Alan Arkin, the wry character actor who demonstrated his versatility in everything from farcical comedy to chilling drama, receiving four Academy Award nominations and winning one in 2007 for Little Miss Sunshine, has died. He was 89.
His sons confirmed their father’s death through the actor’s publicist on Friday.
“Our father was a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man,” they said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
Hollywood was in mourning, with Paul Reiser, Michael Rapaport and Patton Oswalt among those praising Arkin.
“Such a wonderful, original voice for comedy. And on the few occasions I was in his presence, a kind and generous soul. I learned so much from watching him. And the laughs I got from his glorious work seem endless,” Jason Alexander wrote on Twitter.
A member of Chicago’s famed Second City comedy troupe, Arkin was an immediate success in movies with the Cold War spoof The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming and peaked late in life with his win as best supporting actor for the surprise 2006 hit Little Miss Sunshine.
In the past few years he starred opposite Michael Douglas in the Netflix comedy series The Kominsky Method, a role that earned him two Emmy nominations.
“When I was a young actor people wanted to know if I wanted to be a serious actor or a funny one,” Michael McKean wrote on Friday. “I’d answer ‘Which kind is Alan Arkin?’ and that shut them up.”
Arkin once joked to The Associated Press that the beauty of being a character actor was not having to take his clothes off for a role. He was not a sex symbol or superstar, but was rarely out of work, appearing in more than 100 TV and feature films.
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