Alan Wolf Arkin was born on 26 March, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York. The versatile American actor is also an accomplished singer, composer, producer, director and author. Born into a family of intellectuals from Russia and Germany, Arkin’s father was an artist, writer, teacher and also an activist.
Arkin’s acting lessons began early at the age of ten. He went to school at Franklin High School in Los Angeles and attended the LACC and Bennington College. He left college to set up his own folk band The Tarriers. He played the guitar, sang and wrote the lyrics of the hit “The Banana Boat Song”. It went on to reach number four in the Billboard charts.
Arkin’s break came in 1957 in his debut film, Calypso Heat Wave (1957). Before this he did all kinds of odd jobs to survive. He performed in street plays, and worked as a repairman, a delivery boy, a babysitter, a washer, and did numerous other odd jobs. He also recorded some songs for The Babysitters, a folk group for children.
In Calypso Heat Wave, he starred as a lead singer with his own band. His next stop was to join the Compass Theatre in Missouri, after which he joined the Second City troupe in Chicago. In 1961, Arkin broke into Broadway by writing the lyrics for “From the Second City” and starring in two musicals Enter Laughing and Luv. Interestingly, Arkin’s debut on Broadway, directing the hit Eh?, also saw the debut of actor Dustin Hoffman. His other Broadway hits include Little Murders (1969), The White House Murder Case (1970) and comedy The Sunshine Boys (1972), which ran for over 500 shows.
His repertoire of films is impressive and includes Catch-22 (1970); the comedy The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming (1966), for which he won his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor; the suspense thriller Wait Until Dark (1967); the drama The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968), in which his sensitive portrayal of a deaf-mute saw him receive his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor; Jakob the Liar (1999) opposite Robin Williams; and Little Miss Sunshine (2006), which earned him his third Academy Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role.
Apart from his powerful acting abilities, Arkin has shown tremendous flair for composing with popular songs including “Cuddle Bug”, “That’s Me” and “Best Time of the Year”.
Arkin has also written many books including some science fiction and children’s books such as The Clearing, The Lemming Condition and Cassie Loves Beethoven. He has a granddaughter called Molly Arkin.
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