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IMDbPro

Eli Wallach(1915-2014)

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Additional Crew
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,000814
Eli Wallach
Trailer for Ahead Of Time
Play trailer2:21
Ahead of Time: The Extraordinary Journey of Ruth Gruber (2009)
27 Videos
99+ Photos
One of Hollywood's finest character / "Method" actors, Eli Wallach was in demand for over 60 years (first film/TV role was 1949) on stage and screen, and has worked alongside the world's 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, NY, to Jewish parents who emigrated from Poland, and was one of the few Jewish kids in his mostly Italian neighborhood. His parents, Bertha (Schorr) and Abraham Wallach, owned a candy store, Bertha's Candy Store. 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 Mangiacavallo 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 Seven Samurai (1954). 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 cast the versatile Wallach as the lying, two-faced, money-hungry (but somehow lovable) bandit "Tuco" in the spectacular The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (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'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), 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 (1990), Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (1992), Naked City: Justice with a Bullet (1998) 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", an enjoyable reading from one of the screen's most inventive and enduring actors.

Eli Wallach was very much a family man who remained married to his wife Anne Jackson for 66 years. When Wallach died at 98, in 2014, in Manhattan, NY, he was survived by his wife, three children, five grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
BornDecember 7, 1915
DiedJune 24, 2014(98)
BornDecember 7, 1915
DiedJune 24, 2014(98)
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,000814
  • Won 1 Primetime Emmy

The Greatest Character Actors of All Time

The Greatest Character Actors of All Time

Jennifer Coolidge, Danny Trejo, Uzo Aduba, and more familar faces you've seen in everything.
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Photos

Photos269

Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Eli Wallach
Horst Buchholz and Eli Wallach in The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Eli Wallach
Eli Wallach
Gregory Peck, Edward G. Robinson, Omar Sharif, Lee J. Cobb, David Garfield, Raymond Massey, Burgess Meredith, Shelley Morrison, Dick Peabody, Robert Phillips, Robert Porter, Anthony Quayle, Eli Wallach, and Keenan Wynn in Mackenna's Gold (1969)
Eli Wallach and Keenan Wynn in Mackenna's Gold (1969)

Known for

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
8.8
  • Tuco
  • 1966
Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, and Eli Wallach in The Magnificent Seven (1960)
The Magnificent Seven
7.7
  • Calvera
  • 1960
Carroll Baker in Baby Doll (1956)
Baby Doll
7.3
  • Silva Vacarro
  • 1956
Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Jack Black in The Holiday (2006)
The Holiday
6.9
  • Arthur
  • 2006

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • The Train (2015)
    The Train
  • Michael Douglas and Shia LaBeouf in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
    Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
  • Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor in The Ghost Writer (2010)
    The Ghost Writer
  • Tickling Leo (2009)
    Tickling Leo
  • Edie Falco in Nurse Jackie (2009)
    Nurse Jackie
  • Ethan Hawke, Natalie Portman, Christina Ricci, Andy Garcia, John Hurt, Robin Wright, James Caan, Julie Christie, Drea de Matteo, Carlos Acosta, Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen, Bradley Cooper, Chris Cooper, Irrfan Khan, Shia LaBeouf, Maggie Q, Shu Qi, Anton Yelchin, Rachel Bilson, and Olivia Thirlby in New York, I Love You (2008)
    New York, I Love You
  • Stephen C. Bradbury in Vote and Die: Liszt for President (2008)
    Vote and Die: Liszt for President
  • Lily Rabe in The Toe Tactic (2008)
    The Toe Tactic
  • Anna Faris and Jon Heder in Mama's Boy (2007)
    Mama's Boy
  • Constantine's Sword (2007)
    Constantine's Sword
    • (voice)
  • Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Jack Black in The Holiday (2006)
    The Holiday
  • Amanda Peet, Matthew Perry, Steven Weber, Sarah Paulson, Timothy Busfield, D.L. Hughley, Bradley Whitford, and Nate Corddry in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006)
    Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
  • Richard Gere in The Hoax (2006)
    The Hoax
  • Stroker and Hoop (2004)
    Stroker and Hoop
    • (voice)
  • A Taste of Jupiter (2005)
    A Taste of Jupiter

Producer

  • Frog (2015)
    Frog
  • The Tiger Makes Out (1967)
    The Tiger Makes Out
    • (uncredited)

Additional Crew

  • Rita Hayworth in Rita (2003)
    Rita

Videos27

2010 Governors Awards: Honorary Award recipient Eli Wallach
Clip 3:36
2010 Governors Awards: Honorary Award recipient Eli Wallach
"Jumping Ship" from The Ghost Writer
Clip 1:07
"Jumping Ship" from The Ghost Writer
"Confrontation" from The Ghost Writer
Clip 1:24
"Confrontation" from The Ghost Writer
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Clip 0:47
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Clip 1:09
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
The Executioner's Song
Clip 0:40
The Executioner's Song
Constantine's Sword
Clip 2:20
Constantine's Sword
Trailer
Trailer 2:13
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:53
Trailer
Bande-annonce [OV]
Trailer 3:25
Bande-annonce [OV]
The Hunter
Trailer 3:14
The Hunter
The Lineup
Trailer 2:10
The Lineup

Personal details

Edit
    • December 7, 1915
    • Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
    • June 24, 2014
    • Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA(natural causes)
    • Anne JacksonMarch 5, 1948 - June 24, 2014 (his death, 3 children)
    • Peter Wallach
    • Tyler Wallach(Grandchild)
  • Other works
    Stage: Appeared in "Skydrift" on Briadway.. Written by Harry Kleiner. Scenic / Costume Design by Motley. Directed by Roy Hargrave. Belasco Theatre: 13 Nov 1945-17 Nov 1945 (7 performances). Cast: Wolfe Barzell (as "Mr. Bucelli"), William Chambers (as "Pvt. Edward Freling"), Zachary A. Charles (as "Pvt. Mario Bucelli"), Rosita Cosio (as "Angelina"), Paul Crabtree (as "Pvt. Paul Rennard"), Olive Deering (as "Francey"), Elsbeth Hofmann (as "Audra"), Arthur P. Keegan (as "Pvt. Fitzroy Donovan"), Sid Martoff (as "Co-Pilot"), Marty Miller (as "Danny"), Rita Moreno] (Broadway debut), Roger Quinlan (as "Donovan, Sr."), Alfred Ryder (I) (as "Sgt. Robert A. Kane"), Carl Specht (as "Pvt. Nickie Bucelli"), David Stewart (as "Waiter"), Elliott Sullivan (as "Cpl. Kenneth Brody"), Lili Valenty (as "Mrs. Bucelli"), Eli Wallach (as "Crew Chief"; [Broadway debut). Produced by Rita Hassan.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Print Biography
    • 2 Interviews
    • 3 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Was almost killed during the train scene in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). He was asked by Sergio Leone to do the scene again, and he then replied: "I'll never do that again!".
  • Quotes
    The subtitle [of his memoir "The Good, the Bad and Me"] is "In My Anecdotage". Bill Clinton asked me if he could use it, and I said, "You sold two million copies of your book. How dare you try to steal my subtitle!".
    • Raspy gravelly voice
    • Genghis Khan
      (1965)
      $25,000

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