Alan arkin bio biography

American actor and filmmaker (1934–2023)

Alan Wolf Arkin (March 26, 1934 – June 29, 2023) was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. In a career spanning seven decades, he received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for six Emmy Awards.

Arkin performed in the sketch comedy group The Second City before acting on the Broadway stage, starring as David Kolowitz in the Joseph Stein play Enter Laughing in 1963, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He returned to Broadway acting in the comedic play Luv (1964), and directed Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys (1971), for which he received a Tony Award nomination.

Arkin won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a foul-mouthed grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). He was Oscar-nominated for his roles in Russians Are Coming (1966), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968), and Argo (2012). He also acted in Wait Until Dark (1967), Inspector Clouseau (1968), Popi (1969), Catch-22 (1970), The In-Laws (1979), Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Rocketeer (1991), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001), Get Smart (2008), Going in Style (2017), Dumbo

Veteran stage and screen star Alan Arkin was ultimately best known for his supporting roles in comedies, including Edward Scissorhands (1990) and his Oscar-winning turn in  Little Miss Sunshine (2006).

Alan Arkin began his career as a folk singer, of all things, then worked with the Second City improvisational troupe in Chicago and, later, on Broadway. He won a Tony for his first big stage role — the lead in the Broadway version of Carl Reiner‘s Enter Laughing (1963) — and he received an Oscar nomination for his first big movie role — as a Soviet sailor in the film farce The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966).

He then turned in memorable dramatic performances on screen, terrorizing Audrey Hepburn in the 1967 thriller Wait Until Dark and earning another Oscar nomination as the lead in the 1968 film version of the Carson McCullers novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. He led the all-star cast of the Hollywood failure Catch-22 (1970, based on the bestseller by Joseph Heller), but during the 1970s he was a popular leading and supporting player in comedies, including Freebie and the Bean (1974, with James Caan), Hearts of the West (1975, with Jeff Bridges) and The In-Laws (1979).

After several mediocre movies during the 1980s, Arkin started off the ’90s with a memorable performance as the unruffled dad who helps Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands (directed by Tim Burton). Frequently cast in broad comedic roles, Arkin also appeared in the dramatic ensemble piece Glengarry Glen Ross (1992, with Alec Baldwin) and the film version of Kurt Vonnegut‘s Mother Night (1996, starring Nick Nolte).

Over the years, Arkin directed several plays on Broadway and a handful of feature films, and he has published several children’s books, including The Lemming Condition, Some Fine Grampa! and Tony’s Hard Work Day. His later films included Grosse Pointe Blank (1997,

Alan Wolf Arkin (March 26, 1934 – June 29, 2023) was an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for his Academy Award winning role as Edwin Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and for his award-nominated role as Lester Siegel in Argo (2012). He appeared in small roles or cameo appearances including The Muppets (2011). He won a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Genie Award, a Drama Desk Award, and a Tony Award. In 2019, he appeared in the Disney movie Dumbo as J. Griffin Remington.

Life

Arkin was born in Brooklyn, New York on March 26, 1934. He was educated at Bennington College. He was a member of The Second City.

Arkin was married to Jeremy Yaffe from 1955 until they divorced in 1961. He married Barbara Dana in 1964. They divorced during the 1990s. He married Suzanne Newlander in 1996. He has two sons with Yaffe, including actor Adam Arkin, and another with Dana. He lived in Carlsbad, California from 2007.

Death

Arkin died on June 29, 2023 at his home in San Marcos, California from cardiac arrest caused by congestive heart failure at the age of 89. He had a history of heart problems.

References

Other websites

Alan Arkin, an acclaimed actor who excelled at both comedy and drama over the course of his more than 70-year-career, died Thursday at age 89.

From his Tony Award–winning career breakthrough in the early 1960s to his first Academy Award win in the 2000s, Arkin’s career was defined as much by its longevity as it was the actor’s casual wit and exceptional talent. Below are 10 of the greatest performances from the late actor’s long and diverse career.

Enter Laughing (1963)

After starting his career in the early 1960s with the Second City improv comedy troupe and some television appearances, Arkin had his breakout performance in the Broadway play Enter Laughing in 1963. A farcical comedy based on actor Carl Reiner’s autobiography, Arkin earned a Tony Award for his performance as David Kolowitz, an aspiring young actor in the Bronx. “The show ran for a year and made him a star,” according to The New York Times.

The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966)

Arkin earned his first Oscar nomination for playing a Soviet Union Navy lieutenant in a submarine that becomes grounded in a New England town in this Cold War satire. Arkin, who grew up in a Russian Jewish household, spoke English and Russian fluently in the role, according to the Encyclopedia of Jewish American Popular Culture. Variety called Arkin “absolutely outstanding as the courtly Russian who kisses a lady’s hand even as he draws a gun.”

Watch The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)

Arkin received a second Academy Award nomination for his performance as John Singer, a deaf-mute in a small southern town during the Depression, in this adaptation of the classic 1940 novel by Carson M