Actor Alan Arkin Dies at Age 89

Arkin’s career spanned seven decades of memorable performances, multiple Oscar and Emmy nominations and a Tony win.

Alan Arkin in Netflix's 'The Kominsky Method.' Photo: Mike Yarish/Netflix.

It’s not every actor whose passing can lay claim to being announced by ‘Seinfeld’s George Costanza, but Alan Arkin, a consummate actor and well-respected man, can. Close friend Jason Alexander tweeted the first sad news of Arkin’s death at the age of 89, which has since been confirmed.

Arkin leaves behind a stellar, seven-decade career full of performances both comedic and dramatic that any actor (and musician, in his case) would be proud to list.

Early life

(L to R) Alan Arkin and Peter Falk in 'The In-Laws.' Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Alan Wolf Arkin was born in Brooklyn on March 26, 1934, with his family relocating to Los Angeles when he was 12. He started taking acting classes at a young age but became a college dropout to pursue his first creative love: music, forming the Tarriers, a folk-music group in which he was the lead singer. Arkin, along with the others, wrote a version of the Jamaican calypso folk tune ‘The Banana Boat Song’ that was a hit in 1956.

Alongside writing and performing with the group, he began to pursue acting opportunities, and his two endeavors meshed for his (albeit uncredited) screen debut when he appeared with the Tarriers in 1957's ‘Calypso Heat Wave’. Arkin's musical talents also found their way into his stage work, combined with his having been part of the original Chicago Second City Comedy troupe, as he wrote lyrics, music and sketches for his Broadway debut ‘From the Second City’. His theatre work would see him go on to win a Tony for Joseph Stein’s comedy ‘Enter Laughing’ and he also enjoyed a successful run as a director.

Here's what Arkin says about joining Second City on the troupe’s site:

“Second City saved my life. It literally saved my life. I have a feeling it's true for a lot of other people, too.”

A life in movies

(L to R) Mark Wahlberg and Alan Arkin in Netflix's 'Spenser Confidential.' Photo: Daniel McFadden.

Yet it will be for his movie career Arkin will likely be best remembered, a man who could turn in scene-stealing performances even in smaller supporting roles. his movie highlights including the likes of ‘Argo’, ‘Wait Until Dark’, ‘Inspector Clouseau’, ‘Catch-22’, ‘Little Murders’ (which he also directed), ‘The In-Laws’, ‘Big Trouble’, ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’, ‘So I Married an Axe Murderer’, ‘Edward Scissorhands’, ‘The Rocketeer’, ‘Gattaca’, ‘Slums of Beverly Hills’, ‘Sunshine Cleaning’, ‘Get Smart’, ‘The Muppets’ ‘Going in Style’ and Tim Burton's ‘Dumbo’. His last credited work was in ‘Minions: The Rise of Gru’.

He earned an Oscar nomination for his first credited screen role in ‘The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming’, and another for ‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’ but would score the trophy itself for ‘Little Miss Sunshine’.

Small screen work

(L to R) Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin in Netflix's 'The Kominsky Method.' Photo: Mike Yarish/Netflix.

On TV, he earned multiple Emmy nominations and appeared on shows such as ‘Chicago Hope’, ‘Captain Kangaroo’, ‘St. Elsewhere’, The Muppet Show’, ‘BoJack Horseman’, ‘The Kominsky Method’, ‘Will & Grace’, ‘The Pentagon Papers’ and ‘The Other Side of Hell.'

Paying tribute

Arkin’s sons, who all entered showbusiness (Adam most famously), paid tribute in a joint statement:

“Our father was a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man. A loving husband, father, grand and great-grandfather, he was adored and will be deeply missed.”