An Oscar-winning actor for “Little Miss Sunshine” whose career spanned seven decades in theatre and cinema, Alan Arkin, 89, passed away on June 29 at home.
His sons Adam, Matthew, and Anthony jointly released the following statement on behalf of the family after confirming his passing:
“Our father was a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man. A loving husband, father, grand grandfather, he was adored and will be deeply missed.”
The cause of his death was not disclosed by the family, and information about the funeral service may be released soon.
About Alan Arkin:
On March 26, 1934, Alan Arkin was born in Brooklyn, New York; but, when he was a little child, his family relocated to Los Angeles.
After graduating from high school, Arkin attended several different institutions, dropping out of at least three of them, including Vermont’s Bennington College, which identifies him as a 1955 graduate.
Arkin, who won his Oscar for his supporting role in the independent comedy “Little Miss Sunshine” in 2007, was known for projecting a distinctively dry wit but could also play tragedy with equal efficacy. He was given a second nomination for his incisive and coarse portrayal in Ben Affleck’s best picture-winning “Argo.”
For “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” in 1967 and “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” in 1969, Arkin received two prior nominations in his cinematic career.
Tributes:
“Sad day, What a cool guy! Years and years ago I worked on this movie called Don’t You Cry to Me! And Alan was the lead. We were out at this farmhouse in the country shooting and someone needed to go to town to bring Alan over, as a PA I got the nod. At the time I was driving the lowly Chevy Nova Carolla, it was blue and had some body damage, and was a POS. I always found it funny what kind of car a star would’ve ridden in it and there he was Alan Atkin in my Nova Carolla. He was kinda small and skinny so it was a good fit. He was a level-headed, polite kind man, you had a feeling could get snappy but he never did. Then on set, I kept walking right through the middle of the rehearsals since the AD (Hardy James?) wasn’t calling the action on rehearsals as they wanted it quiet and natural feeling. It was also Alan, who was the first actor I’d seen ‘understate his lines’ he’d talk so low and quietly that I was like ‘What’s going on’ which is probably why I kept walking into the middle of rehearsals and then look at everyone in the scene and be like ‘oh, you guys are acting’ They made the puttanesca! And that was like a big deal.”
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.
