Jack Palance

Tall, powerfully built stage actor whose gaunt, leathery features were first seen on film in 1950, when Elia Kazan, who had previously directed Palance on Broadway in "A Streetcar Named Desire", cast him as a plague-ridden gangster in "Panic in the Streets". With his severe, strongly sculpted cheekbones, beady, piercing eyes and velvety, insinuating line delivery, Palance did manage to achieve star status, though he has usually played menacing, often dangerous or at least harshly unsympathetic types.

Palance went on to earn two supporting actor Oscar nominations, as the seemingly affectionate husband of Joan Crawford actually plotting her demise in "Sudden Fear" (1952) and as a particularly nasty gunslinger in "Shane" (1953). Leading roles soon followed, beginning with his recreation of Jack the Ripper for the modest period thriller, "Man in the Attic" (1953). Palance did occasionally manage to play victim as well as victimizer, notably as a blackmailed movie star in Robert Aldrich's adaptation of Clifford Odets' blistering portrait of Hollywood, "The Big Knife" (1955), and in a fine Emmy-winning turn as an unfortunate boxer in Rod Serling's landmark TV play, "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1956).

One of Palance's last really outstanding films from this peak period was the powerful war film, "Attack!" (1956). As the 1960s dawned, routine actioners like "Ten Seconds to Hell" (1959) and "Once a Thief" (1965) became increasingly common. During this time he began appearing in foreign films, and though they included such similar fodder as "Barabbas" (1962), Palance did manage a superb turn as a crass American movie producer in Jean-Luc Godard's "Le Mepris/Contempt" (1963). He also tried TV with the circus-set series, "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1963-64).

Palance began alternating supporting roles with leads during the late 60s and early 70s but he kept very busy in mostly action fare including "The Desperados" (1968), "The Horsemen" (1971) and "Oklahoma Crude" (1973). TV work began to increase as well, and Palance clearly enjoyed himself giving unnerving, showmanlike performances in a special presentation of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1968) and in his first TV-movie, "Dracula" (1974).

Palance tried a TV series again with the gritty cop drama, "Bronk" (1975-76) but had better luck bringing a creepy, bemused flair to his hosting duties on "Ripley's Believe It or Not" (1982-86), especially when he taunted audiences to "believe it...or not". He won new audiences with his offbeat performances as a courtly, aging artist in Percy Adlon's cult hit, "Bagdad Cafe" (1987) and as a gruff veteran trail boss leading tenderfoot vacationers on a cattle drive in the mid-life crisis comedy "City Slickers" (1991). The film earned the good-humored veteran actor a supporting Oscar and led to another sprightly performance--at the Academy Award ceremony, where he joked about his ability to keep working as well as his virility and then dropped to the floor to prove it with a series of one-armed push-ups. The inevitable sequel, "City Slickers II: The Search for Curly's Gold" (1994), followed; since the first film killed off Palance's character, Curly, this film featured the feisty actor as Curly's brother.

• Also Credited As:
  Vladimir Palahnuik, Walter Palance, Walter Palanskie
• Born:
  February 18, 1918 in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, USA
• Died:
  November 10, 2006.
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Model, Professional boxer, Cattle rancher, Coal miner, Lifeguard, Radio repairman, Salesman, Short order cook, Waiter

Family

• Brother: Leon Palahniuk. made appearances in films like Chato s Land and Te Deum
• Daughter: Brooke Palance. born on February 9, 1952; mother, Virginia Baker
• Daughter: Holly Palance. born on August 6, 1950; was one of Palance s co-hosts on TV s Ripley s Believe It or Not ; mother, Virginia Baker
• Father: John Palahnuik. Ukranian
• Mother: Anna Palahnuik.
• Son: Cody John Palance. born in 1955; appeared alongside his father in the film Young Guns, and was 42 when he died from malignant melanoma in 1998; mother, Virginia Baker

Education

• Stanford University, Stanford, California, journalism
• University of North Carolina, North Carolina

Milestones

• 1938 Became a professional boxer at age 20; reportedly won 18 out of 20 bouts (date approximate)
• 1942 Joined US Army Air Force; involved in plane crash during training
• 1944 Left military service; returned to work in the coal mines
• 1946 Moved to NYC
• 1947 Broadway acting debut, a one-line role as a Russian soldier in The Big Two
• 1948 Appeared in the Off-Broadway production of The Silver Tassie
• 1950 Film debut in Panic in the Streets , directed by Kazan
• 1950 Walked out on Fox contract when he failed to be cast alongside Brando in Viva, Zapata! ; role went to Anthony Quinn who won an Oscar
• 1951 Returned to Broadway in Darkness at Noon
• 1952 Received first Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for Sudden Fear
• 1953 Cast as the hired gunman in Shane ; although filmed before Sudden Fear , Shane was not released until the following year
• 1953 First color film, Second Chance
• 1953 Received top billing in a feature film for the first time in the Jack the Ripper Gothic thriller, Man in the Attic
• 1954 Co-starred in Sign of the Pagan
• 1955 Portrayed a movie idol in The Big Knife
• 1955 Spent a summer season at the American Shakespeare Festival in Straford, Connecticut
• 1957 Had dual role in The House of Numbers
• 1957 Made guest appearance on TV s The Perry Como Show ; surprised many by displaying his vocal abilities
• 1958 Lived in Switzerland
• 1960 Starred in the title role of the NBC adventure special Rivak, the Barbarian
• 1963 Directed by Jean-Luc Godard in Contempt
• 1965 Began playing primarily supporting parts in features with his role in Once a Thief
• 1965 Returned to the stage as the King of Siam opposite Celeste Holm s Anna Leonowens in The King and I in Anaheim, California
• 1966 Co-starred in The Professionals
• 1966 Played the Jabberwock in a one-hour NBC-TV musical adaptation, Alice Through the Looking Glass
• 1968 Had title roles in the ABC special Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ; was injured in a fall during filming and later sued, receiving some $500,000 in damages
• 1969 Cast as Fidel Castro in Che! , the biopic of revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara
• 1973 Co-starred with George C Scott and Faye Dunaway in Oklahoma Crude
• 1974 Had title role in the CBS adaptation of Dracula
• 1974 TV-movie debut, Dracula
• 1980 First TV miniseries, The Golden Moment--An Olympic Love Story
• 1981 Hosted the special Ripley s Believe It or Not!
• 1987 Returned to features with his leading role in the adult action-fantasy, Gor
• 1988 Portrayed a painter in Bagdad Cafe
• 1989 Co-starred in Batman directed by Tim Burton
• 1991 Played Curly, an ornery trail boss who whips a trio of urban dwellers into shape to participate in a Montana cattle drive in City Slickers
• 1992 Hosted four syndicated historical documentary specials, Legends of the West with Jack Palance
• 1992 Startled audience and gave host Billy Crystal material for quips when he performed a series of one-armed push-ups as part of his Oscar acceptance speech at the Academy Awards ceremony after winning Best Supporting Actor Oscar for City Slickers
• 1994 Appeared as Curly s twin brother in City Slickers II: The Secret of Curly s Gold
• 1994 Provided the voice for the sinister villain Rothbert in the animated The Swan Princess
• 1995 Had featured role in the CBS miniseries Buffalo Girls
• 1998 Played title role in Ebenezer , the TNT-aired adaptation of A Christmas Carol
• 1999 Cast as Christopher Walken s father in the CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter s End
• 2000 Returned to films after a six-year absence in Marco Polo
• 2001 Portrayed Long John Silver in feature remake of Treasure Island
• After returning to NYC, became Marlon Brando s understudy for the Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire , staged by Elia Kazan; spotted by 20th Century Fox talent scout when he went on for Brando
• Attended Stanford on the GI Bill
• Hosted the ABC half-hour primetime documentary series, Ripley s Believe It or Not! ; daughter Holly served as co-host
• Hosted the ABC primetime documentary series, Ripley s Believe It or Not
• Injured throat in last fight; left with signature raspy voice
• Put under contract by 20th Century Fox
• Returned to Pennsylvania and worked briefly as a coal miner
• Starred as Johnny Slate on the ABC TV series, The Greatest Show on Earth
• Understudied Anthony Quinn in the national tour of A Streetcar Named Desire
• While at Stanford, landed role alongside Aline MacMahon in the play My Indian Family
• Worked for a time as a reporter in San Francisco for $35 a week