Oh—I am so sorry to hear of
the death of Eli Wallach, age 98. One of the best character actors ever.
I first saw him in The Magnificent Seven, John Sturges’
reworking of The Seven Samurai. He
was such a deliciously arrogant bandito, preying on villagers year after year
until they called in, well, hit men.
Wallach once told an interviewer, "The big secret in acting is listening to people." Well, that's pretty much the big secret to being a human, and yet so few seem to grasp that notion, much less implement it. Wallach was a great role model in this regard; you definitely saw it on the screen.
Wallach once told an interviewer, "The big secret in acting is listening to people." Well, that's pretty much the big secret to being a human, and yet so few seem to grasp that notion, much less implement it. Wallach was a great role model in this regard; you definitely saw it on the screen.
In every film, he imbued his
character with that deep-seated passion—spaghetti westerns, gangster flicks,
comedies: well, I think the San Francisco
Chronicle’s Mick LaSalle pretty much says it all, so read his appreciation.
But here’s how good he was:
every time some cable channel shows The
Holiday, a really awful, treacly rom-com, I record it. Then I fast-forward
through all the crap and just enjoy the scenes with Wallach.
What a mensch!
No comments:
Post a Comment