Eli Wallach

Eli Wallach

Eli Herschel Wallach was an American film, television and stage actor whose career spanned more than seven decades. 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 and his wife Anne Jackson often appeared together on stage, and were one of the best-known acting couples in American theater. His last two major Hollywood studio movies were Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and The Ghost Writer.

About Eli Wallach in brief

Summary Eli WallachEli Herschel Wallach was an American film, television and stage actor whose career spanned more than seven decades, beginning in the late 1940s. 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 and his wife Anne Jackson often appeared together on stage, and were one of the best-known acting couples in American theater. He received BAFTA Awards, Tony Awards and Emmy Awards, and an Academy Honorary Award at the second annual Governors Awards on November 13, 2010. In March 2017, the Harry Ransom Center announced the acquisition of Wallach’s papers, along with those of his wife, which will be made public when cataloging is complete. The Wallach family were Jewish immigrants from Przemysl, Poland, and lived in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York, where they owned Bertha’s Candy Store. They were the only Jews in an otherwise Italian American neighborhood. Eli Wallach became Marilyn Monroe’s first friend when she became a student at the Actor’s Studio, insisting on watching him perform in The Teahouse of August. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1988, and became a member of The Actors’ Studio’s Board of Trustees in 2000. He died on December 7, 2017, at the age of 98. He is survived by his wife and three children.

His last two major Hollywood studio movies were Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and The Ghost Writer. He also had roles in The Holiday and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He had a long and varied acting career, playing a wide variety of roles throughout his career, primarily as a supporting actor. Among his other most famous roles are Calvera in The Magnificent Seven, Guido in The Misfits, and Tuco in The Good,. the Bad, the U ugly. He played outlaw Charlie Gant in How the West Was Won, Hitman Leon B. Little in Tough Guys, Don Altobello in The Godfather Part III, Cotton Weinberger in The Two Jakes, Donald Fallon in The Associate, and Arthur Abbott in The holiday. He became a friend of Marilyn Monroe when he was in his early 60s and she became his first female friend. In a later interview, Wallach said 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.” He was married to Anne Jackson, who became his soon-to-be-wife, and they had three children together. In 1988, he was named one of America’s most prolific screen actors, and remained active well into his nineties, with roles as recently as 2010 in Wall Street. He won a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Baby Doll.