Eli Wallach
Eli Herschel Wallach (/wɔːlək/; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. Known for his character actor roles, his entertainment career spanned over six decades. He received a BAFTA Award, a Tony Award, and an Emmy Award. He also was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1988 and received the Academy Honorary Award in 2010.[1][2]
Eli Wallach
December 7, 1915
June 24, 2014 (aged 98)
Actor
1945–2010
3
- Joan Wallach Scott (niece)
- A. O. Scott (grandnephew)
Originally trained in stage acting, he garnered over 90 film credits. He and his wife Anne Jackson often appeared together on stage, eventually becoming a notable acting couple in American theater. Wallach initially studied method acting under Sanford Meisner and later became a founding member of the Actors Studio, where he studied under Lee Strasberg. He played a wide variety of roles throughout his career, primarily as a supporting actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for The Rose Tattoo (1951).
For his debut screen performance in Baby Doll (1956), he won a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and a Golden Globe Award nomination. Among his other most famous roles are Calvera in The Magnificent Seven (1960), Guido in The Misfits (1961), and Tuco ("The Ugly") in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) and Don Altobello in The Godfather Part III (1990). Other notable films include How the West Was Won (1962), Tough Guys (1986), The Two Jakes (1990), The Associate (1996), The Holiday (2006), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, and The Ghost Writer (both 2010). He received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2007) and Nurse Jackie (2011).
Early life and education[edit]
Eli Herschel Wallach was born on December 7, 1915, at 156 Union Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn, a son of Polish Jewish immigrants Abraham and Bertha (Schorr) Wallach from Przemyśl. He had a brother and two sisters.[3] He and his family were one of a few Jews in an otherwise Italian American neighborhood.[4][5] His parents owned Bertha's Candy Store.[3] Wallach graduated in 1936 from the University of Texas with a degree in history.[6] In a later interview, Wallach said that he learned to ride horses while in Texas, explaining that he liked Texas because "It opened my eyes to the word friendship... You could rely on people. If they gave you their word, that was it ... It was an education."[7]
Two years later he earned a master of arts degree in education from the City College of New York.[8][9] He gained his first method acting experience at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City, where he studied under Sanford Meisner.[10] There, according to Wallach, actors were forced to "unlearn" all their physical and vocal mannerisms, while traditional stage etiquette and "singsong" deliveries were "utterly excised" from his classroom.[11]
Military service[edit]
Wallach's education was cut short when he was drafted[3][12] into the United States Army in 1940.[13][14] He served as a staff sergeant and medic[15] in a military hospital in Hawaii and later was sent to Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Abilene, Texas, to train as a medical administrative officer.[13][15][16][17] Commissioned as a second lieutenant, he was ordered to Casablanca. Later, when he was serving in France, a senior officer noticed his acting career and asked him to create a show for the patients. He and his unit wrote a play called Is This the Army?, which was inspired by Irving Berlin's This Is the Army. In the comedy, Wallach and the other actors mocked Axis dictators, with Wallach portraying Adolf Hitler.[18] Wallach was discharged as a captain following the war's end in 1945.[3][13][17] He was awarded the Army Good Conduct Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal, the European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.[13]
Personal life[edit]
Wallach was married to actress Anne Jackson, with whom he frequently shared the screen, from March 5, 1948, until his death on June 24, 2014. They had three children: Peter, Katherine, and Roberta.[47]
A few years before 2005, Wallach lost sight in his left eye as the result of a stroke.[33]
His niece is historian Joan Wallach Scott (daughter of his brother Sam). A. O. Scott, a film critic for The New York Times, is his great-nephew.[27]
Wallach's grandson is Tracy Wallach, bass player for Arizona metal band Icon.[48]
Death[edit]
Wallach died on June 24, 2014, of natural causes at the age of 98. His body was cremated.[26][44]
Katherine Wallach told The New York Times that Anne Jackson died on April 12, 2016, aged 90, at her home in Manhattan.[49][50][51]