Eli Wallach

Highest Rated: 100% Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (2005)
Lowest Rated: 8% Mama's Boy (2007)
Birthday: Dec 7, 1915
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, USA

Long before earning his B.A. from the University of Texas and his M.A. in Education from C.C.N.Y., Eli Wallach made his first on-stage appearance in a 1930 amateur production. After World War II service and intensive training at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, the bumpy-nosed, gravel-voiced Wallach debuted on Broadway in Skydrift (1945). In 1951, he won a Tony award for his portrayal of Alvaro Mangiaco in Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo. Though a staunch advocate of "The Method," Wallach could never be accused of being too introspective on-stage; in fact, his acting at times was downright ripe -- but deliciously so. He made his screen debut in Baby Doll (1956) playing another of Tennessee Williams' abrasive Latins, in this instance the duplicitous Silva Vaccaro; this performance earned Wallach the British equivalent of the Oscar. He spent the bulk of his screen time indulging in various brands of villainy, usually sporting an exotic accent (e.g., bandit leader Calvera in The Magnificent Seven [1960]). Perhaps his most antisocial onscreen act was the kidnapping of Hayley Mills in The Moon-Spinners (1965). Even when playing someone on "our" side, Wallach usually managed to make his character as prickly as possible: a prime example is Sgt. Craig in The Victors (1963), who manages to be vituperative and insulting even after his face is blown away. Busy on stage, screen, and TV into the 1990s, Wallach has played such unsavory types as a senile, half-blind hitman in Tough Guys (1986) and candy-munching Mafioso Don Altobello in The Godfather III (1990). He continued to work steadily into the 1990s with parts in the Chinatown sequel The Two Jakes, the remake of Night and the City, Article 99, and narrating a number of documentaries. He didn't slow down much at all during the 21st century, appearing in the comedy Keepin the Faith, Clint Eastwood's Oscar Winning Mystic River, and The Hoax. In 2010 he acted for Roman Polanski in his thriller The Ghost Writer, and for Oliver Stone in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, which was to be his last film role; Wallach died in 2014 at age 98.His television work has included an Emmy-winning performance in the 1967 all-star TV movie The Poppy Is Also a Flower and the continuing role of mob patriarch Vincent Danzig in Our Family Honor. Married since 1948 to actress Anne Jackson, Wallach has appeared on-stage with his wife in such plays as The Typists and the Tiger, Luv, and Next, and co-starred with her in the 1967 comedy film The Tiger Makes Out. Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson are the parents of special effects director Peter Wallach.

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Highest Rated Movies

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
100%
Girlfriends
100%
How to Steal a Million
100%
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
97%

Filmography

Movies

Rating	Title	Credit	Box Office	Year
63%	The Magnificent Seven	Actor	$93.4M	2016
No Score Yet	Root	Actor	—	2013
No Score Yet	Honey Sweet Love	Actor	—	2012
No Score Yet	The Adventures Of Gerard	Actor	—	2011
55%	Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	Julie Stenhardt	$52.5M	2010
90%	Ahead of Time	Mordechai Rossman	$33.5K	2010
84%	The Ghost Writer	Vineyard Old Man	$11.1M	2010
No Score Yet	Just Laugh!	Actor	—	2010
37%	New York, I Love You	Abe (Joshua Marston segment)	$1.7M	2009
33%	Tickling Leo	Emil Pikler	—	2009
44%	The Toe Tactic	Maestro	—	2009
8%	Mama's Boy	Seymour Warburton	—	2007
87%	Constantine's Sword	Piero Terracina	—	2007
No Score Yet	Brando	Actor	—	2007
86%	The Hoax	Noah Dietrich	$7.1M	2007
49%	The Holiday	Arthur Abbott	$63.3M	2006
No Score Yet	James Dean: Sense Memories	Actor	—	2005
100%	Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson	Actor	—	2005
71%	King of the Corner	Sol Spivak	—	2005
No Score Yet	The Real James Dean: From Indiana Farmboy To Hollywood Legend	Actor	—	2005
No Score Yet	The Easter Egg Adventure	Narrator	—	2004
83%	Broadway: The Golden Age	Actor	—	2004
No Score Yet	Reconstructing 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'	Actor	—	2004
No Score Yet	The Leone Style	Actor	—	2004
No Score Yet	Leone's West	Actor	—	2004
88%	Mystic River	Liquor Store Owner [uncredited]	$88.9M	2003
No Score Yet	Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip	Actor	—	2003
No Score Yet	Rita	Actor	—	2003
No Score Yet	American Masters	Reader	—	2003
No Score Yet	I sogni nel mirino	Actor	—	2002
No Score Yet	Advice and Dissent	Actor	—	2002
67%	Monday Night Mayhem	Leonard Goldenson	—	2002
No Score Yet	Taste of Jupiter	Actor	—	2002
No Score Yet	The Typists	Actor	—	2002
69%	Keeping the Faith	Rabbi Lewis	—	2000
No Score Yet	Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows	Actor	—	2000
No Score Yet	Naked City Justice With A Bullet	Deluca	—	1999
No Score Yet	Slapstick, Too!	Narrator	—	1998
No Score Yet	Trial of Adolf Eichmann	Actor	—	1997
28%	The Associate	Fallon	—	1996
14%	Two Much	Sheldon	—	1996
No Score Yet	Search for Dracula	Narrator	—	1996
No Score Yet	Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey	Narrator	—	1995
57%	Night and the City	Peck	—	1992
No Score Yet	Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story	Bill Presser	—	1992
No Score Yet	Legacy of Lies	Moses Resnick	—	1992
43%	Article 99	Abrams	—	1992
No Score Yet	Lincoln: Now He Belongs to the Ages, 1865	William Crook	—	1992
No Score Yet	Lincoln: I Want to Finish This Job, 1864	William Crook	—	1992
No Score Yet	Lincoln: The Pivotal Year, 1863	William Crook	—	1992
No Score Yet	Lincoln: The Making of a President, 1860-1862	William Crook	—	1992
72%	Mistress	Lieberhoff	—	1991
No Score Yet	A Family Matter	Frank Latella	—	1991
68%	The Godfather, Part III	Don Altobello	—	1990
68%	The Two Jakes	Cotton Weinberger	—	1990
No Score Yet	The Impossible Spy	Yacov	—	1987
35%	Nuts	Dr. Herbert A. Morrison	—	1987
57%	Tough Guys	Leon B. Little	—	1986
No Score Yet	Something in Common	Norman Voss	—	1986
No Score Yet	Rocket to the Moon	Mr. Prince	—	1986
No Score Yet	Spark Among the Ashes	Narrator	—	1986
No Score Yet	Murder: By Reason of Insanity	Dr. Huffman	—	1985
No Score Yet	Embassy	Joe Verga	—	1985
No Score Yet	Sam's Son	Sam Orowitz	—	1984
No Score Yet	The Salamander	Actor	—	1983
No Score Yet	The Executioner's Song	Uncle Vern Damico	—	1982
No Score Yet	The Wall	Mauritzi Apt	—	1982
No Score Yet	Skokie	Bert Silverman	—	1981
No Score Yet	The Pride of Jesse Hallam	Sal Galucci	—	1981
No Score Yet	The Salamander	Leporello	—	1981
50%	The Hunter	Ritchie Blumenthal	—	1980
87%	Winter Kills	Joe Diamond	—	1979
No Score Yet	Firepower	Sal Hyman	—	1979
43%	Circle of Iron	Man-in-Oil	—	1979
No Score Yet	Sabbath of Peace	Actor	—	1979
No Score Yet	Movie Movie	Vince Marlowe/Pop	—	1978
100%	Girlfriends	Rabbi Gold	—	1978
No Score Yet	The Domino Principle	Gen. Tom Reser	—	1977
38%	The Deep	Adam Coffin	—	1977
No Score Yet	Nasty Habits	Monsignor	—	1977
47%	The Sentinel	Gatz	—	1977
No Score Yet	Aces High	Cacopoulos	—	1976
No Score Yet	Independence	Benjamin Franklin	—	1976
No Score Yet	Il Bianco, il giallo, il nero (White, the Yellow, and the Black)(Shoot First... Ask Questions Later)	Black	—	1975
No Score Yet	Stateline Motel	Joe	—	1975
No Score Yet	Crazy Joe	Don Vittorio	—	1974
No Score Yet	Don't Turn the Other Cheek	Actor	—	1974
57%	Cinderella Liberty	Lynn Forshay	—	1973
No Score Yet	The Chill Factor	Frank Enari	—	1973
No Score Yet	Viva la muerte... tua! (Don't Turn the Other Cheek) (Long Live Your Death)	Actor	—	1971
No Score Yet	Romance of a Horsethief	Kifke	—	1971
No Score Yet	The People Next Door	Arthur Mason	—	1970
No Score Yet	The Angel Levine	Store clerk	—	1970
No Score Yet	Zig Zag	Actor	—	1970
No Score Yet	Ace High	Cacopoulos	—	1969
No Score Yet	Le Cerveau (The Brain)	Frankie Scannapieco	—	1969
20%	MacKenna's Gold	Ben Baker	—	1969
No Score Yet	How to Save a Marriage---and Ruin Your Life	Harry Hunter	—	1968
No Score Yet	The Tiger Makes Out	Ben Harris	—	1967
97%	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly	Tuco	—	1966
No Score Yet	The Poppy Is Also a Flower	Locarno	—	1966
100%	How to Steal a Million	Davis Leland	—	1966
No Score Yet	Genghis Khan	The Shah of Khwarezm	—	1965
57%	Lord Jim	General	—	1965
No Score Yet	Kisses For My President	Raphael Valdez Jr.	—	1964
No Score Yet	The Moon-Spinners	Stratos	—	1964
No Score Yet	Act One	Warren Stone	—	1963
No Score Yet	The Victors	Sgt. Craig	—	1963
57%	Twice Told Tales	Actor	—	1963
86%	How the West Was Won	Charlie Gant	—	1963
No Score Yet	Heningway's Adventures of a Young Man	John	—	1962
97%	The Misfits	Guido Dellini	—	1961
No Score Yet	Seven Thieves	Poncho/Baron von Roelitz	—	1960
88%	The Magnificent Seven	Calvera	—	1960
No Score Yet	Lullaby	Actor	—	1960
97%	Some Like It Hot	Actor	—	1959
83%	The Lineup	Dancer	—	1958
94%	Baby Doll	Silva Vacarro	—	1956
No Score Yet	Danger	Actor	—	1952

TV

Rating	Title	Credit	Year
100%	The Roosevelts: An Intimate History 2014	Voice	2014
81%	Nurse Jackie 2009-2015	Bernard Zimberg	2009
67%	The War 2007	Voice	2007
74%	Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip 2006-2007	Eli Weintraub	2006
28%	Whoopi 2003-2004	Norman	2004
No Score Yet	American Masters 2001	Voice Narrator Reader	2003
No Score Yet	ER 1994-2009	Mr. Langston	2003
No Score Yet	American Experience 1988	Voice	2002 2001 1992
No Score Yet	Ken Burns' Baseball 1994-2010	Voice	1994
No Score Yet	Law & Order 1990-2010	Union Worker Simon Vilanis	1992
No Score Yet	Murder, She Wrote 1984-1996	Salvatori	1988
No Score Yet	Highway to Heaven 1984-1989	Gene Malloy Tim Charles	1987 1986
No Score Yet	American Playhouse 1982-1996	Mr. Prince	1986
No Score Yet	Kojak 1973-1978	Lee Curtain	1975 1974
93%	Batman 1966-1968	Mr. Freeze	1967
No Score Yet	Tales of the Unexpected 1979-1988	Gerry Williams

QUOTES FROM Eli Wallach CHARACTERS

Stratos: The stars cannot lie!
Mme. Habib: Everyone lies when it suits their purpose... even the stars.

Calvera: Generosity... that was my first mistake. I leave these people a little bit extra, and then they hire these men to make trouble. It shows you, sooner or later, you must answer for every good deed.

Arthur Abbott: Iris, in the movies we have leading ladies and we have the best friend. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason, you're behaving like the best friend.
Iris: You're so right. You're supposed to be the leading lady of your own life for God's sake!

Tuco the Ugly: If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?

Tuco the Ugly: How much?

Tuco the Ugly: There are two kinds of spurs, my friend. Those that come in by the door; those that come in by the window.

Tuco the Ugly: If you save your breath I feel a man like you can manage it. And if you don't manage it, you'll die. Only slowly, very slowly old friend.

Tuco the Ugly: BLONDY! YOU'RE A SON OF A (cuts him off and goes "AHHHHHHH!")
Tuco the Ugly: BLONDY! YOU'RE A SON OF A...

Tuco the Ugly: When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.

Tuco the Ugly: I'm innocent, I'm an innocent farmer.

Tuco the Ugly: When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.

Tuco the Ugly: (Trying to read) See you soon... idi... id...
Tuco the Ugly: [trying to read] See you soon... idi... id...
The Good: "Idiots". It's for you.
The Good: Idiots. It's for you.

Tuco the Ugly: There are 2 kinds of spurs my friend, those who come through the door (sign of the cross) & those who come through the window!
Tuco the Ugly: There are 2 kinds of spurs my friend, those who come through the door [sign of the cross] & those who come through the window!

Tuco the Ugly: I like big fat men like you. When they fall, they make more noise... and sometimes they never get up.

Tuco the Ugly: God is with us because he hates the yanks too!
The Good: God's not on our side 'cause he hates idiots also.

Tuco the Ugly: If you want to shoot, just shoot don't start talking
Tuco the Ugly: If you want to shoot, just shoot don't start talking.

The Good: Just like old times...1 2 3 4 Five for you...five for me...you know how much u worth now...???
The Good: Just like old times...1 2 3 4 Five for you...five for me...you know how much u worth now...
Tuco the Ugly: How much...???
Tuco the Ugly: How much...
The Good: 3000 Dollars...
The Good: 3000 dollars...

Tuco the Ugly: If you want to shoot, shoot, don't talk...

Tuco the Ugly: How much
Tuco the Ugly: How much?

Tuco the Ugly: You want to know who you are? Huh? Huh? You don't, I do, everyone does... you're the son of a thousand fathers, all bastards like you
Tuco the Ugly: You want to know who you are? Huh? You want to know who's son you are? You don't, I do, everybody does... you're the son of a thousand fathers, all bastards like you.

Tuco the Ugly: When you have to shoot...Shoot! Don't talk.
Tuco the Ugly: When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.

Tuco the Ugly: If you work for a living, why do you kill yourself working?

Tuco the Ugly: I'm looking for the owner of that horse. He's tall, blonde, he smokes a cigar, and he's a pig!

Tuco the Ugly: There are two kinds of spurs, my friend. Those that come in by the door; those that come in by the window
Tuco the Ugly: There are two kinds of spurs, my friend. Those that come in by the door, [crosses himself] those that come in by the window.

Tuco the Ugly: Don't die, I'll get you water. Stay there. Don't move, I'll get you water. Don't die until later
Tuco the Ugly: Don't die, I'll get you water. Stay there. Don't move, I'll get you water. Don't die until later.

Tuco the Ugly: One bastard goes in, another one comes out.

Tuco the Ugly: Even when Judas hanged himself there was thunder.

Tuco the Ugly: When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk.

The Good: You may run the risks, my friend, but I do the cutting. We cut down my percentage - uh, cigar? - liable to interfere with my aim.
The Good: You may run the risks, my friend, but I do the cutting. We cut down my percentage - uh, cigar? - liable to interfere with my aim.
Tuco the Ugly: But if you miss you had better miss very well. Whoever double-crosses me and leaves me alive, he understands nothing about Tuco. Nothing!
Tuco the Ugly: But if you miss you had better miss very well. Whoever double-crosses me and leaves me alive, he understands nothing about Tuco. Nothing!

Don Altobello: Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.

Photos

Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

Movies

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BoxOffice

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TV

Rating

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Year

QUOTES FROM Eli Wallach CHARACTERS

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