It takes a certain type of talent to flourish in character roles. Some actors just seem to come alive when they’re handed meaty people to play, full of dark ambition or crazy schemes. One such actor was Eli Wallach, probably best known for his iconic villain Tuco in The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, who died on Tuesday at the age of 98.
Born in Brooklyn to Polish Jewish immigrants, he studied at the University of Texas at Austin and there learned to ride, a skill that would serve him well later in his career. Originally planning to become a teacher like his siblings, he switched to acting before being drafted in World War II. After five years in the Medical Corps, he returned to civilian life and studied performing with a vengeance, going on to become a founder member of the Actors Studios and learning from Lee Strasberg.
He made his Broadway debut in 1945 on a short-lived production called Skydrift. It may not have done much for his acting career, but it impacted his life massively, since that was where he met his wife, actress Anne Jackson. Together, they went on to great success on the stage, performing a number of acclaimed plays.
Wallach also became a firm fixture on television and the big screen, with his cinema run including more than 80 films kicked off by a rare leading role in 1956’s Baby Doll. His screen career, however, would be defined by a flair for memorable characters in films such as The Magnificent Seven**, How The West Was Won**, Nuts, Lord Jim, How To Steal A Millio****n, The Misfits and The Two Jake****s.
More recently, he throttled back and enjoyed smaller TV roles once more, appearing on the likes of Nurse Jackie and Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. In 2010, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him an honorary Oscar celebrating “the quintessential chameleon, effortlessly inhabiting a wide range of characters, while putting his inimitable stamp on every role.” He’s survived by his wife and three children, and our thoughts are with them.