Oscar-Winning Actor Alan Arkin Passes Away at Age 89

Shannen Ace

Oscar-Winning Actor Alan Arkin Passes Away at Age 89

Shannen Ace

Oscar-Winning Actor Alan Arkin Passes Away at Age 89

Oscar-winning actor Alan Arkin passed away at his home in Carlsbad, California on June 29 at the age of 89.

alan arkin
AP

Arkin’s sons Adam, Matthew, and Anthony said in a statement, “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.”

Arkin, who was also a director and screenwriter, began as a Broadway actor and won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for “Enter Laughing” in 1963. He was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play in 1973 for directing “The Sunshine Boys.”

He moved to screen work, acting in “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming” (1966), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He was nominated for the Oscar again, two years later, for “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.” He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006) and was nominated for this award again for “Argo” (2012). For these roles, he also won and was nominated, respectively, for the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Arkin was also known for “Wait Until Dark” (1967), “Popi” (1969), “Catch-22” (1970), “The In-Laws” (1979), “Edward Scissorhands” (1990), “Glengarry Glen Ross” (1992), “Thirteen Conversations About One Thing” (2001), and “Get Smart” (2008).

For Disney, he appeared as Peevy in “The Rocketeer” (1991), Dr. Oatman in “Grosse Point Blank” (1997), Bud Newman in “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause” (2006), Ray Poitevint in “Million Dollar Arm” (2014), and J. Griffin Remington in the live-action remake of “Dumbo” (2019). For Disney’s Touchstone Pictures, he portrayed “Uncca” Lou Handler in “Indian Summer” (1993) and Ernie Lazzaro in “The Jerky Boys” (1995).

In March 1980, Arkin was the guest star in episode 96 of “The Muppet Show” and he later had a cameo appearance as the Muppet Studios tour guide in “The Muppets” (2011).

His final film role was as the voice of Wild Knuckles in “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”

In addition to his sons with ex-wives Jeremy Yaffe and Barbara Dana, Arkin is survived by his third wife, Suzanne Newlander Arkin. Arkin took the name Newlander for his final TV role in “The Kominsky Method” from 2018 to 2019.

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