Eli Wallach
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Eli Wallach (born December 7, 1915) is an American film, TV and stage actor. Wallach was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish family. He graduated from The University of Texas at Austin but gained his first method experience at the Neighborhood Playhouse.
He served as a staff sergeant in Hawaii in a military hospital in the United States Army in World War II. However, soon he was sent to Officer Candidate School in Abilene, Texas to undergo training to become a medical administrative officer. He graduated as a 2nd 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, Eli himself portraying Hitler.
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. His 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. He also continued to work on the stage including the 1967/68 drama Staircase on Broadway, directed by Barry Morse and co-starring Milo O'Shea, which stands as Broadway’s first depiction of homosexual men in a serious way.
He has been married to acclaimed stage actress Anne Jackson (born 1926) since March 5, 1948, and they have three children: Peter, Katherine and Roberta. His autobiography, The Good, the Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotage was published in 2005.
Filmography
- Baby Doll (1956)
- The Lineup (1958)
- Seven Thieves (1960)
- The Magnificent Seven (1960)
- The Misfits (1961)
- Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962)
- How the West Was Won (1962)
- The Victors (1963)
- Act One (1963)
- The Moon-Spinners (1964)
- Kisses for My President (1964)
- Lord Jim (1965)
- Genghis Khan (1965)
- The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966)
- How to Steal a Million (1966)
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
- The Tiger Makes Out (1967) (also producer)
- Ace High (1968)
- How to Save a Marriage (and Ruin Your Life) (1968)
- A Lovely Way to Die (1968)
- The Brain (1969)
- Mackenna's Gold (1969)
- The Adventures of Gerard (1970)
- The Angel Levine (1970)
- The People Next Door (1970)
- Zigzag (1970)
- Romance of a Horsethief (1971)
- Long Live Your Death (1971)
- Cinderella Liberty (1973)
- Crazy Joe (1974)
- The Dream Factory (1975) (documentary) (narrator)
- Stateline Motel (1975)
- Shoot First... Ask Questions Later (1975)
- (1975) (documentary) (narrator)
- Plot of Fear (1976)
- Eye of the Cat (1976)
- Independence (1976)
- The Sentinel (1977)
- The Deep (1977)
- The Domino Principle (1977)
- Nasty Habits (1977)
- Little Italy (1978)
- Girlfriends (1978)
- Movie Movie (1978)
- Circle of Iron (1978)
- Firepower (1979)
- Winter Kills (1979)
- The Hunter (1980)
- The Salamander (1981)
- Sam's Son (1984)
- (1985) (documentary)
- Tough Guys (1986)
- Hollywood Uncensored (1987) (documentary)
- Nuts (1987)
- Funny (1989) (documentary)
- The Two Jakes (1990)
- (1990)
- Article 99 (1992)
- Mistress (1992)
- Night and the City (1992)
- Honey Sweet Love (1994)
- (1995) (documentary) (narrator)
- Two Much (1995)
- The Associate (1996)
- Uninvited (1999)
- Keeping the Faith (2000)
- Cinerama Adventure (2002) (documentary)
- Advice and Dissent (2002) (short subject)
- The Root (2003)
- (2003) (documentary)
- Mystic River (2003) (Cameo)
- King of the Corner (2004)
- The Moon and the Son (2005) (short subject) (voice)
- The Easter Egg Adventure (2005) (narrator)
Trivia
- Although his The 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 2006.
- 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 (p. 255).
- He is the subject of the song "Eli Wallach", on the album (Methods of Getting Rid of) Hiccups by Australian singer/songwriter Darren Hanlon.
- Before accepting a role as a villain in Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West Henry Fonda called Eli Wallach and asked "What the hell does he [Leone] know about the West?" Eli assured Mr. Fonda he would be pleasantly surprised if he accepted the role. After the film's success Mr. Fonda called Eli back to thank him.
- Eli Wallach and Sergio Leone, though having built a good relationship during shooting The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, had a falling-out later on. The Italian director had asked Mr. Wallach to play a role in his upcoming film, Duck, You Sucker, but the actor explained he had a scheduling conflict. After much pleading Mr. 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. Mr. Leone then called to apologize to Mr. Wallach, who remained dumbstruck on the other end of the line. After even refusing to give Mr. Wallach a token payment for losing out on two jobs the actor said "I'll sue you" to which Mr. Leone replied, "Get in line," and slammed down the phone. In his autobiography Eli Wallach relates that being the final time the two men spoke to one another.
- Eli Wallach lost sight in his right eye owing to a haemorrhage in that eye. According to his autobiography, published in 2005, the incident occurred "some years ago."
External links
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