Eli Wallach, one of Hollywood's finest character actors, enjoyed a remarkable career spanning over 60 years. He made his stage debut in 1945 on Broadway and won a Tony Award in 1951 for his portrayal of Alvaro Mangiacavallo in Tennessee Williams' play "The Rose Tattoo".
Born on December 7, 1915, in Brooklyn, New York, Wallach was raised in a mostly Italian neighborhood, one of the few Jewish kids in the area. His parents, Bertha and Abraham Wallach, owned a candy store, Bertha's Candy Store. He graduated with a B.A. from the University of Texas in Austin and gained his dramatic training at the Actors Studio and the Neighborhood Playhouse.
Wallach's screen debut came in 1956 with the film version of Tennessee Williams' play "Baby Doll". He then shone as "Dancer", a nattily dressed hitman, in director Don Siegel's film-noir classic "The Lineup" (1958). He co-starred in the heist film "Seven Thieves" (1960) and director John Sturges cast him as the vicious Mexican bandit Calvera in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960),a western adaptation of Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (1954).
Wallach's other notable films include "The Misfits" (1961),"How the West Was Won" (1962),"The Victors" (1963),"The Moon-Spinners" (1964),"Lord Jim" (1965),and "How to Steal a Million" (1966). He was cast by Italian director Sergio Leone as the lying, two-faced, money-hungry (but lovable) bandit "Tuco" in the spectacular "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966).
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Wallach continued to work in films such as "Mackenna's Gold" (1969),"Cinderella Liberty" (1973),"Crazy Joe" (1974),"The Deep" (1977),and "The Hunter" (1980). He was regularly cast as an aging doctor, a Mafia figure, or an over-the-hill hitman in films such as "The Executioner's Song" (1982),"Our Family Honor" (1985),"Tough Guys" (1986),"Nuts" (1987),"The Two Jakes" (1990),and "The Godfather Part III" (1990).
At 75+ years of age, Wallach's quality of work remained first-class, and he continued to work in films such as "Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride" (1990),"Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story" (1992),"Naked City: Justice with a Bullet" (1998),and "Keeping the Faith" (2000).
