Alan Arkin
Encyclopedia
Alan Wolf Arkin is an American actor, director, musician and singer. He is known for starring in such films as Wait Until Dark
, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
, Catch-22
, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands
, Glengarry Glen Ross
, Marley & Me
, and Little Miss Sunshine
, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
in 2007. He is the father of actors Adam Arkin
, Anthony Arkin, and Matthew Arkin
.
, New York City, the son of Beatrice (née Wortis), a teacher, and David I. Arkin
, a painter and writer who mostly worked as a teacher. Arkin was raised in a Jewish family with "no emphasis on religion"; his maternal grandfather was an immigrant from Odessa
, Ukraine. The family moved from Brooklyn
to Los Angeles when Arkin was 11 years old, but an eight-month Hollywood strike cost Arkin's father a set designer job he had wanted to take. During the 1950s Red Scare, Arkin's parents were accused of being Communists, which led to David losing his job when he refused to answer questions about his political affiliation. David challenged the dismissal and was ultimately vindicated, but only after his death.
Arkin has been married three times. He and Jeremy Yaffe, to whom he was married from 1955 to 1960, have two sons: Adam Arkin
, born August 19, 1956, and Matthew Arkin
, born in 1960. In 1967, Arkin had son Anthony (Tony) Dana Arkin with actress-screenwriter Barbara Dana (born 1940), to whom he was married from June 16, 1964 to the mid-1990s. In 1996, Arkin married a psychotherapist, Suzanne Newlander. As of 2007, they live in New Mexico
.
He is the first cousin of children's author Edward Irving Wortis, who is better known by his pen name Avi.
from 1951 to 1953. He also attended Bennington College
. With two friends, he formed the folk music
group The Tarriers
, in which Arkin sang and played guitar. The band members co-composed the group's 1956 hit "The Banana Boat Song", a reworking, with some new lyrics, of a traditional, same-name Jamaica
n calypso
folk song combined with another titled "Hill and Gully Rider". It reached #4 on the Billboard
magazine chart the same year as Harry Belafonte
's better-known hit version.
From 1958 to 1968, Arkin performed and recorded with the children's folk
group, The Baby Sitters
. He also performed the role of Dr. Pangloss in a concert staging of Leonard Bernstein
's operetta Candide
, alongside Madeline Kahn
's Cunegonde. Arkin was an early member of The Second City
comedy troupe in the 1960s. Arkin and his second wife, Barbara Dana, appeared together on the 1970–71 season of Sesame Street
as a comical couple named Larry and Phyllis who resolve their conflicts when they remember how to pronounce the word "cooperate." In 1985, he sang two selections by Jones
& Schmidt
on Ben Bagley
's album Contemporary Broadway Revisited.
nomination for Best Actor
for his first screen appearance (for The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
in 1966). Two years later, he was again nominated, for The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
.
Among the films for which he has garnered the most favorable critical attention are his Oscar-nominated turns above; Wait Until Dark
, as the erudite killer stalking Audrey Hepburn
; director Mike Nichols
' Catch-22
; The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
(where he played Sigmund Freud
); writer Jules Feiffer
's Little Murders
, which Arkin directed; the The In-Laws, co-starring Peter Falk
; Glengarry Glen Ross
; and Little Miss Sunshine
, for which he received his third Oscar nomination, in the category of Best Supporting Actor
. On the February 11, 2007 he received a BAFTA Film Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
for his portrayal of Grandfather Edwin in Little Miss Sunshine. On February 25, 2007, upon winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
, Arkin, who plays a foul-mouthed grandfather with a taste for heroin said, "More than anything, I'm deeply moved by the open-hearted appreciation our small film has received, which in these fragmented times speaks so openly of the possibility of innocence, growth and connection". At 72 years old, Arkin became the sixth oldest winner of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. In 2006–07, Arkin was cast in supporting roles in Rendition
and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
as Bud Newman (Carol's Dad), starring with Tim Allen
, Martin Short
, Elizabeth Mitchell
, Judge Reinhold
and Wendy Crewson
. He also portrayed the Chief of CONTROL in 2008's Get Smart
.
On Broadway, Arkin starred in Enter Laughing
, for which he won a Tony Award
, and Luv
. He also directed The Sunshine Boys
, among others.
and Matthew Arkin
. Based on a story he had published in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in the 1950s, People Soup is a fantasy about two boys who experiment with various kitchen ingredients until they concoct a magical soup which transforms them into different animals and objects. The original story had a girl and a boy as its characters, but Arkin changed them to two boys to cast his sons in the film.
Arkin's most acclaimed directorial effort is Little Murders
, released in 1971. Written by cartoonist Jules Feiffer, Little Murders
is a black comedy film starring Elliott Gould
and Marcia Rodd
about a girl, Patsy (Rodd), who brings home her boyfriend, Alfred (Gould), to meet her severely dysfunctional family amidst a series of random shootings, garbage strikes and electrical outages ravaging the neighborhood. The film opened to a lukewarm review by Roger Greenspan, and a more positive one by Vincent Canby in the New York Times. Roger Ebert
's review in the Chicago Sun Times was more enthusiastic, saying, "One of the reasons it works, and is indeed a definitive reflection of America's darker moods, is that it breaks audiences down into isolated individuals, vulnerable and uncertain."
Arkin also directed Fire Sale
(1977), Samuel Beckett Is Coming Soon (1993) and Arigo (2000).
, 1972), The Lemming Condition (illustrated by Joan Sandin, 1976), Halfway Through the Door: An Actor's Journey Toward Self (1979) and The Clearing (1986 continuation of Lemming). In March 2011, he released his memoir, An Improvised Life.
Wait Until Dark (film)
Wait Until Dark is a suspense-thriller film directed by Terence Young and produced by Mel Ferrer. It stars Audrey Hepburn as a young blind woman, Alan Arkin as a violent criminal searching for some drugs, and Richard Crenna as another criminal, supported by Jack Weston, Julie Herrod, and Efrem...
, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is an American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and adapted for the screen by William Rose....
, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (film)
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is a 1968 film adaptation of the Carson McCullers novel of the same name. It was directed by Robert Ellis Miller. It stars Alan Arkin, Sondra Locke, Laurinda Barrett, Stacy Keach, Percy Rodriguez, Chuck McCann and Cicely Tyson...
, Catch-22
Catch-22 (film)
Catch-22 is a 1970 satirical war film adapted from the book of the same name by Joseph Heller. Considered a black comedy revolving around the "lunatic characters" of Heller's satirical anti-war novel, it was the work of a talented production team which included director Mike Nichols and...
, The In-Laws, Edward Scissorhands
Edward Scissorhands
Edward Scissorhands is a 1990 romantic fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The film shows the story of an artificial man named Edward, an unfinished creation, who has scissors for hands. Edward is taken in by a suburban family and falls in love with their teenage daughter...
, Glengarry Glen Ross
Glengarry Glen Ross (film)
Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 American drama film, adapted by David Mamet from his acclaimed 1984 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play of the same name...
, Marley & Me
Marley & Me (film)
Marley & Me is a 2008 American comedy-drama film directed by David Frankel. The screenplay by Scott Frank and Don Roos is based on the memoir of the same name by John Grogan...
, and Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama film. The road movie's plot follows a family's trip to a children's beauty pageant.Little Miss Sunshine was the directorial film debut of the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer...
, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
in 2007. He is the father of actors Adam Arkin
Adam Arkin
Adam Arkin is an American television, film and stage actor and director. He played the role of Aaron Shutt on Chicago Hope. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including a Tony as well as 3 primetime Emmys, 4 SAG Awards , and a DGA Award...
, Anthony Arkin, and Matthew Arkin
Matthew Arkin
Matthew Arkin is an American film and television actor. His brother is the actor Adam Arkin.Arkin was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jeremy Yaffe and actor Alan Arkin. He lives in Eastchester, New York with his wife and two children.-External links:...
.
Personal life
Arkin was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York City, the son of Beatrice (née Wortis), a teacher, and David I. Arkin
David I. Arkin
David I. Arkin was a teacher, painter, writer, and lyricist, and is the father of actor Alan Arkin.Arkin was born in the United States. In 1945, Arkin moved his family to Los Angeles, California to take a teaching job. Arkin attempted to obtain work in the entertainment industry, but was...
, a painter and writer who mostly worked as a teacher. Arkin was raised in a Jewish family with "no emphasis on religion"; his maternal grandfather was an immigrant from Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Ukraine. The family moved from Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
to Los Angeles when Arkin was 11 years old, but an eight-month Hollywood strike cost Arkin's father a set designer job he had wanted to take. During the 1950s Red Scare, Arkin's parents were accused of being Communists, which led to David losing his job when he refused to answer questions about his political affiliation. David challenged the dismissal and was ultimately vindicated, but only after his death.
Arkin has been married three times. He and Jeremy Yaffe, to whom he was married from 1955 to 1960, have two sons: Adam Arkin
Adam Arkin
Adam Arkin is an American television, film and stage actor and director. He played the role of Aaron Shutt on Chicago Hope. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including a Tony as well as 3 primetime Emmys, 4 SAG Awards , and a DGA Award...
, born August 19, 1956, and Matthew Arkin
Matthew Arkin
Matthew Arkin is an American film and television actor. His brother is the actor Adam Arkin.Arkin was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jeremy Yaffe and actor Alan Arkin. He lives in Eastchester, New York with his wife and two children.-External links:...
, born in 1960. In 1967, Arkin had son Anthony (Tony) Dana Arkin with actress-screenwriter Barbara Dana (born 1940), to whom he was married from June 16, 1964 to the mid-1990s. In 1996, Arkin married a psychotherapist, Suzanne Newlander. As of 2007, they live in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
.
He is the first cousin of children's author Edward Irving Wortis, who is better known by his pen name Avi.
Career
Arkin, who had been taking acting lessons since age 10, became a scholarship student at various drama academies, including one run by the Stanislavsky student Benjamin Zemach, who taught Arkin a psychological approach to acting. Arkin attended Los Angeles City CollegeLos Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
from 1951 to 1953. He also attended Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
. With two friends, he formed the folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
group The Tarriers
The Tarriers
The Tarriers were an American vocal group, specializing in folk music and folk-flavored popular music. Named after the folk song "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill", and founded in 1956 by Erik Darling, Alan Arkin, and Bob Carey, the group had two hit songs during 1956-57: "Cindy, Oh Cindy" and "The...
, in which Arkin sang and played guitar. The band members co-composed the group's 1956 hit "The Banana Boat Song", a reworking, with some new lyrics, of a traditional, same-name Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
folk song combined with another titled "Hill and Gully Rider". It reached #4 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine chart the same year as Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
's better-known hit version.
From 1958 to 1968, Arkin performed and recorded with the children's folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
group, The Baby Sitters
The Baby Sitters (folk group)
The Baby Sitters was a music group that recorded four albums of children's folk songs from 1958 until 1968. Its original members were Alan Arkin, his then-wife Jeremy Arkin, Lee Hays, and Doris Kaplan, although Jeremy Arkin was later replaced by Barbara Dana....
. He also performed the role of Dr. Pangloss in a concert staging of Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
's operetta Candide
Candide
Candide, ou l'Optimisme is a French satire first published in 1759 by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled Candide: or, All for the Best ; Candide: or, The Optimist ; and Candide: or, Optimism...
, alongside Madeline Kahn
Madeline Kahn
Madeline Kahn was an American actress. Kahn was known primarily for her comedic roles in films such as Paper Moon, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, What's Up, Doc?, and Clue.-Early life:...
's Cunegonde. Arkin was an early member of The Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
comedy troupe in the 1960s. Arkin and his second wife, Barbara Dana, appeared together on the 1970–71 season of Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
as a comical couple named Larry and Phyllis who resolve their conflicts when they remember how to pronounce the word "cooperate." In 1985, he sang two selections by Jones
Tom Jones (writer)
Tom Jones is a lyricist of musical theatre. His best known work is The Fantasticks, which ran off-Broadway from 1960 until 2002, and the hit song from the same, Try to Remember. Other songs from "The Fantasticks" include "Soon It's Gonna Rain", "Much More" and "I Can See It"...
& Schmidt
Harvey Schmidt
Harvey Lester Schmidt is an American composer for musical theatre. He is best known for composing the music for the longest running musical in history, The Fantasticks, which ran off-Broadway from 1960 - 2002.-Biography:...
on Ben Bagley
Ben Bagley
Ben Bagley was an American musical theatre and record producer.-Career:Born in Burlington, Vermont, Bagley moved to New York City during the early 1950s, and in 1955, at age 22, he produced his first hit, Shoestring Revue, starring Beatrice Arthur and Chita Rivera , and with songs by Charles...
's album Contemporary Broadway Revisited.
Acting
Arkin is one of only six actors to receive an Academy AwardAcademy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nomination for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for his first screen appearance (for The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is an American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and adapted for the screen by William Rose....
in 1966). Two years later, he was again nominated, for The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (film)
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is a 1968 film adaptation of the Carson McCullers novel of the same name. It was directed by Robert Ellis Miller. It stars Alan Arkin, Sondra Locke, Laurinda Barrett, Stacy Keach, Percy Rodriguez, Chuck McCann and Cicely Tyson...
.
Among the films for which he has garnered the most favorable critical attention are his Oscar-nominated turns above; Wait Until Dark
Wait Until Dark (film)
Wait Until Dark is a suspense-thriller film directed by Terence Young and produced by Mel Ferrer. It stars Audrey Hepburn as a young blind woman, Alan Arkin as a violent criminal searching for some drugs, and Richard Crenna as another criminal, supported by Jack Weston, Julie Herrod, and Efrem...
, as the erudite killer stalking Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
; director Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
' Catch-22
Catch-22 (film)
Catch-22 is a 1970 satirical war film adapted from the book of the same name by Joseph Heller. Considered a black comedy revolving around the "lunatic characters" of Heller's satirical anti-war novel, it was the work of a talented production team which included director Mike Nichols and...
; The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. is a 1974 novel by American writer Nicholas Meyer. It is written as a pastiche of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, and was made into a film of the same name in 1976....
(where he played Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
); writer Jules Feiffer
Jules Feiffer
Jules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...
's Little Murders
Little Murders
Little Murders is a 1971 black comedy film starring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd, directed by Alan Arkin. It is the story of a girl, Patsy , who brings home her boyfriend, Alfred , to meet her severely dysfunctional family amidst a series of random shootings, garbage strikes and electrical outages...
, which Arkin directed; the The In-Laws, co-starring Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
; Glengarry Glen Ross
Glengarry Glen Ross (film)
Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 American drama film, adapted by David Mamet from his acclaimed 1984 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play of the same name...
; and Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama film. The road movie's plot follows a family's trip to a children's beauty pageant.Little Miss Sunshine was the directorial film debut of the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer...
, for which he received his third Oscar nomination, in the category of Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
. On the February 11, 2007 he received a BAFTA Film Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film...
for his portrayal of Grandfather Edwin in Little Miss Sunshine. On February 25, 2007, upon winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, Arkin, who plays a foul-mouthed grandfather with a taste for heroin said, "More than anything, I'm deeply moved by the open-hearted appreciation our small film has received, which in these fragmented times speaks so openly of the possibility of innocence, growth and connection". At 72 years old, Arkin became the sixth oldest winner of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. In 2006–07, Arkin was cast in supporting roles in Rendition
Rendition (film)
Rendition is a 2007 drama film directed by Gavin Hood and starring Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin, Jake Gyllenhaal and Omar Metwally. It centers on the controversial CIA practice of extraordinary rendition, and is based on the true story of Khalid El-Masri who was...
and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause is a 2006 American film, the sequel to The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 2. This is the third and final film in the trilogy. This film was also scheduled as a Disney Channel Original Movie....
as Bud Newman (Carol's Dad), starring with Tim Allen
Tim Allen
Tim Allen is an American comedian, actor, voice-over artist, and entertainer, known for his role in the sitcom Home Improvement...
, Martin Short
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
, Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell
Elizabeth Mitchell , is an American actress/modelwho is known for her roles as Dr. Juliet Burke on ABC's TV series Lost and as FBI agent Erica Evans on V. She has starred in such films as The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, and Gia.-Early life:Mitchell was born Elizabeth...
, Judge Reinhold
Judge Reinhold
Judge Reinhold is an American actor, perhaps best known for co-starring in movies such as Beverly Hills Cop, Ruthless People, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and The Santa Clause trilogy.-Early life:...
and Wendy Crewson
Wendy Crewson
-Life and career:Crewson was born in Hamilton, Ontario, the daughter of June Doreen and Robert Binnie Crewson. She attended Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, where she won the prestigious Lorne Greene Award for outstanding work in the theater. She then studied at the Webber Douglas Academy...
. He also portrayed the Chief of CONTROL in 2008's Get Smart
Get Smart (film)
Get Smart is a 2008 American spy-fi comedy film based on Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960s spy parody television series of the same name. The film stars Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99...
.
On Broadway, Arkin starred in Enter Laughing
Enter Laughing
Enter Laughing is a play by Joseph Stein.Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Carl Reiner, it centers on the journey of young aspiring actor David Kolowitz as he tries to extricate himself from overly protective parents and two too many girlfriends, while struggling to meet the challenge of...
, for which he won a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
, and Luv
Luv (play)
Luv is a play by Murray Schisgal.A mix of absurdist humor and traditional Broadway comedy more in the Neil Simon vein, Luv concerns two college friends - misfit Harry and materialistic Milt - who are reunited when the latter stops the former from jumping off a bridge, the play's setting. Each...
. He also directed The Sunshine Boys
The Sunshine Boys
The Sunshine Boys is a play by Neil Simon that was produced on Broadway in 1972 and later adapted for film and television.-Plot:The play focuses on aging Al Lewis and Willy Clark, a one-time vaudevillian team known as "Lewis and Clark" who, over the course of forty-odd years, not only grew to hate...
, among others.
Directing
Arkin's directorial debut, in 1969, was a 12-minute children's film, People Soup, starring his sons Adam ArkinAdam Arkin
Adam Arkin is an American television, film and stage actor and director. He played the role of Aaron Shutt on Chicago Hope. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including a Tony as well as 3 primetime Emmys, 4 SAG Awards , and a DGA Award...
and Matthew Arkin
Matthew Arkin
Matthew Arkin is an American film and television actor. His brother is the actor Adam Arkin.Arkin was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jeremy Yaffe and actor Alan Arkin. He lives in Eastchester, New York with his wife and two children.-External links:...
. Based on a story he had published in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in the 1950s, People Soup is a fantasy about two boys who experiment with various kitchen ingredients until they concoct a magical soup which transforms them into different animals and objects. The original story had a girl and a boy as its characters, but Arkin changed them to two boys to cast his sons in the film.
Arkin's most acclaimed directorial effort is Little Murders
Little Murders
Little Murders is a 1971 black comedy film starring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd, directed by Alan Arkin. It is the story of a girl, Patsy , who brings home her boyfriend, Alfred , to meet her severely dysfunctional family amidst a series of random shootings, garbage strikes and electrical outages...
, released in 1971. Written by cartoonist Jules Feiffer, Little Murders
Little Murders
Little Murders is a 1971 black comedy film starring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd, directed by Alan Arkin. It is the story of a girl, Patsy , who brings home her boyfriend, Alfred , to meet her severely dysfunctional family amidst a series of random shootings, garbage strikes and electrical outages...
is a black comedy film starring Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould
Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...
and Marcia Rodd
Marcia Rodd
Marcia Rodd is an American actress.Rodd was born in Lyons, Kansas, the daughter of Rosetta and Charles C. Rodd. She studied drama at Northwestern University....
about a girl, Patsy (Rodd), who brings home her boyfriend, Alfred (Gould), to meet her severely dysfunctional family amidst a series of random shootings, garbage strikes and electrical outages ravaging the neighborhood. The film opened to a lukewarm review by Roger Greenspan, and a more positive one by Vincent Canby in the New York Times. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
's review in the Chicago Sun Times was more enthusiastic, saying, "One of the reasons it works, and is indeed a definitive reflection of America's darker moods, is that it breaks audiences down into isolated individuals, vulnerable and uncertain."
Arkin also directed Fire Sale
Fire Sale (film)
Fire Sale is a 1977 comedy film starring Alan Arkin as Ezra Fikus; Rob Reiner as his brother Russel; Vincent Gardenia as their father Benny; Sid Caesar as Benny's brother Sherman; Anjanette Comer as Marion ; and Kay Medford as Ruth .-Synopsis:Benny Fikus decides to cash in on his business' fire...
(1977), Samuel Beckett Is Coming Soon (1993) and Arigo (2000).
Writing
Arkin is the author of many books, including the children's stories Tony's Hard Work Day (illustrated by James StevensonJames Stevenson (illustrator)
James Stevenson is a best known as an American illustrator and author of over 100 children's books. His cartoons appear regularly in The New Yorker magazine. He usually uses a unique comic book style of illustration that is very recognizable...
, 1972), The Lemming Condition (illustrated by Joan Sandin, 1976), Halfway Through the Door: An Actor's Journey Toward Self (1979) and The Clearing (1986 continuation of Lemming). In March 2011, he released his memoir, An Improvised Life.
Filmography
| Films | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
| 1957 | Calypso Heat Wave | Tarriers lead singer | uncredited |
| 1963 | That's Me | ||
| 1966 | The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming is an American comedy film. Based on the Nathaniel Benchley novel The Off-Islanders, the film was directed by Norman Jewison and adapted for the screen by William Rose.... |
Lt. Rozanov | Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer -Best British Director, Producer or Writer in the First Film:*2006 - Red Road - Andrea Arnold**Black Sun – Gary Tarn**Pierrepoint – Christine Langan**London to Brighton – Paul Andrew Williams... Nominated – Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor |
| The Last Mohican | Pretzel Peddler | short film | |
| 1967 | Woman Times Seven Woman Times Seven Woman Times Seven is a 1967 Italian/French/American co-production anthology film of seven different episodes, all starring Shirley MacLaine with most based on aspects of adultery... |
Fred (segment "The Suicides") | released June 1967 |
| Wait Until Dark Wait Until Dark (film) Wait Until Dark is a suspense-thriller film directed by Terence Young and produced by Mel Ferrer. It stars Audrey Hepburn as a young blind woman, Alan Arkin as a violent criminal searching for some drugs, and Richard Crenna as another criminal, supported by Jack Weston, Julie Herrod, and Efrem... |
Harry Roat | released October 1967 | |
| 1968 | Inspector Clouseau | Inspector Jacques Clouseau | released July 19 |
| The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (film) The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter is a 1968 film adaptation of the Carson McCullers novel of the same name. It was directed by Robert Ellis Miller. It stars Alan Arkin, Sondra Locke, Laurinda Barrett, Stacy Keach, Percy Rodriguez, Chuck McCann and Cicely Tyson... |
John Singer | Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor The Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Kansas City Film Critics Circle to honor the best achievements in acting.-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:*... New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.... Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
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| 1969 | Popi Popi Popi is a 1969 American comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Hiller. The screenplay by Tina Pine and Lester Pine focuses on a Puerto Rican widower struggling to raise his two young sons in the New York City neighborhood known as Spanish Harlem.-Plot:... |
Abraham Rodriguez | Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor The Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Kansas City Film Critics Circle to honor the best achievements in acting.-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:*... Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama |
| The Monitors | Cameo appearance | released October | |
| People Soup | writer and director | ||
| 1970 | Catch-22 Catch-22 (film) Catch-22 is a 1970 satirical war film adapted from the book of the same name by Joseph Heller. Considered a black comedy revolving around the "lunatic characters" of Heller's satirical anti-war novel, it was the work of a talented production team which included director Mike Nichols and... |
Capt. John Yossarian Yossarian This article is about a "Catch-22" character. For the meerkat from "Meerkat Manor", see List of "Meerkat Manor" meerkats - Yossarian.Capt. John Joseph Yossarian is a fictional character and protagonist in Joseph Heller's novel Catch-22 and its sequel Closing Time... |
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| 1971 | Little Murders Little Murders Little Murders is a 1971 black comedy film starring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd, directed by Alan Arkin. It is the story of a girl, Patsy , who brings home her boyfriend, Alfred , to meet her severely dysfunctional family amidst a series of random shootings, garbage strikes and electrical outages... |
Lt. Practice | also director |
| 1972 | Last of the Red Hot Lovers Last of the Red Hot Lovers (film) Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers is a 1972 comedy film based on Neil Simon's play of the same name. Alan Arkin, Sally Kellerman, Paula Prentiss and Renée Taylor star in it... |
Barney Cashman | released August |
| Deadhead Miles | Cooper | ||
| 1974 | It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy A 1974 black comedy starring Paul Sorvino as Harry Walters, a stout, real estate salesman, who is randomly picked up by a beautiful woman and then raped at gunpoint as a prank. He is later dropped off naked in a small town and left to explain to his wife, friends, and the police how he was both... |
Nov. 1974 TV-movie Television movie A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to... |
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| Freebie and the Bean Freebie and The Bean Freebie and The Bean is a 1974 action-comedy film about two San Francisco police detectives who have one goal in life, bringing down a local hijacking boss. The picture, a precursor to the buddy cop film genre popularized a decade later, stars James Caan, Alan Arkin, Loretta Swit and Valerie... |
Bean | released December 1974 | |
| 1975 | Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins is a 1975 film directed by Dick Richards and written by John Kaye. The film was the second film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, for which he received an associate producer credit... |
Gunny Rafferty | a.k.a. Rafferty and the Highway Hustlers |
| Hearts of the West Hearts of the West Hearts of the West is a 1975 comedy film directed by Howard Zieff, and starring Jeff Bridges, Andy Griffith, Blythe Danner, and Alan Arkin. The story revolves around a wannabe 1930s writer who finds himself cast as a leading man in several B-movie westerns.... |
Burt Kessler | released October 1975 NYFCC Award for Best Supporting Actor New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle, honoring the finest achievements in filmmaking.This awards is given since 1969.- 1960s :- 1970s :- 1980s :- 1990s :- 2000s :... |
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| 1976 | The Seven-Per-Cent Solution The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (film) The Seven-Per-Cent Solution is a 1976 Universal Studios Sherlock Holmes film, directed by Herbert Ross and written by Nicholas Meyer. It is based on Meyer's 1974 novel of the same name. The film stars Nicol Williamson, Robert Duvall, Alan Arkin, and Laurence Olivier.-Plot synopsis:When Dr... |
Dr. Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis... |
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| 1977 | Fire Sale Fire Sale (film) Fire Sale is a 1977 comedy film starring Alan Arkin as Ezra Fikus; Rob Reiner as his brother Russel; Vincent Gardenia as their father Benny; Sid Caesar as Benny's brother Sherman; Anjanette Comer as Marion ; and Kay Medford as Ruth .-Synopsis:Benny Fikus decides to cash in on his business' fire... |
Ezra Fikus | also director |
| 1978 | The Other Side of Hell | Frank Dole | January 17, 1978 TV-movie |
| The Defection of Simas Kudirka The Defection of Simas Kudirka The Defection of Simas Kudirka is a 1978 television movie based on actual events, featuring Alan Arkin as Simas Kudirka, a Lithuanian merchant seaman in Soviet-era 1970 who attempts to defect to the United States by jumping onto a U.S. Coast Guard cutter. Among the movie's awards are two Emmys and... |
Simas Kudirka | January 23, 1978 TV-movie | |
| 1979 | The In-Laws | Sheldon S. Kornpett, D.D.S. | released June 1979 |
| The Magician of Lublin The Magician of Lublin (film) The Magician of Lublin is a 1979 film co-written and directed by Menahem Golan. The film is based on The Magician of Lublin by Isaac Bashevis Singer. The title song The Magician was performed by Kate Bush.-Plot:... |
Yasha Mazur | released November 1979 | |
| 1980 | Simon Simon (1980 film) Simon is a 1980 American comedy film. It was directed by Marshall Brickman and stars Alan Arkin.- Plot summary :The Institute for Advanced Concepts, a group of scientists with an unlimited budget and a propensity for elaborate pranks, brainwash a psychology professor named Simon Mendelssohn who was... |
Prof. Simon Mendelssohn | Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actor Saturn Award for Best Actor The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed, who felt that films within those genres... |
| 1981 | Full Moon High Full Moon High Full Moon High is a 1981 horror comedy film written and directed by Larry Cohen. It involves a high school werewolf that tries to keep his secret. He also ignores his girlfriend's sexual advances because it's "his time of the month".-Plot summary:... |
Dr. Brand | |
| Improper Channels Improper Channels Improper Channels is a 1981 comedy-drama film starring Alan Arkin and Mariette Hartley, both of whom were nominated for Genie Awards for their performances. Arkin plays an architect named Jeff Martley who is erroneously accused of child abuse by an overzealous social worker . Hartley plays... |
Jeffrey Martley | released May 1981 Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor The Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor was awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 1980 to 1983, for the best performance by non-Canadian actor in a Canadian film.... |
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| Chu Chu and the Philly Flash Chu Chu and the Philly Flash Chu Chu and the Philly Flash is a 1981 comedy film starring Alan Arkin, Carol Burnett, Jack Warden, Ruth Buzzi, and Danny Aiello. It was released in 1981 by 20th Century Fox. Arkin plays a down-his-luck former baseball player and Burnett plays a Carmen Miranda-style performer... |
Flash | released August 1981 | |
| 1982 | The Last Unicorn The Last Unicorn (film) The Last Unicorn is a 1982 fantasy film produced by Rankin/Bass for ITC Entertainment and animated by Topcraft. The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Peter S. Beagle, who also wrote the film's screenplay... |
Schmendrick | voice |
| 1983 | The Return of Captain Invincible The Return Of Captain Invincible The Return of Captain Invincible is a 1983 Australian musical comedy and superhero film starring Alan Arkin and Christopher Lee.-Plot:The plot involves the Captain America/Superman inspired super-hero called "Captain Invincible" who is active during World War II and afterwards... |
Captain Invincible | |
| 1984 | A Matter of Principle | Flagg Purdy | TV movie |
| Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 documentary film about horror films featuring clips from Friday the 13th I and/or II, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween I and II, Jaws 1 and 2, Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Shining and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and The Birds. The film is hosted by... |
archival footage | ||
| 1985 | The Fourth Wise Man | Orontes | March 1985 TV movie |
| Joshua Then and Now Joshua Then and Now (film) Joshua Then and Now is a 1985 film and a TV mini-series, adapted by Mordecai Richler from his semi-autobiographical novel Joshua Then and Now. James Woods starred as the adult Joshua, Gabrielle Lazure as his wife, and Alan Arkin as Joshua's father... |
Reuben Shapiro | released September 1985 Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best supporting Canadian actor.-1st Genie Awards:* Gordon Pinsent, Jack London's Klondike Fever... |
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| Bad Medicine Bad Medicine (film) Bad Medicine is a 1985 comedy film starring Steve Guttenberg, Alan Arkin, and Julie Hagerty. The film was written and directed by Harvey Miller, and was based on the novel Calling Dr. Horowitz, by Steven Horowitz, MD and Neil Offen.... |
Dr. Ramón Madera | released November 1985 | |
| 1986 | A Deadly Business | Harold Kaufman | TV |
| Big Trouble Big Trouble (1986 film) Big Trouble is 1986 a American comedy film. It was director John Cassavetes's last film. He took over from screenwriter Andrew Bergman .-Cast:* Peter Falk as Steve Rickey* Alan Arkin as Leonard Hoffman... |
Leonard Hoffman | released May 1986 | |
| 1987 | Escape from Sobibor Escape from Sobibor Escape from Sobibor is a 1987 British made-for-TV film which aired on CBS. It deals with the extermination camp at Sobibor, the site of the most successful uprising by Jewish prisoners of German extermination camps... |
Leon Feldhendler | Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1988 | Necessary Parties | Archie Corelli | TV |
| 1990 | Coupe de Ville Coupe de Ville (film) Coupe de Ville is a 1990 American comedy-drama film directed by Joe Roth. It stars Daniel Stern, Arye Gross, and Patrick Dempsey as three very different brothers asked by their father to drive the titular Cadillac Coupe DeVille from Detroit to Miami.... |
Fred Libner | released March 1990 |
| Edward Scissorhands Edward Scissorhands Edward Scissorhands is a 1990 romantic fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The film shows the story of an artificial man named Edward, an unfinished creation, who has scissors for hands. Edward is taken in by a suburban family and falls in love with their teenage daughter... |
Bill | released Dec. 7, 1990 Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor |
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| Havana Havana (film) Havana is a drama film starring Robert Redford, Lena Olin and Raúl Juliá, directed by Sydney Pollack with music by Dave Grusin, and released in 1990. In the film, an American professional gambler named Jack Weil decides to visit Havana, Cuba to gamble. On the boat to Havana, he meets Roberta Duran... |
Joe Volpi | released Dec. 12, 1990 | |
| 1991 | The Rocketeer The Rocketeer (film) The Rocketeer is a 1991 period superhero adventure film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and based on the character of the same name created by comic book writer/artist Dave Stevens. Directed by Joe Johnston, the film stars Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton, Paul Sorvino... |
A. 'Peevy' Peabody | |
| 1992 | Glengarry Glen Ross Glengarry Glen Ross (film) Glengarry Glen Ross is a 1992 American drama film, adapted by David Mamet from his acclaimed 1984 Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play of the same name... |
George Aaronow | |
| 1993 | Cooperstown | Harry Willette | Jan. 1993 TV movie |
| Indian Summer Indian Summer (1993 film) Indian Summer is a 1993 comedy drama film written and directed by Mike Binder. The movie was filmed and set on-location at Camp Tamakwa, a summer camp located in Ontario, Canada, where Binder himself had attended in his childhood... |
Unca Lou Handler | released April 1993 | |
| Taking the Heat | Tommy Canard | June 1993 TV movie | |
| So I Married an Axe Murderer So I Married an Axe Murderer So I Married an Axe Murderer is a 1993 American comedy-horror film starring Mike Myers and Nancy Travis. Myers plays Charlie McKenzie, a man afraid of commitment until he meets Harriet , who works at a butcher shop and may be a serial killer... |
Police Captain (uncredited) | released July 1993 | |
| Samuel Beckett is Coming Soon | The Director (character) | short film; also director | |
| 1994 | North North (film) North is an American 1994 comedy film directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Elijah Wood, Bruce Willis, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Dan Aykroyd, Reba McEntire, and Alan Arkin... |
Judge Buckle | released July 22, 1994 |
| Doomsday Gun Doomsday Gun Doomsday Gun is a 1994 television film produced by HBO, dramatizing the life of Canadian supergun designer Dr. Gerald Bull and his involvement in Project Babylon, Saddam Hussein's plan to build a supergun with a range of over 500 miles. It was the first television drama to deal with covert U.S... |
Col. Yossi | July 23, 1994 TV movie | |
| Picture Windows | Tully, in segment "Soir Bleu" | Oct. 1994 TV movie | |
| 1995 | The Jerky Boys | Ernie Lazarro | released Feb. 1995 |
| Steal Big Steal Little Steal Big Steal Little Steal Big Steal Little is a 1995 film directed by Andrew Davis. It stars Andy García in dual roles, plus Alan Arkin and Joe Pantoliano.-Plot summary:... |
Lou Perilli | released Sept. 1995 | |
| 1996 | Heck's Way Home | Dogcatcher | March 1996 – TV |
| Mother Night Mother Night (film) Mother Night is a 1996 film based on Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 book of the same name.Nick Nolte stars as Howard W. Campbell, Jr., an American who moves with his family to Germany after World War I and goes on to become a successful German language playwright... |
George Kraft | released Nov. 1996 | |
| 1997 | Grosse Pointe Blank Grosse Pointe Blank Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 American Black comedy film, directed by George Armitage, and starring John Cusack and Minnie Driver.In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Grosse Pointe Blank the 21st greatest comedy film of all time. The film's soundtrack features mainly independent music hits... |
Dr. Oatman | released April 1997 |
| O Que É Isso, Companheiro? Four Days in September Four Days in September is a 1997 Brazilian thriller film directed by Bruno Barreto and produced by his parents Lucy and Luiz Carlos Barreto. The film is based on the 1979 memoir "O Que É Isso Companheiro?" written by politician Fernando Gabeira... |
Charles Burke Elbrick Charles Burke Elbrick Charles Burke Elbrick, , was a United States diplomat and career foreign service officer. During his career, he served three ambassadorships in various parts of the world, in addition to many other minor postings.Elbrick was the son of Charles Elbrick and his Irish wife, Lillian Burke... |
Brazil-U.S May 1997; U.S. Jan. 1998 | |
| Gattaca Gattaca Gattaca is a 1997 science fiction film written and directed by Andrew Niccol. It stars Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law with supporting roles played by Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal and Alan Arkin.... |
Det. Hugo | released Oct. 1997 | |
| 1998 | Slums of Beverly Hills Slums of Beverly Hills The Slums of Beverly Hills is a 1998 motion picture, written and directed by Tamara Jenkins. Its hero is a teenage girl struggling to grow up in a lower-middle-class family that moves every few months in the late 1970s.... |
Murray Samuel Abromowitz | |
| 1999 | Jakob the Liar Jakob the Liar Jakob the Liar is a 1999 American tragicomedy film directed by Peter Kassovitz and starring Robin Williams, Alan Arkin, Liev Schreiber, Hannah Taylor-Gordon, and Bob Balaban. The movie is set in 1944 in a ghetto in German-occupied Poland in the times of the Holocaust and is based on the book by... |
Max Frankfurter | released Sept. 1999 |
| Blood Money | Willy "The Hammer" Canzaro | TV movie | |
| 2000 | Arigo | writer and director | |
| Magicians | Milo | direct-to-video | |
| 2001 | Varian's War | Freier | April 2001 TV movie |
| America's Sweethearts America's Sweethearts America's Sweethearts is a 2001 romantic comedy film, directed by Joe Roth, starring Julia Roberts, Billy Crystal, John Cusack, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. The film also stars Keri Lynn Pratt, Hank Azaria, Stanley Tucci, Seth Green, Alan Arkin, and Christopher Walken, and features a cameo appearance... |
Wellness Guide | released July 2001 | |
| Thirteen Conversations About One Thing Thirteen Conversations About One Thing Thirteen Conversations About One Thing is a 2001 American drama film directed by Jill Sprecher. The screenplay by Sprecher and her sister Karen focuses on five seemingly disparate individuals in search of happiness whose paths intersect in ways that unexpectedly impact their lives.-Plot:The film is... |
Gene | wide theatrical release 2002 Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor -1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor The Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actor or actors whose winning performance is voted by participating members. The Chlotrudis Awards is an annual ceremony where the best of the previous year's independent and... Nominated – Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best supporting actor of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... |
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| 2003 | The Pentagon Papers | Harry Rowen | March 2003 TV-movie Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie |
| And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself | Sam Drebben | Sept. 2003 TV movie | |
| 2004 | The Novice The Novice The Novice is the second book in The Black Magician series by Trudi Canavan. It was published in 2002 and is the sequel to The Magicians' Guild and is followed by The High Lord... |
Father Benkhe | released Sept. 2004 |
| Noel Noel (film) Noel is a 2004 Christmas-themed drama film written by David Hubbard and directed by Chazz Palminteri. It stars Susan Sarandon, Penélope Cruz, Paul Walker, Alan Arkin, Daniel Sunjata and an uncredited Robin Williams.-Plot summary:... |
Artie Venzuela | Nov. 2004 TV movie | |
| Eros Eros (film) Eros is a 2004 portmanteau film consisting of three short films: Wong Kar-wai's The Hand, Steven Soderbergh's Equilibrium and Michelangelo Antonioni's The Dangerous Thread of Things.-Releases:... |
Dr. Pearl / Hal in segment "Equilibrium" | ||
| 2006 | Firewall Firewall (film) Firewall is a 2006 British-American thriller film directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Joe Forte. Harrison Ford stars as Jack Stanfield, a security expert at a bank faced with a corporate merger and the offer of a new job.-Plot:... |
Arlin Forester | released Feb. 2006 |
| Little Miss Sunshine Little Miss Sunshine Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama film. The road movie's plot follows a family's trip to a children's beauty pageant.Little Miss Sunshine was the directorial film debut of the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer... |
Edwin Hoover | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film... Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Nominated – Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best supporting actor of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role – Motion Picture |
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| The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause is a 2006 American film, the sequel to The Santa Clause and The Santa Clause 2. This is the third and final film in the trilogy. This film was also scheduled as a Disney Channel Original Movie.... |
Bud Newman | released Dec. 2006 | |
| 2007 | Raising Flagg Raising Flagg Raising Flagg is a 2006 film directed by Neal Miller and co-written by Miller, Nancy Miller and Dorothy Velasco. It was shot entirely on location in Portland and St. Helens, Oregon.-Plot:... |
Flagg Purdy | released Feb. 2007 |
| Rendition Rendition (film) Rendition is a 2007 drama film directed by Gavin Hood and starring Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin, Jake Gyllenhaal and Omar Metwally. It centers on the controversial CIA practice of extraordinary rendition, and is based on the true story of Khalid El-Masri who was... |
Senator Hawkins | released October. 2007 | |
| 2008 | Sunshine Cleaning Sunshine Cleaning Sunshine Cleaning is a 2008 comedy-drama film starring Amy Adams and Emily Blunt. Directed by Christine Jeffs and written by Megan Holley, the film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2008. It was purchased by Overture Films for distribution and opened in limited release in... |
Joe | |
| Get Smart Get Smart (film) Get Smart is a 2008 American spy-fi comedy film based on Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960s spy parody television series of the same name. The film stars Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99... |
The Chief | released June 2008 | |
| Marley & Me Marley & Me (film) Marley & Me is a 2008 American comedy-drama film directed by David Frankel. The screenplay by Scott Frank and Don Roos is based on the memoir of the same name by John Grogan... |
Arnie Klein | released December 2008 | |
| 2009 | The Private Lives of Pippa Lee The Private Lives of Pippa Lee The Private Lives of Pippa Lee is a 2009 American drama film written and directed by Rebecca Miller. The screenplay is based on her novel of the same title. The film premiered on February 9, 2009, at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival and was shown at the Sydney Film Festival and the... |
Herb | |
| 2010 | City Island City Island (film) City Island is a 2009 American comedy-drama film directed and written by Raymond De Felitta and starring Andy García, Julianna Margulies and Alan Arkin. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 26, 2009... |
Michael Malakov (drama coach) | |
| 2011 | The Convincer The Convincer (film) -Plot:Con-man insurance salesman Mickey, dangerously at the end of his rope after his wife throws him out of the house, learns that an elderly client named Gorvy has an extremely valuable violin in his possession and is not aware of its worth . Desperate for money, Mickey builds a friendship with... |
Gorvy Hauer | |
| The Muppets The Muppets (film) The Muppets is a 2011 American musical and comedy film, and the first Muppets theatrical release in 12 years, as well as the first Disney-produced Muppets film since 1996's Muppet Treasure Island... |
Cameo appearence | ||
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1964 | East Side/West Side East Side/West Side East Side/West Side is an American drama series starring George C. Scott, Elizabeth Wilson, Cicely Tyson, and later on, Linden Chiles. The series aired for only one season and was shown Monday nights on CBS.-Synopsis:... |
Ted Miller | "The Beatnik and the Politician" |
| 1966 | ABC Stage 67 ABC Stage 67 ABC Stage 67 was the umbrella title for a series of 26 weekly shows that included dramas, variety shows, documentaries, and original musicals.... |
Barney Kempinski | "The Love Song of Barney Kempinski" Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming... for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama |
| 1970–1971 | Sesame Street Sesame Street Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The... |
Larry | unknown episodes |
| 1979 | Carol Burnett & Company | Himself | Episode 1, Season 2 |
| 1983 | St. Elsewhere St. Elsewhere St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood... |
Jerry Singleton | 3 episodes: "Ties That Bind", "Lust En Veritas", "Newheart" |
| 1985 | Faerie Tale Theatre Faerie Tale Theatre Faerie Tale Theatre is a live-action children's television anthology series retelling popular fairy tales. Shelley Duvall serves as narrator, host and executive producer of the program, and occasionally stars in episodes... |
Bo | "The Emperor's New Clothes The Emperor's New Clothes "The Emperor's New Clothes" is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent... " |
| 1987 | Harry | Harry Porschak | March 4–25, ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... TV series |
| 1997 | Chicago Hope Chicago Hope Chicago Hope is an American medical drama series created by David E. Kelley that ran from September 18, 1994, to May 5, 2000. It takes place in a fictional private charity hospital.-Premise:The show stars Mandy Patinkin as Dr... |
Zoltan Karpathein | "The Son Also Rises" Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor – Drama Series |
| 2001–2002 | 100 Centre Street 100 Centre Street 100 Centre Street is an American legal drama created by Sidney Lumet and starring Alan Arkin.-Premise:The show takes its name for the street address of the criminal division of the New York Supreme Court for New York County. The show aired in the United States on the A&E Network cable television... |
Joe Rifkind | A&E A&E Network The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched... TV series |
| 2005 | Will & Grace Will & Grace Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters... |
Marty Adler | "It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World" |
| 2006–2007 | Boston Legal Boston Legal Boston Legal is an American legal dramedy created by David E. Kelley, which was produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for the ABC... |
Prosecutor | Two episodes in Season 3 |