CREDIT TO IMDB.COM
One of the greatest method actors to ever live and appear on stage, TV and screen has passed on. Family man, Eli Wallach, is survived by his wife of 66 years, Anne Jackson, who performed with him many times; 3 children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. During the 1940’s through the 1950’s they lived in a $35 a month, 1 room apartment in New York. For a while they struggled financially and had the help of unemployment insurance. Wallach got his start on the stage, his first love and even initially rejected movie roles to remain on the stage. That was until he discovered that movies paid the bills allowing him the time and freedom to continue on the stage.
Over the next 60 years, his career extended from stage into TV and movies. Some of his co-stars included greats, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Cliff, Steve McQueen, Carrol Baker, Peter O’Toole, Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Streisand, Clint Eastwood, and a 2006 movie called Holiday with Kate Winslet. Nominated for numerous awards and winner of an Emmy, a Tony and more recently an Honorary Academy Award in 2011 for a lifetime achievement of indelible screen characters.
Probably best remembered for his iconic role of the likeable villain, “Tuco” in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. During the filming of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Wallach nearly died three times. Once, he accidentally drank a bottle of acid which was placed next to his soda bottle; another time was in a scene where he was about to be hanged, someone fired a pistol which caused the horse underneath him to bolt and run a mile with his hands still tied behind his back; in a different scene with him lying on a railroad track, he was close to being decapitated by steps jutting out from the train.
One of the great talents in the industry who got to get paid doing what he loved. He did an unforgettable job.
