Jack Palance Biography

Jack Palance (born Volodymyr Jack Palahniuk; ; February 18, 1919 " November 10, 2006) was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.

Early life

Palance was born Volodymyr Palahniuk in the Lattimer Mines section of Hazle Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, to Anna ( Gramiak) and Ivan Palahniuk, an anthracite coal miner. Palance's parents were Ukrainian immigrants, his father a native of Ivane Zolote in southwestern Ukraine (modern Ternopil province) and his mother from the Lviv region.

One of six children, he worked in coal mines during his youth before becoming a professional boxer in the late 1930s. Fighting under the name Jack Brazzo, Palance reportedly compiled a record of 15 consecutive victories with 12 knockouts before losing a close decision to future heavyweight contender Joe Baksi in a "Pier-6" brawl. Years later he recounted: "Then, I thought, you must be nuts to get your head beat in for $200".

With the outbreak of World War II, Palance's boxing career ended and his military career began as a member of the United States Army Air Forces. Palance's rugged face, which took many beatings in the boxing ring, was said to have become disfigured while bailing out of a burning B-24 Liberator bomber during a training flight over southern Arizona (where Palance was a student pilot). His distinctive cheekbones and deep-set eyes were said to have been the result of reconstructive surgery. The story behind Palance's face was repeated numerous times (including in respected film reference works), but upon his death, several obituaries of Palance quoted him as saying that the entire story had been contrived: "Studio press agents make up anything they want to, and reporters go along with it. One flack created the legend that I had been blown up in an air crash during the war, and my face had to be put back together by way of plastic surgery. If it is a 'bionic face,' why didn't they do a better job of it?"

Palance reportedly was discharged from the military in 1944. After the war he attended Stanford University, leaving one credit shy of graduating to pursue a career in the theatre. (A bachelor of arts degree in Drama was conferred to him, honorary Class of '49, in '95) During his university years, to make ends meet he also worked as a short order cook, waiter, soda jerk, lifeguard at Jones Beach State Park, and photographer's model.

Career

Palance's acting break came as Marlon Brando's understudy in A Streetcar Named Desire, and he eventually replaced Brando on stage as Stanley Kowalski.

In 1947, Palance made his Broadway debut, and this was followed three years later by his screen debut in the movie Panic in the Streets (1950). The very same year he was featured in Halls of Montezuma about the U.S. Marines in World War II, where he was credited as "Walter (Jack) Palance." Palance was quickly recognized for his skill as a character actor, receiving an Oscar nomination for only his third film role, as Lester Blaine in Sudden Fear.

The following year, Palance was again nominated for an Oscar, this time for his role as the hired gunfighter Jack Wilson in Shane. Several other Western roles followed, but he also played such varied roles as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula and Attila the Hun. Three years before Palance played the part, comic book artist Gene Colan based his interpretation of Dracula for the acclaimed series The Tomb of Dracula on Palance explaining, "He had that cadaverous look, a serpentine look on his face. I knew that Jack Palance would do the perfect Dracula."

In 1957, Palance won an Emmy for best actor for his portrayal of Mountain McClintock in the Playhouse 90 production of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight.

Jean-Luc Godard persuaded Palance to take on the role of Hollywood producer Jeremy Prokosch in the 1963 nouvelle vague movie Le Mépris with Brigitte Bardot and Michel Piccoli. Although the main dialogue was in French, Palance spoke mostly English.

Later, in 1966, he appeared in the movie Alice Through the Looking Glass directed by Alan Handley in which he played the Jabberwocky.

In 1969, while still busy making movies, Palance recorded a country music album on Warner Bros. Records. The album recalled the Lee Hazlewood music that was popular at the time. Recorded in Nashville, the album is a playful country rock romp not unlike other late 60's Nashville recordings and featured Palance's self-penned classic song "The Meanest Guy That Ever Lived". The album was re-released on CD in 2003 by the Water label (Water 119).

Palance also starred the television series Bronk between 1975 and 1976 for MGM Television.

In 1982, Palance received a major career boost when he began hosting a television revival of Ripley's Believe It or Not!. The weekly series ran from 1982 to 1986 on the American ABC network. The series was wildly popular during its four-year run, owing a great deal of its success to Palance's eccentric performances. The series also starred three different co-hosts from season to season, including Palance's daughter Holly Palance, actress Catherine Shirriff and singer Marie Osmond. Ripley's Believe It or Not! was in rerun syndication on the Sci-fi Channel (UK) and Sci-fi Channel (US) during the 1990s.

Palance's success on Ripley's Believe It or Not! resulted in a demand for his services. He made memorable appearances in Young Guns (1988), Tango & Cash (1989) and Tim Burton's Batman (1989), all of which served to reinvigorate his movie career. Palance would be involved in new projects each year right up to the start of the 21st century. He also performed on Roger Waters' first solo album release The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking in 1984.

Palance, at the time chairman of the Hollywood Trident Foundation, walked out of a Russian Film Festival in Hollywood. After being introduced, Palance said, "I feel like I walked into the wrong room by mistake. I think that Russian film is interesting, but I have nothing to do with Russia or Russian film. My parents were born in Ukraine: I'm Ukrainian. I'm not Russian. So, excuse me, but I don't belong here. It's best if we leave." Palance was awarded the title of "People's Artist" by the President Vladimir Putin on that occasion; however, Palance refused the title.

In 2001, Palance returned to the recording studio as a special guest on friend Laurie Z's Heart of the Holidays album to narrate the famous classic poem " The Night Before Christmas."

In 2002, he starred in the television movie Living with the Dead opposite Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen and Diane Ladd. In 2004, he starred in another television production, Back When We Were Grownups opposite Blythe Danner, Palance played Poppy. This would be his final performance.

According to writer Mark Evanier, comic book creator Jack Kirby modeled his character Darkseid on the actor.

Academy Award

Four decades after his film debut, Palance won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on March 30, 1992, for his performance as cowboy Curly Washburn in the 1991 comedy City Slickers. Stepping onstage to accept the award, the intimidatingly fit 6' 4" (1.93 m) actor looked down at 5' 7" (1.70 m) Oscar host Billy Crystal (who was also his co-star in the movie), and joked " mimicking one of his lines from the film " "Billy Crystal... I crap bigger than him." He then dropped to the floor and demonstrated his ability, at age 73, to perform one-handed push-ups.

Crystal turned this into a running gag. At first, he quipped, "I told Jack before the ceremony, 'Decaf, Jack, decaf'" then at various points in the broadcast he announced Palance had done the following:

• was backstage on the Stairmaster;
• "...just bungee-jumped off the Hollywood sign";
• rendezvoused with the Space Shuttle in orbit;
• fathered all the children in a production number;
• been named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive;
• had won the New York primary election.

At the end of the broadcast, Crystal told everyone he would like to see them again, "But, I've just been informed Jack Palance will be hosting next year."

Years later, Billy Crystal appeared on Inside the Actors Studio with James Lipton and fondly recalled that after the Oscar ceremony Palance approached him during the reception, "He stopped me and put his arms out and went, 'Billy Crystal, who thought it would be you?.' It was his really funny way of saying thank you to a little New York Jewy guy who got him the Oscars".

In 1993, during the opening of the Oscars, a spoof of that Oscar highlight featured Palance appearing to drag in an enormous Academy Award statuette with Crystal again hosting, riding on the rear end of it.

Death and legacy

On November 10, 2006, Palance died of natural causes at age 87 at his daughter Holly's home in Montecito in Santa Barbara County. His remains were cremated, his ashes retained by family and friends. Jack Palance lived for a number of years around Tehachapi, near Bakersfield, in southern California.

Palance has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1992, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Personal life

Palance was married to his first wife, Virginia Baker, from 1949 to 1968, they had three children: Holly (born in 1950), an actress, Brooke (born in 1952) and Cody (1955"1998).

Daughter Brooke married Michael Wilding, son of Michael Wilding Sr. (1912"1979) and Elizabeth Taylor; they have three children.

Cody Palance, an actor himself, appeared alongside his father in the film Young Guns. Cody would die from malignant melanoma at age 42 on July 16, 1998. Palance had hosted The Cody Palance Memorial Golf Classic to raise awareness and funds for a cancer center in Los Angeles. Aside from acting Cody was also musician.

In May 1987, Palance married his second wife, Elaine Rogers. On New Year's Day 2003, Palance's first wife Virginia Baker, (July 7, 1922 " January 1, 2003) was struck and killed by a car in Los Angeles.

Palance painted and sold landscape art, with a poem included on the back of each picture. He was also the author of The Forest of Love, a book of poems published in 1996 by Summerhouse Press.

True to his roots, Palance acknowledged a lifelong attachment to his Pennsylvania heritage and visited there when able. Shortly, before his death, he had placed his Butler Township, Pennsylvania, Holly-Brooke farm up for sale and his personal art collection up for auction.

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Notes
1950	Panic in the Streets
	Halls of Montezuma
1952	Sudden Fear	Nominated " Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1953	Shane
	Man in the Attic
	Second Chance
	Arrowhead
	Flight to Tangier
1954	The Silver Chalice
	Sign of the Pagan
1955	The Big Knife
	I Died a Thousand Times
1956	Attack
	Playhouse 90: Requiem for a Heavyweight	(TV)
1957	House of Numbers
1958	The Man Inside
1959	Flor De Mayo
1959	Ten Seconds to Hell
1960	Austerlitz
	The Barbarians
1961	Barabbas
1961	Warriors Five
1963	Contempt
1965	Once a Thief
1966	The Professionals
1966	Alice Through the Looking Glass
1967	Kill a Dragon
1967	Torture Garden
1968	The Mercenary
1969	Justine
	Legion of the Damned
	Che!	(as Fidel Castro)
1970	Compañeros
	Monte Walsh
1971	Horsemen
1972	Chato's Land
	Si può fare... amigo
1973	Father Jackleg (Originally Tedeum)
	Oklahoma Crude
1974	Craze
1975	The Great Adventure
1976	God's Gun
	I padroni della città
The Cop in Blue Jeans
1977	Portrait of a Hitman
	Welcome To Blood City
1978	The One Man Jury
1979	Angels' Brigade
	Cocaine Cowboys	lead role
1980	Hawk the Slayer	(as Voltan)
	Without Warning
1987	Bagdad Café
1988	Gor
	Young Guns
1989	Batman
	Outlaw of Gor
	Tango & Cash
1990	Solar Crisis
1991	City Slickers	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture Nominated " Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
1993	Cyborg 2
1994	City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold
	The Swan Princess	voice
	Cops and Robbersons
1997	Ebenezer	(as Ebenezer Scrooge)
1999	Treasure Island	(as Long John Silver)
2002	Talking to Heaven
2003	Between Hitler and Stalin	narrator

Television movies/mini-series

Year	Title	Role
1968	Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde	Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde
1973	Bram Stoker's Dracula	Count Dracula
1974	The Godchild	Rourke
1975	The Hatfields and the McCoys	Devil Anse Hatfield
1979	The Last Ride of the Dalton Gang	Will Smith
1980	The Ivory Ape	Marc Kazarian
	The Golden Moment: An Olympic Love Story	Whitey Robinson
1981	Evil Stalks This House	Stokes
1992	Keep the Change	Overstreet
1994	The Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics	Dr. Jeremy Wheaton (segment "Where the Dead Are")
1995	Buffalo Girls	Bartle Bone
1997	I'll Be Home for Christmas	Bob
	Ebenezer	Ebenezer Scrooge
1999	Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End	John Witting
2001	Living With the Dead	Allan Van Praagh
2004	Back When We Were Grownups	Paul 'Poppy' Davitch

Television shows

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	Lights Out		Episode "The Man Who Couldn't Remember"
1952	Westinghouse Studio One		Episode "The King in Yellow"
	Curtain Call		Episode "Azaya"
	Westinghouse Studio One		Episode "Little Man, Big World"
	The Gulf Playhouse		Episode "Necktie Party"
1953	Danger		Episode "Said the Spider to the Fly"
	The Web		Episode "The Last Chance"
	Suspense	Tom Walker	Episode "The Kiss-Off"
	The Motorola TV Hour	Scott Malone/Kurt Bauman	Episode "Brandenburg Gate"
	Suspense		Episode "Cagliostro and the Chess Player"
1955	What's My Line	Himself	Mystery guest
1956	Playhouse 90	Harlan "Mountain" McClintock	"Requiem for a Heavyweight" Emmy Award for Best Single Performance by an Actor
	Zane Grey Theatre	Dan Morgan	Episode "The Lariat"
1957	Playhouse 90	Monroe Stahr	"The Last Tycoon"
	Playhouse 90	Manolete	"The Death of Manolete"
1963	The Greatest Show on Earth	Circus manager Johnny Slate	Series " top billing
1964	What's My Line	Himself	Mystery guest
1965	Convoy	Harvey Bell	Episode "The Many Colors of Courage"
1966	Run for Your Life	Julian Hays	Episode "I Am the Late Diana Hays"
	Alice Through the Looking Glass	Jabberwock	(Live Theatre)
	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Louis Strago	2 episodes "The Concrete Overcoat Affair: Parts I and II"
1968	They Came to Rob Las Vegas
1971	Net Playhouse	President Jackson	"Trail of Tears"
1973	The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour	Himself
1975	Bronk	Det. Lt. Alex 'Bronk' Bronkov	Series
1979	Buck Rogers in the 25th Century	Kaleel	Episode "Planet of the Slave Girls"
	Unknown Powers	Presenter/Narrator
1981	Tales of the Haunted	Stokes	Episode "Evil Stalks This House"
1982"1986	Ripley's Believe It or Not!	Himself " Host	Series
2001	Night Visions	Jake Jennings	Episode "Bitter Harvest"