Biography - Born 12/07/1915

In a career that has spanned some six decades, this compact prominent Method actor has amassed awards, critical encomiums and a list of credits that includes classic plays and lightweight films. After serving in the US Army Medical Corps and training at both the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio, Eli Wallach made his Broadway debut in the short-lived play "Skydrift" in 1945. He spent two seasons with Eva LeGallienne's fledgling American Repertory Theater before landing the star-making role of Mangiacavallo opposite Maureen Stapleton in Tennessee Williams' "The Rose Tattoo" (1951), for which he won a Tony Award. He has gone on to appear in numerous stage productions, notably Williams' "Camino Real" (1953), Eugene Ionesco's absurdist "Rhinoceros" (1961, alongside Zero Mostel), the double bill "The Tiger" and "The Typist" (1963, with his wife Anne Jackson), "The Waltz of the Toreadors" (1973-74, with Jackson and their daughter Roberta Wallach) and Tom Stoppard's "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" (1979). In the late 90s, he enjoyed a success as a crusty octogenarian in the Off-Broadway hit "Visiting Mr. Green".

Wallach began making appearances on the small screen in the late 1940s in many of the live dramas of the period. He was memorable as the Dauphin opposite Julie Harris' Joan of Arc in "The Lark" (NBC, 1957) and won an Emmy for "The Poppy Is Also a Flower" (ABC, 1966), an earnest , all-star public service telefilm about the increasing drug problems. Wallach has continued to appear in longforms like the miniseries "Seventh Avenue" (NBC, 1977), "Skokie" (CBS, 1981), "Anatomy of an Illness" (CBS, 1984) and "Legacy of Lies" (USA Network, 1992). His one attempt at a series was as the patriarch of a mob family in the ABC drama "Our Family Honor" (1985-86). For much of the 90s, Wallach has lent his distinctive vocal talents to narrations and character voices on such acclaimed series and specials as "The Donner Party" (PBS, 1992), "Lincoln" (ABC, 1992), "Baseball" (PBS, 1994) and "The West" (PBS, 1996).

On the big screen, Wallach first came into prominence in the adaptation of the Tennessee Williams short story, "Baby Doll" (1956). He went on to portray numerous, often hot-headed characters, from the Mexican bandito in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) to Clark Gable's buddy in "The Misfits" (1961) to the contemptible pistolero in Sergio Leone's landmark 'spaghetti Western', "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1967). Wallach gradually mellowed into more sober, avuncular roles, like the rabbi in "Girlfriends" and dual roles in Stanley Donen's "Movie Movie" (both 1978) and the court-appointed psychiatrist evaluating Barbra Streisand in "Nuts" (1987) but was not still capable of playing heavies such as the mob boss in "The Godfather, Part III" (1990). The actor has remained active onscreen in such diverse roles as a Wall Street businessman in "The Associate" (1996) and a rabbi in Edward Norton's directorial debut "Keeping the Faith" (2000).

Wallach, who has often appeared onscreen with his wife Anne Jackson (e.g., "The Tiger Makes Out" 1967, "Nasty Habits" 1976), is the father of special effects director Peter Wallach and actresses Roberta and Katherine Wallach.