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Eli Wallach
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Biography
One of Hollywood's finest character / method actors, Eli Wallach has been in demand for over fifty years on stage and screen and has worked alongside the biggest stars including Clark Gable, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner, Peter O'Toole, and Al Pacino, to name but a few.
Wallach was born on 7 December 1915 in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish parents, and subsequently became one of the few Jewish kids growing up in an Italian neighborhood. He went on to graduate with a B.A. from the University of Texas in Austin, but gained his dramatic training with the Actors Studio and the Neighbourhood Playhouse. He made his debut on Broadway in 1945, and won a Tony Award in 1951 for portraying "Alvaro Mangiaco" in the Tennessee Williams play "The Rose Tattoo".
Eli made a strong screen debut in 1956 in the film production of the Tennessee William's play Baby Doll (1956), then shone in the film noir The Lineup (1958), and co-starred in the heist film Seven Thieves (1960). Director John Sturges then cast Wallach as the vicious Mexican bandit "Calvera" in The Magnificent Seven (1960), the western adaptation of the Akira Kurosawa epic _Schichinin no Samurai (1954)_ . By all reports, Wallach could not ride a horse prior to making "TMS", however with expert tutelage from the Mexican stunt riders, he made it look easy! He next appeared in the superb The Misfits (1961), in the star spangled western opus How the West Was Won (1962), the under rated WW2 film The Victors (1963), as a kidnapper in The Moon-Spinners (1964), in the sea epic Lord Jim (1965), and in the romantic comedy How to Steal a Million (1966).
Looking for a third lead actor in the final episode of the "Dollars Trilogy", Italian director Sergio Leone then cast the versatile Wallach as the lying, two-faced, money hungry (but somehow lovable) bandit "Tuco" in the spectacular Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966) (aka "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"), arguably his most memorable performance.
He kept busy throughout the remainder of the 60s and into the 70s with good roles in Mackenna's Gold (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), Crazy Joe (1974), The Deep (1977) and as Steve McQueen bail buddy in The Hunter (1980).
The 1980s was an interesting period for Wallach as he then became regularly cast as an aging doctor, a mafia figure or an over-the-hill hit man, such as in _Executioner's Song, The (1982)_ , "Our Family Honor" (1985), Tough Guys (1986), Nuts (1987), The Two Jakes (1990) and as the candy addicted "Don Altabello" in The Godfather: Part III (1990). At 75+ years of age, Wallach's quality of work was still first class and into the 1990s and beyond, he has remained in demand. He lent fine support to Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride (1991) (TV), Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992) (TV), Naked City: Justice with a Bullet (1998) (TV) and Keeping the Faith (2000). Most recently Wallach showed up as a fast talking liquor store owner in Mystic River (2003) and in the comedic drama King of the Corner (2004).
In early 2005, Eli Wallach released his much anticipated autobiography, "The Good, The Bad And Me: In My Anecdotage", a wonderfully enjoyable read from one of the screen's most inventive and enduring actors. |  |
