“Forgotten Hollywood”- Heaven is Calling, Heaven is Calling…
Manny P. here… 
“`Alan Arkin was one of the all-time great character actors and his career spanned over seven decades. His body of work included many memorable performances, notably in The Russians are Coming The Russians are Coming, Wait Until Dark, Catch-22, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Glengarry Glen Ross, Argo, and his award-winning turn in Little Miss Sunshine. He also was recently fabulous in The Komisky Method, co-starring on the small screen with Michael Douglas.
“`His parents moved to Los Angeles, when Alan was a pre-teen. An eight-month Hollywood strike cost his dad his job as a set designer. During the 1950s Red Scare, his parents were named as Communists. His father was fired when refusing to answer questions about his political ideology. David Arkin challenged the dismissal, but he was vindicated only after his death.
“`Alan Arkin was an early member of the Second City comedy troupe in the 1960s. He starred in 1963 on Broadway in Joseph Stein’s, Enter Laughing. For this performance, Arkin received the Tony Award and a Theatre World Award. Shortly after, Hollywood came calling.
“`Over the years, he bounced back-and-forth between cinema and television. He also found time to direct productions on Broadway, including his award-winning effort of The Sunshine Boys. On television, he appeared on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, St. Elsewhere, Chicago Hope (with son, Adam) and Will and Grace. His parts on the big screen included Inspector Clouseau, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Freebie and the Bean, Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins, Edward Scissorhands, Havana, Grosse Pointe Blank and Going in Style.
“`Upon winning his Oscar for his work in Little Miss Sunshine, Arkin said:
“More than anything, I’m deeply moved by the open-hearted appreciation our small film has received, which in these fragmented times speaks so openly of the possibility of innocence, growth and connection.”
“`Alan Arkin was eighty-nine.
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Friday, June 30th, 2023 at 1:00 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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