ELI WALLACH

Often recognized as one of Hollywood's finest character/method actors, Eli Wallach has been in demand for over fifty years on stage and screen and has worked alongside the biggest stars including Clark Gable, Clint Eastwood, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner, Peter O'Toole, and Al Pacino, to name but a few.

Wallach was born on 7 December 1915 in Brooklyn and graduate with a B.A. from the University of Texas in Austin, but gained his dramatic training with the Actors Studio and the Neighbourhood Playhouse. He made his debut on Broadway in 1945, and won a Tony Award in 1951 for portraying "Alvaro Mangiaco" in the Tennessee Williams play "The Rose Tattoo".

Eli made a strong screen debut in 1956 in the film production of the Tennessee William's play Baby Doll (1956), then shone in the film noir The Lineup (1958), and co-starred in the heist film Seven Thieves (1960). He next appeared in the The Misfits (1961), in the star spangled western opus How the West Was Won (1962), the under rated WW2 film The Victors (1963), as a kidnapper in The Moon-Spinners (1964), in the sea epic Lord Jim (1965), and in the romantic comedy How to Steal a Million (1966). Italian director Sergio Leone then cast the versatile Wallach as the lying, two-faced, money hungry bandit "Tuco" in Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, (1966) (aka "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"), his most memorable performance. He kept busy throughout the remainder of the 60s and into the 70s with good roles in Mackenna's Gold (1969), Cinderella Liberty (1973), Crazy Joe (1974), The Deep (1977) and as Steve McQueen bail buddy in The Hunter (1980).

The 1980s Wallach was appeared in films such as in The Executioner's Song,(1982) , "Our Family Honor" (1985), Tough Guys (1986), Nuts (1987), The Two Jakes (1990) and as the candy addicted "Don Altabello" in The Godfather: Part III (1990). Most recently Wallach showed up as a fast talking liquor store owner in Mystic River (2003) and in the comedic drama King of the Corner (2004).