Eli Wallach

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Eli Wallach
Born December 7 1915 (1915-12-07) (age 93)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Years active 1951 – present
Spouse(s) Anne Jackson (1948-)

Eli Herschel Wallach (born December 7, 1915) is an American film, TV and stage actor.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Wallach was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Bertha (née Schorr) and Abraham Wallach, the only Jewish family in a mostly Italian American neighborhood.[1][2] He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin and received a Masters of Arts from The City College of New York. He however, gained his first method experience at the Neighborhood Playhouse.

Wallach served as a staff sergeant in Hawaii in a military hospital in the United States Army in World War II. However, he was soon sent to Officer Candidate School in Abilene, Texas to undergo training to become a medical administrative officer. He graduated as a Second Lieutenant and was sent to Madison Barracks in New York, where he was promptly shipped to Casablanca and, later in the war, to France. It was there that a superior discovered his acting history and asked him to form a show for the patients. He and other members from his unit wrote a play called Is This the Army?, which was inspired by Irving Berlin's This is the Army. In the comedic play Wallach and the other men clowned around as various dictators, Wallach himself portraying Hitler.

[edit] Career

Wallach made his Broadway debut in 1945 and won a Tony Award in 1951 for his performance in the Tennessee Williams play The Rose Tattoo. Additional theater credits include Mister Roberts, The Teahouse of the August Moon, Camino Real, Major Barbara, Luv, and Staircase, co-starring Milo O'Shea, which depicted an aging homosexual couple in a serious way.

Wallach's film debut was in Elia Kazan's controversial Baby Doll and he went on to have a prolific career in films, although rarely in a starring role. Other early films include The Misfits, The Magnificent Seven and as Tuco (the 'Ugly') in Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. In 2006, Wallach made a guest appearance on the NBC show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, playing a former writer who was blacklisted in the 1950s. His character was a writer on "The Philco Comedy Hour", a comedy show that aired on the fictional NBS network. This is a reference to The Philco Television Playhouse, several episodes of which Wallach actually appeared on in 1955. Wallach earned a 2007 Emmy nomination for his work on the show.

Before accepting a role as a villain in Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, Henry Fonda called Wallach and asked "What the hell does he [Leone] know about the West?" Wallach assured Fonda he would be pleasantly surprised if he accepted the role. After the film's success Fonda called Wallach back to thank him.

Wallach and Leone, though having built a good relationship during shooting The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, had a falling-out later on. Leone had asked Wallach to play a role in his upcoming film, Duck, You Sucker, but the actor explained he had a scheduling conflict. After much pleading Wallach finally relented and turned down the other offer and waited for Leone to raise enough Hollywood money for the picture. However, the studio Leone went to had an actor, Rod Steiger, with one more picture in his studio contract and the studio announced that Leone would have to use him if they were to put up any financing. Leone then called to apologize to Wallach, who remained dumbstruck on the other end of the line. After even refusing to give Wallach a token payment for losing out on two jobs the actor said "I'll sue you" to which Leone replied, "Get in line," and slammed down the phone. In his autobiography, Wallach relates that being the final time that the two spoke to one another.

[edit] Personal life

Wallach has been married to acclaimed stage actress Anne Jackson (born 1926) since March 5, 1948, and they have three children: Peter, Katherine and Roberta. Eli Wallach emphatically states that he did not convert to Roman Catholicism and remains Jewish.

Although his Magnificent Seven character (Calvera) and the rest of his bandits are eventually defeated in that film, he has outlived all of the seven stars except for Robert Vaughn, who is still alive as of 2007. In 2005, Wallach released his autobiography The Good, the Bad and Me: In My Anecdotage. In this tome, Wallach talked about his most famous role as Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He mentioned that he didn't realize he was going to be "blessed" with that title until he saw the film. He mentioned it was an honor to work with Clint Eastwood, whom he praised for his professionalism. Wallach mentioned, however, that director Sergio Leone was notoriously careless in ensuring the safety of his actors during dangerous scenes. It was during filming that Wallach accidentally drank from a bottle of acid that a film technician had carelessly placed next to his soda bottle. He spat it out immediately, but was furious that his vocal cords could have been damaged if he'd swallowed any of it. Leone gave him some milk to wash his mouth out with and apologized for the incident, but also commented that accidents do happen.[3]

Wallach lost sight in his right eye due to a hemorrhage in that eye. According to his autobiography the incident occurred "some years ago".

[edit] Filmography


[edit] Television work

  • The Philco Television Playhouse - The Beautiful Bequest (1949)
  • Lights Out - Rappaccini's Daughter (1951)
  • Studio One - Stan The Killer (1952)
  • Armstrong Circle Theater - The Portrait (1952)
  • The Web - Deadlock (1952)
  • The Philco Television Playhouse - The Baby (1953)
  • Goodyear Television Playhouse - The Brownstone (1953)
  • Kraft Television Theater - Delicate Story (1954)
  • The Philco Television Playhouse - Shadow of the Champ (1955)
  • The Philco Television Playhouse - The Outsiders (1955)
  • The Kaiser Aluminum Hour - A Fragile Affair (1956)
  • Studio One - The Man Who Wasn't Himself (1957)
  • Hallmark Hall of Fame - The Lark (1957)
  • The Seven Lively Arts - The World of Nick Adams (1957)
  • Climax - Albert Anastasia , His Life & Death (1958)
  • Suspicion - The Death of Paul Dane ((1958)
  • Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse - My Father The Fool (1958)
  • Shirley Temple's Storybook Theater - The Emperor's New Clothes (1958)
  • Hallmark Hall of Fame - The Gift of the Magi (1958)
  • Where Is Thy Brother (1958)
  • Playhouse 90 - The Plot To Kill Stalin (1958)
  • The Dupont Show of the Month - I Don Quixote (1959)
  • Playhouse 90 - The Blue Men (1959)
  • Playhouse 90 - For Whom The Bell Tolls (Parts 1 & 2) (1959)
  • Play of the Week - Lullaby (1960)
  • Naked City - A Death of Princes (1960)
  • Naked City - A Run For The Money (1962)
  • The Dick Powell Show - Tomorrow , The Man (1962)
  • CBS Playhouse - Dear Friends (1967)
  • Batman - Ice-Spy (1967)
  • Batman - The Duo Defy (1967)
  • The Typists (1971)
  • The Young Lawyers - Legal Maneuvre (1971)
  • A Cold Nights Death (1972) (TVM)
  • Indict and Convict (1973) (TVM)
  • Paradise Lost (1974)
  • Great Mysteries - Compliments of the Season (1974)
  • Kojak - A Question of Answers (1975)
  • 20 Shades of Pink (1976)
  • Seventh Avenue (1977)
  • The Pirate (1978)
  • Fugitive Family (1980)
  • The Pride of Jesse Hallam (1980)
  • Skokie (1981)
  • Tales of the Unexpected - Shatterproof (1981)
  • The Wall (1982)
  • The Executioner's Song (1982)
  • Anatomy of an Illness (1983) (TVM)
  • Christopher Columbus (1985)
  • Our Family Honor (1985) (TVM)
  • Our Family Honor (1985-86) (Series)
  • Embassy (1985) (TVM)
  • Murder : By Reason of Insanity (1985) (TVM)
  • Rocket To The Moon (1986) (TVM)
  • Something In Common (1986) (TVM)
  • Highway To Heaven - To Bind The Wounds (1986)
  • The Impossible Spy (1987) (TVM)
  • Highway To Heaven - A Father's Faith (1987)
  • World's Beyond - The Black Tomb (1987)
  • Murder She Wrote - A Very Good Year For Murder (1988)
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Kandinsky's Vault (1988)
  • CBS Schoolbreak Special - A Matter of Conscience (1989)
  • Vendetta : Secrets of a Mafia Bride (1991) (TVM)
  • L.A Law - There Goes The Judge (1991)
  • Legacy of Lies (1992) (TVM)
  • Nonsense and Lullabyes : Nursery Rhymes (1992)
  • Nonsense and Lullabyes : Poems (1992)
  • Law & Order - The Working Stiff (1992)
  • Teamster Boss : The Jackie Presser Story (1992) (TVM)
  • Vendetta 2 - The New Mafia (1993) (TVM)
  • Tribeca - Stepping Back (1993)
  • Naked City - Justice With A Bullet (1998) (TVM)
  • The Bookfair Murders (2000)(TVM)
  • 100 Center Street - Kids : Part 1 (2001)
  • The Education of Max Bickford - I Never Schlunged My Father (2002)
  • The Education of Max Bickford - Genesis (2002)
  • The Education of Max Bickford - One More Time (2002)
  • Monday Night Mayhem (2002) (TVM)
  • Veritas :The Quest - The Name of God (2003)
  • Whoopi - American Woman (2003)
  • E.R - A Boy Falling Out of the Sky (2003)
  • Stroker and Hoop - I Saw Stroker Killing Santa (2005)
  • Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - The Wrap Party (2006)

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.forward.com/articles/eli-wallach-knows-his-lines/
  2. ^ http://www.filmreference.com/film/80/Eli-Wallach.html
  3. ^ Eli Wallach: The Good, the Bad and Me: In My Anecdotage (p. 255)

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Wallach, Eli
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH 1915-12-7
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
de:Eli Wallach

es:Eli Wallach fr:Eli Wallach id:Eli Wallach it:Eli Wallach he:אלי וולך sw:Eli Wallach nl:Eli Wallach ja:イーライ・ウォラック pl:Eli Wallach pt:Eli Wallach ro:Eli Wallach sr:Илај Волак sh:Eli Wallach fi:Eli Wallach sv:Eli Wallach

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