Alan Arkin

Infobox actor


imagesize =
birthdate = birth date and age|1934|3|26
birthplace = Brooklyn, New York City, New York
birthname = Alan Wolf Arkin
spouse = Jeremy Yaffe (1955-1960)
Barbara Dana (m.1964)
Suzanne Newlander (1996-present)
academyawards = Best Supporting Actor 2006 "Little Miss Sunshine"
goldenglobeawards = Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1966 "The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming"
baftaawards = Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2006 "Little Miss Sunshine"
sagawards = Best Cast - Motion Picture
2006 "Little Miss Sunshine"
tonyawards = Best Featured Actor in a Play
1963 "Enter Laughing"

Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American actor and director. He is best-known for starring in such films as: "Catch-22"; "The In-Laws"; "Edward Scissorhands"; " The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming"; "Glengarry Glen Ross "; and "Little Miss Sunshine", for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2007. He is the father of actor Adam Arkin.

Biography

Early life and career

Arkin was born in Brooklyn, 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. [cite web | url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/17/Alan-Arkin.html | title=Alan Arkin Biography | work=filmReference.com | accessdate=2008-05-12] Arkin was raised in a Jewish family with "no emphasis on religion;" his maternal grandfather was an immigrant from Odessa, Ukraine.cite news | last=Sierchio | first=Pat | title=Alan Arkin—not just another kid From Brooklyn | publisher=The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles | date=2007-02-16 | url=http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=17205 | accessdate =2007-02-16] The family moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, California 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. Arkin's parents were accused during the 1950s Red Scare of being Communists, which led to Arkin's father losing his job after refusing to answer questions regarding his political affiliation. David Arkin challenged the dismissal and ultimately prevailed, but after his death.cite web | title=Alan Arkin biography | work=Yahoo! Movies | date=2008 | url=http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800021870/bio | accessdate=2006-12-09 ]

Arkin, who had been taking acting lessons since age 10, became a scholarship student at various drama academies, including one run by Stanislavsky student Benjamin Zemach, who taught Arkin a psychological approach to acting. [Farrell, Barry. "Yossarian in Connecticut: Since "Catch-22", actor’s actor Alan Arkin finally stars as ...Alan Arkin" "Life magazine". October 1970.] Arkin attended Franklin High School, [ [http://www.franklinhs.org/ Franklin High School official site] ] in Los Angeles, followed by Los Angeles City College from 1951 to 1953. 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 Jamaican calypso folk song combined with another titled "Hill and Gully Rider".Lovece, Frank. "Fast Chat: Alan Arkin." "New York Newsday". 7 January 2007.] It reached #4 on the "Billboard" magazine chart the same year as Harry Belafonte's better-known hit version. [ [http://www.folkera.com/Tarriers/bio.htm FolkEra.com: "The Tarriers"] . FolkEra.com.]

From 1958 to 1968, Arkin performed and recorded with the children's folk group, The Baby Sitters. [cite web | title = Alan Arkin Biography | publisher = Hollywood.com | url = http://www.hollywood.com/celebs/fulldetail/id/186232 | accessdate = 2007-04-09]

Acting career

Arkin is one of only eight [ [http://www.filmsite.org/bestactor.html "Best Actor"] . FilmSite.org.] actors to receive an Academy Award 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".

Arkin is equally comfortable in comedy and dramatic roles. Among those 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 11 February 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". [ [http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/2/25/230344.shtml 'Dreamgirl' Jennifer Hudson Wins Oscar] . NewsMax.com, February 26, 2007.] At 72 years old, Arkin became the sixth oldest winner of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

On Broadway, Arkin starred in "Enter Laughing", for which he won a Tony Award, and "Luv". He also directed "The Sunshine Boys", among others.

Writing career

Arkin is also the author of many books, including the children's stories "The Lemming Condition" and "The Clearing".

Personal life

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 Aug. 19, 1956 or 1957 (accounts differ), 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.

Filmography

References

External links

*amg name|2:79913
*ibdb|14056
*imdb|0000273
* [http://andthewinneris.blog.com/1201732/ AndTheWinnerIs.Blog.com (Oct. 30, 2006): "ATWI Interview Series: Grandpa Sunshine"]
* [http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1572210,00.html Q&A with Arkin at Time.com]
* [http://www.folkera.com/Tarriers/press.html Folkera Tarriers article]

Persondata
NAME=Arkin, Alan Wolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=actor
DATE OF BIRTH=March 26, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH=New York City
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=