The actor, who died yesterday at age 98, rarely got to be the star. He was, instead, the consummate character actor, playing unforgettable sidekicks and villains, rascals and rivals.
Eli Wallach worked well into his nineties, racking up more than a hundred credits on film and television (and that's not even taking into account his Broadway career) — in 2010, at the age of 94, he appeared on screen twice, in movies from Oliver Stone and Roman Polanski.
In honor of the prolific actor, who died at 98 on Tuesday, here's a look at some of his greatest roles.
Baby Doll (1956)
Wallach's first big screen role was in Elia Kazan's sultry Baby Doll, where he played Silva Vacarro, the owner of a rival cotton gin that's been taking all of Archie Lee Meighan's (Karl Malden) business. When his gin's burned down, he rightly suspects Archie's the culprit, but rather than retaliate outright, he comes up with another plan. His campaign to seduce Archie's virginal child bride Baby Doll Meighan (Carroll Baker) is an incredible mix of the creepy and the sensual.
Warner Home Video
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
As bandit leader Calvera, Wallach terrorizes a Mexican border town into seeking the help of a group of hired guns in this classic Western based on The Seven Samurai. It's no small feat to face down the likes of Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, and Robert Vaughn, but Wallach manages it easily, bringing swagger and gusto to the villainous role.
MGM Home Entertainment
The Misfits (1961)
As Guido, a widower living in a half-built house in the Nevada desert, Wallach is one of three men vying for the gaze of the recently divorced Roslyn Tabor — and for good reason, since she's played by Marilyn Monroe. The movie's an elegy for the West, and it has a whole extra layer of mournfulness to it given that Wallach's co-stars all died not long after it was shot. The Misfits was the final completed film for both Monroe and Clark Gable, while Montgomery Clift, struggling with addiction, died a few years later.
MGM Home Entertainment
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