Eli Wallach

American actor (1915–2014)

Born

7 December 1915, Brooklyn

Died

24 June 2014

Citizenship

United States

Occupation

film actor, autobiographer, character actor, stage actor, television actor

Films here

3

Eli Herschel Wallach ( EE-ly WOL-ək; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. Known for his character actor roles, his entertainment career spanned over six decades. He received a BAFTA Award, a Tony Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He was also inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1988 and received the Academy Honorary Award in 2010.

Originally trained in stage acting, he garnered over 90 film credits. He and his wife Anne Jackson often appeared together on stage, eventually becoming a notable acting couple in American theater. Wallach initially studied method acting under Sanford Meisner and later became a founding member of the Actors Studio, where he studied under Lee Strasberg. He played a wide variety of roles throughout his career, primarily as a supporting actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Supporting or Featured Actor in a Play for The Rose Tattoo (1951).

Filmography (martial arts films)

Frequent collaborators

• David Carradine
• Christopher Lee
• Anthony De Longis
• George C. Scott
• Charles Lane
• Chuck Hicks
• Michael Kidd
• Stanley Donen

External links

• Wikipedia
• IMDb
• Wikidata

Facts from Wikidata Q104067 (CC0); quoted introduction from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.