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Eli Wallach
Age: 94
Height: 5' 7"
Birth Place: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Born: Dec. 7th, 1915
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Eli Wallach's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: One of Hollywood's finest character / "Method" actors, Eli Wallach has been in demand for over 50 years on stage and screen and has worked alongside the biggest stars, including Clark Gable, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen (I), Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner, Peter O'Toole (I) and Al Pacino, to name but a few.
Wallach was born on 7 December 1915 in Brooklyn, NY, to Jewish parents who emigrated from Poland, and was one of the few Jewish kids in his mostly 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 Neighborhood 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".
Wallach made a strong screen debut in 1956 in the film version of the Tennessee Williams play Baby Doll (1956), shined as "Dancer", the nattily dressed hitman, in director Don Siegel's film-noir classic The Lineup (1958), and co-starred in the heist film Seven Thieves (1960). Director John Sturges then cast Wallach as vicious Mexican bandit Calvera in The Magnificent Seven (1960), the western adaptation of the Akira Kurosawa epic Shichinin no samurai (1954). By all reports, Wallach could not ride a horse prior to making "TMS", but expert tutelage from the film's Mexican stunt riders 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 underrated 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 (I) cast the versatile Wallach as the lying, two-faced, money-hungry (but somehow lovable) bandit "Tuco" in the spectacular Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966) (aka "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"), arguably his most memorable performance. Wallach 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 (I)'s bail buddy in The Hunter (1980).
The 1980s was an interesting period for Wallach, as he was regularly cast as an aging doctor, a Mafia figure or an over-the-hill hitman, such as in The Executioner's Song (1982) (TV), "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.
TRIVIA:
- Appeared with 'Steve McQueen (I)' (qv) in both his first major successful film (_The Magnificent Seven (1960)_ (qv)) in (_The Hunter (1980)_ (qv)).
- One of his best known roles is the lead bandit Calvera in _The Magnificent Seven (1960)_ (qv). Although his character is eventually defeated in the film, he has outlived six of the seven stars, as 'Robert Vaughn (I)' (qv) is the only one who is still alive as of 2009, despite the fact that he is older than all of them.
- One of his fellow students at Parsons New School for Social Research in New York was 'Marlon Brando' (qv).
- His performance as Alvaro Mangiacavallo in "The Rose Tattoo" opposite 'Maureen Stapleton' (qv) as Serafina won him a Theare World Award and the 1951 Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Play.
- He has had two hip replacements and has arthritis in his back.
- Graduated from The University of Texas at Austin - BA 1936.
- Was credited with his first Broadway appearance in 'Harry Kleiner' (qv)'s "Skydrift" in 1945, the play in which 'Rita Moreno (I)' (qv) made her Broadway debut. The play closed after seven performances. Also appeared as a soothsayer in 'Katharine Cornell' (qv)'s 1947 production of 'William Shakespeare (I)' (qv)'s "Antony and Cleopatra." Other cast members in minor roles included 'Charlton Heston' (qv), 'Maureen Stapleton' (qv) and 'Joseph Wiseman' (qv). Among the other Broadway plays he has appeared in are "Mr. Roberts," "The Rose Tattoo," "Camino Real," "The Teahouse of the August Moon," "Rhinoceros" and "Luv.".
- One of three actors to play the character of Mr. Freeze on _"Batman" (1966)_ (qv). (The other two were 'George Sanders (I)' (qv) and 'Otto Preminger' (qv)). He once said that he has received more fan mail for that role than for any other role he has ever done.
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