Alan Arkin

Alan Arkin
Born	Alan Wolf Arkin
Occupation(s)	Actor, Director, Musician
Years active	1957 – present
Spouse(s)	Jeremy Yaffe (1955-1960) Barbara Dana (m. 1964) Suzanne Newlander (1996-present)

Alan Wolf Arkin (born March 26, 1934) is an American Academy Award-winning actor, director, and musician. 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 actors Adam Arkin and Matthew Arkin.

Biography

Early years

Arkin was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the son of Beatrice 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, 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.

Career

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. Arkin attended Franklin High School, 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". 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. In 1985, he sang two selections by Jones & Schmidt on Ben Bagley's album Contemporary Broadway Revisited.

Acting

Arkin is one of only eight 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". At 72 years old, Arkin became the sixth oldest winner of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. In 2007, Arkin was cast in a very small role in Rendition. He plays a veteran senator who wants to do the right thing but also knows you have to make compromises every step of the way. [He also portrayed the chief 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.

Writing

Arkin is also the author of many books, including the children's stories Tony's Hard Work Day (illustrated by James Stevenson, 1972), The Lemming Condition (illustrated by Joan Sandin, 1976), and The Clearing (1986 continuation of Lemming).

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, 1957, 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

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	Lt. Rozanov	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer Nominated - Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor
	The Last Mohican	Pretzel Peddler	short film
1967	Woman Times Seven	Fred (segment "The Suicides")	released June 1967
	Wait Until Dark	Harry Roat	released October 1967
1968	Inspector Clouseau	Inspector Jacques Clouseau	released July 19
	The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter	John Singer	KCFCC Award for Best Actor NYFCC Award for Best Actor Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
1969	Popi	Abraham Rodriguez	KCFCC Award for Best Actor Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
	The Monitors	Cameo appearance	released October
1970	Catch-22	Capt. John Yossarian
1971	Little Murders	Lt. Practice	also director
1972	Last of the Red Hot Lovers	Barney Cashman	released August
	Deadhead Miles	Cooper
1974	It Couldn't Happen to a Nicer Guy		Nov. 1974 TV-movie
	Freebie and the Bean	Bean	released December 1974
1975	Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins	Gunny Rafferty	a.k.a. Rafferty and the Highway Hustlers
	Hearts of the West	Burt Kessler	released October 1975 NYFCC Award for Best Supporting Actor
1976	The Seven-Per-Cent Solution	Dr. Sigmund Freud
1977	Fire Sale	Ezra Fikus	also director
1978	The Other Side of Hell	Frank Dole	January 17, 1978 TV-movie
	The Defection of Simas Kudirka	Simas Kudirka	January 23, 1978 TV-movie
1979	The In-Laws	Sheldon S. Kornpett, D.D.S.	released June 1979
	The Magician of Lublin	Yasha Mazur	released November 1979
1980	Simon	Prof. Simon Mendelssohn	Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Actor
1981	Full Moon High	Dr. Brand
	Improper Channels	Jeffrey Martley	released May 1981 Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor
	Chu Chu and the Philly Flash	Flash	released August 1981
1982	The Last Unicorn	Schmendrick	voice
1983	The Return of Captain Invincible	Captain Invincible
1984	A Matter of Principle	Flagg Purdy	TV movie
1985	The Fourth Wise Man	Orontes	March 1985 TV movie
	Joshua Then and Now	Reuben Shapiro	released September 1985 Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
	Bad Medicine	Dr. Ramón Madera	released November 1985
1986	A Deadly Business	Harold Kaufman	TV
	Big Trouble	Leonard Hoffman	released May 1986
1987	Escape from Sobibor	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	Fred Libner	released March 1990
	Edward Scissorhands	Bill	released Dec. 7, 1990 Nominated - Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Havana	Joe Volpi	released Dec. 12, 1990
1991	The Rocketeer	A. 'Peevy' Peabody
1992	Glengarry Glen Ross	George Aaronow
1993	Cooperstown	Harry Willette	Jan. 1993 TV movie
	Indian Summer	Unca Lou Handler	released April 1993
	Taking the Heat	Tommy Canard	June 1993 TV movie
	So I Married an Axe Murderer	Police Captain (uncredited)	released July 1993
	Samuel Beckett is Coming Soon	The Director (character)	short film; also director
1994	North	Judge Buckle	released July 22, 1994
	Doomsday Gun	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	Lou Perilli	released Sept. 1995
1996	Heck's Way Home	Dogcatcher	March 1996 - TV
	Mother Night	George Kraft	released Nov. 1996
1997	Grosse Pointe Blank	Dr. Oatman	released April 1997
	O Que É Isso, Companheiro?	Charles Burke Elbrick	Brazil-U.S May 1997; U.S. Jan. 1998
	Gattaca	Det. Hugo	released Oct. 1997
1998	Slums of Beverly Hills	Murray Samuel Abromowitz
1999	Jakob the Liar	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	Wellness Guide	released July 2001
	Thirteen Conversations About One Thing	Gene	wide theatrical release 2002 BSFC Award for Best Supporting Actor Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Nominated - BFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - OFCS Award for Best Supporting Actor
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	Father Benkhe	released Sept. 2004
	Noel	Artie Venzuela	Nov. 2004 TV movie
	Eros	Dr. Pearl / Hal in segment "Equilibrium"
2006	Firewall	Arlin Forester	released Feb. 2006
	Little Miss Sunshine	Edwin Hoover	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male Nominated - SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated - BFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - OFCS Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
	The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause	Bud Newman	released Dec. 2006
2007	Raising Flagg	Flagg Purdy	released Feb. 2007
	Rendition	Senator Hawkins	released October. 2007
2008	Sunshine Cleaning	Joe
	Get Smart	The Chief	released June 2008
	Marley & Me	Arnie Klein	released December 2008
2009	The Private Lives of Pippa Lee	Herb	in post-production
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	East Side/West Side	Ted Miller	"The Beatnik and the Politician"
1966	ABC Stage 67	Barney Kempinski	"The Love Song of Barney Kempinski" Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Drama
1970-1972	Sesame Street	Larry	unknown episodes
1979	Carol Burnett & Company	Himself	Episode 1, Season 2
1983	St. Elsewhere	Jerry Singleton	3 episodes: "Ties That Bind", "Lust En Veritas", "Newheart"
1985	Faerie Tale Theatre	Bo	"The Emperor's New Clothes"
1987	Harry	Harry Porschak	March 4–25, ABC TV series
1997	Chicago Hope	Zoltan Karpathein	"The Son Also Rises" Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor - Drama Series
2001-2002	100 Centre Street	Joe Rifkind	A&E TV series
2005	Will & Grace	Marty Adler	"It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World"
2006-2007	Boston Legal	Prosecutor	Two episodes in Season 3

External links

• Alan Arkin at AllMovie
• Please use a more specific IBDB template. See the documentation for available templates.
• AndTheWinnerIs.Blog.com (Oct. 30, 2006): "ATWI Interview Series: Grandpa Sunshine"
• Q&A with Arkin at Time.com
• Folkera Tarriers article

Template:Persondata {{subst:#if:Arkin, Alan|}} [[Category:{{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:1934}}

|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}||LIVING=(living people)}}
| #default = 1934 births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
| #default = 

}}