10-Sep-1982) Skokie (17-Nov-1981) The Pride of Jesse Hallam (3-Mar-1981) The Salamander (1981) The Hunter (1-Aug-1980) Winter Kills (11-May-1979) Firepower (27-Apr-1979) Circle of Iron (14-Dec-1978) Movie Movie (Nov-1978) Girlfriends (Aug-1978) Nasty Habits (10-Oct-1977) The Domino Principle (25-Jul-1977) The Deep (17-Jun-1977) · Adam Coffin The Sentinel (7-Jan-1977) · Det. Gatz Cinderella Liberty (7-Apr-1974) Crazy Joe (15-Feb-1974) Don't Turn the Other Cheek (22-Dec-1971) Romance of a Horsethief (1971) The People Next Door (26-Aug-1970) The Angel Levine (28-Jul-1970) · Delicatessen Clerk The Adventures of Gerard (Jan-1970) · Napoleon Zigzag (1970) · Mario Gambretti Mackenna's Gold (18-Mar-1969) · Ben Baker The Brain (7-Mar-1969) Ace High (31-Oct-1968) A Lovely Way to Die (6-May-1968) How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life (17-Jan-1968) The Tiger Makes Out (18-Aug-1967) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (23-Dec-1966) · Tuco -- The Ugly How to Steal a Million (13-Jul-1966) · Davis Leland The Poppy Is Also a Flower (22-Apr-1966) Genghis Khan (15-Apr-1965) Lord Jim (25-Feb-1965) · The General Kisses for My President (21-Aug-1964) · Valdez The Moon-Spinners (2-Jul-1964) Act One (26-Dec-1963) · Warren Stone The Victors (22-Nov-1963) How the West Was Won (1-Nov-1962) · Charlie Gant Adventures of a Young Man (18-Jul-1962) The Misfits (1-Feb-1961) · Guido The Magnificent Seven (23-Oct-1960) · Calvera Seven Thieves (11-Mar-1960) · Poncho The Lineup (11-Jun-1958) Baby Doll (18-Dec-1956) · Silva Vacarro
Author of books:
The Good, The Bad, And Me: In My Anecdotage (2005, memoir)
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