Alan Arkin dead at age 89: Academy Award winning star of Little Miss Sunshine passes at his California home
Oscar-winning actor Alan Arkin has passed away at age 89, after a glittering six-decade career on stage and screen.
His sons Adam, Matthew and Anthony confirmed the death of their father in a statement to People.
‘Our father was a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man. A loving husband, father, grand and great grandfather, he was adored and will be deeply missed,’ they said.
According to Variety, he died at his home in Carlsbad, California.
During his prolific career, Arkin won an Oscar for his role in the 2006 dark comedy Little Miss Sunshine, and a Tony in 1963 for Enter Laughing.
Critically-acclaimed actor Alan Arkin has passed away at age 89; pictured in Little Miss Sunshine, the movie that earned him an Academy Award for best supporting actor
Arkin pictured in The Kominsky Method with Michael Douglas
Ensemble: Arkin is pictured (left) in Little Miss Sunshine alongside (left to right) Steve Carrell, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear
Arkin was born in Brooklyn in 1934 but moved to Los Angeles 11 years later when his father David, a painter, began working in Los Angeles as a set designer.
David Arkin’s Hollywood career was, however, torpedoed first by a months-long strike and then by the Red Scare, in which his leftist politics got him accused of communism and rendered un-hirable.
His father’s troubles did not extinguish Alan’s enthusiasm for showbiz, which initially propelled him into a music career.
Alan was part of a folk group called the Tarriers, which in 1957 managed to produce a hit single in the form of The Banana Boat Song.
Eventually he decided to branch out solo as an actor, and in the early 1960s he landed a job with the now legendary Chicago comedy troupe Second City.
Alan was initially apprehensive about joining Second City, thinking: ‘I’m going to bury myself at a hole in the wall in Chicago? It would be the end of my career.’
Upon joining Second City, though, he ‘was happier than I’d ever been. The minute I got there I realized I’d found a home,’ he told NPR.
By 1963 he was making his Broadway debut in Enter Laughing, a backstage farce based on a roman à clef by Carl Reiner.
Throwback: Alan is pictured posing for a portrait in 1969, after he had established himself firmly in showbiz with a Tony Award and more than one Oscar nod under his belt
Family business: Alan is pictured in 2008 attending a red carpet event with his son Adam Arkin, who followed his footsteps into acting
Topical: By 1967 he had scored his first Oscar nomination for the Cold War satire The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (pictured)
Acclaim: He is pictured with Sondra Locke in the 1968 film of Carson McCullers’ classic novel The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, which garnered him a second Oscar nod
Remember when: In 1970 he led the movie based on Joseph Heller’s searing novel Catch-22, heading up a cast that included Paula Prentiss (right)
Alan’s first time on Broadway was a triumph, earning him critical acclaim as well as a Tony Award for best featured actor in a play.
However his stage work in his early career was ‘torture,’ he said, as actors are ‘not encouraged to experiment or play very much.’
He reflected: ‘The play gets set the minute opening night is there and…you’re supposed to do exactly that for the next year. And I just am constitutionally unable to just find any kind of excitement or creativity in that kind of experience.’
Alan struck out to Hollywood, and by 1967 he had scored his first Oscar nomination for the Cold War satire The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.
One year later he appeared in the film adaptation of Carson McCullers’ classic novel The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, garnering a second Oscar nod.
Then in 1969 he directed a short film called People Soup led by his sons Adam and Matthew Arkin, resulting in yet another nomination at the Academy Awards.
In 1970 he led the movie based on Joseph Heller’s searing novel Catch-22, heading up a cast that included Paula Prentiss, Richard Benjamin, Art Garfunkel, Charles Grodin, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Jon Voight and even Orson Welles.
As his five-decade Hollywood career rolled along and he himself grew older, he established himself as a beloved character actor.
During the 1980s his films included the blistering David Mamet adaptation Glengarry Glen Ross, and in 1990 he appeared in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands.
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