The first time I probably saw Eli Wallach was in the 1960s “Batman” television show as Mr. Freeze, but I don’t remember anything from those episodes other than how it looked. The first time I saw Wallach and remember him from a role in a movie is probably as Don Altobello in Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Godfather: Part III. But Wallach’s most memorable role, for me at least, is undoubtedly as Tuco in Sergio Leone‘s iconic spaghetti western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Today we learn Wallach is as we will remember him as he died Tuesday, June 24, at the age of 98. His death was confirmed by his daughter Katherine.
Wallach’s career spanned more than 60 years and also included films such as Elia Kazan‘s Baby Doll, Clint Eastwood‘s Mystic River, John Sturgess‘ The Magnificent Seven, John Huston‘s The Misfits and the massive ensemble directorial effort How the West Was Won for directors John Ford, Henry Hathaway, George Marshall and Richard Thorpe.
His final performances were in Roman Polanski‘s The Ghost Writer and Oliver Stone‘s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, but for me it will be as Tuco that I remember him most, a snarling, snapping role and he was every bit as “ugly” as the character needed him to be.
Wallach was never awarded an Oscar, but in 2010 he was given an honorary Oscar for “a lifetime’s worth of indelible screen characters”. [NYT]
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