American actor Alan Arkin, who won an Oscar and a BAFTA for his role as Grandfather in the film “Little Miss Sunshine,” has passed away at the age of 89.
During his seven-decade-long screen and stage career, Arkin appeared in Ben Affleck’s Oscar-winning film “Argo.”
Confirmation of his death was announced by his sons Adam, Matthew, and Anthony in a family statement on Friday.
They said, “Our father was a remarkable artist and a unique human being who was an extraordinarily talented force of nature as both an artist and a person.”
“A beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, he will be greatly missed and remembered fondly.”
Arkin also lent his voice to the character JD Salinger in the Netflix animated series “BoJack Horseman” from 2015 to 2016. His co-star in another recent Netflix series, “The Kominsky Method,” Paul Reiser tweeted in response to the news of his death, saying, “There is a world without Alan Arkin… It’s not as great.”
He wrote, “Ever since this guy came on the screen in ‘The Russians Are Coming’ (Whitaker Walt!), I fell in love with him.” “I was 8 years old.”
“To know him – and laugh with him – has been the main attraction of my life. Dear friend, RIP.”
Spinal Tap star Michael McKean also paid tribute to his former co-star and friend online, saying, “When I was a young actor, people wanted to know if I wanted to be a serious actor or a funny actor.”
“I’ll say, ‘What kind of Alan Arkin is he?’ and they shut up.”
He described Arkin as “charming, exuberant, and one hell of a bullshit detector to live with great pleasure.”
Born in New York and raised in Los Angeles, the actor, director, and screenwriter, known for his impeccable comic timing, received training in acting from a young age; however, he actually started in music, singing, and playing the guitar in a local band called The Tarriers.
He achieved top five hits with the song “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)” in 1956, later made famous by Harry Belafonte.
After dropping out of college, he moved to Chicago in 1960 and became an early member of the improvisational comedy troupe Second City, about which he once said, “It saved my life, really.”
His auspicious start in his acting career on Broadway came in 1963 with the play “Enter Laughing,” which earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor.
He gained fame through his performances in films such as “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming” (1966) and “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” (1968), both of which earned him Oscar nominations for Best Actor. He won a Golden Globe Award for the dark comedy “The In-Laws.”
Moving into directing, he was nominated for another Tony Award in 1973 for his off-stage work in the play “The Sunshine Boys.”
After appearing alongside Johnny Depp in Tim Burton’s 1990 fantasy romance “Edward Scissorhands,” his performance in the 2006 film “Little Miss Sunshine” earned him an Oscar and a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor.
The tragicomedy revolves around the dysfunctional members of a family who embark on a journey to take their youngest child to a beauty pageant.
In it, Arkin portrayed the foul-mouthed Grandfather Edwin Hoover, who joins his family after being kicked out of a retirement home for heroin use.
He trains his granddaughter Olive, a beauty pageant aspirant, and teaches her to perform a striptease.
