Eli Wallach
Eli Wallach
Eli Herschel Wallachwas an American film, television and stage actor whose career spanned more than six decades, beginning in the late 1940s. Trained in stage acting, which he enjoyed doing most, he became "one of the greatest 'character actors' ever to appear on stage and screen" states TCM, with over 90 film credits. On stage, he often co-starred with his wife, Anne Jackson, becoming one of the best-known acting couples in the American theater...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth7 December 1915
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
No, I never thought of it in those terms. I used to go into agents' offices and they'd have pictures of these handsome movie men and I knew I'd never be up there. I'm a journeyman actor. I didn't think about stardom.
I was an original member of the Actors' Studio
John Huston was a superb master. He knew how to make good films. I did three things with him. One is called Independence. It plays in Philadelphia, for free. It's been playing there for 25 years
Well, I go to the theater today, and its curtain - there is no curtain in this play; the lights go down and go up - and we start. And I live this character for two hours. There are only two of us in the play. And It's a complete experience
I met my wife and, for the next ten years, we did no films at all. She did the first movie and then I did several after. My first movie was written by Tennessee Williams and directed by Kazan and was called Baby Doll.
One thing changes every evening: It's the audience, and I'm working my magic. I'm always learning from it
So I wanted to show what I did with the money. So I got red silk shirts, beautiful hats, wonderful saddles, a great horse, and two gold teeth. So that was the way I did it.
But I went to the University of Texas in the 30s, and while there I learned to ride. Mostly polo ponies.
I always wanted to tell stories and act.
I'd come out of the army after five years as a medic. I was a medical administrator and we ran hospitals, and I was a Captain in the army at the end, in 1945
Recipe? Recipe? We don' need no stinkin' recipe.
What do I need a movie for? The stage is on a higher level in every way, and a more satisfying medium. Movies, by comparison, are like calendar art next to great paintings. You can't really do very much in movies or in television, but the stage is such an anarchistic medium.
Well, I've maybe gotten 200 requests for interviews about Marilyn, and I just decided I'm gonna do my own.
But Clint I love, because Clint was my mentor. I knew nothing about making an Italian movie.