Eli Wallach

Eli Wallach turned down the role of Maggio in From Here to Eternity because he preferred to take the stage in a Tennessee Williams play. Frank Sinatra won the Oscar for that character. But Wallach never regretted that decision, made in 1953.

Artistic integrity came before the paycheck.

He was born in Brooklyn in 1915 to a family of Polish-Jewish immigrants who ran a candy store. He studied at the University of Texas because it was the cheapest option during the Great Depression. There he learned to ride horses, a skill that would later serve him well when he played Mexican bandits in the Almería desert.

During World War II, he served in the army medical corps in Hawaii and Casablanca. Upon returning to New York, he dove headfirst into the Actors Studio to study the Method with Lee Strasberg. It was there that he developed a style based on observation and a nervous energy that set him apart from the leading men of the era.

The bandit who spoke with his eyes

His film debut took a while to arrive. It happened in 1956 with Baby Doll, directed by Elia Kazan. His performance as Silva Vacarro earned him a BAFTA and a Golden Globe nomination. But general audiences remember him for his grimy look and cynical laugh in the westerns that defined a decade.

In 1960, he played Calvera in The Magnificent Seven. Sergio Leone saw that film and realized that this short, expressive man was the perfect complement to Clint Eastwood. So he called him for the most ambitious project of the spaghetti western.

The shoot of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in 1966 was pure chaos between Burgos and Almería. Wallach nearly died three times during filming. In one scene, a train passed just inches from his head while he lay on the tracks. In another, he accidentally drank acid from a bottle someone left next to his water.

He survived to steal every scene.

Tuco Benedicto Pacífico Juan María Ramírez was not a flat villain. Wallach brought a desperate, comedic humanity to the role that wasn't in the original script. He improvised the sign of the cross every time his character faced danger, which gave the role a gritty realism that critics praised.

The longevity of the premium supporting actor

He married actress Anne Jackson in 1948, and they stayed together until death did them part. They became one of the most stable couples in the industry and worked together in numerous stage productions. He never sought to be a magazine cover star, because he cared more about the craft than red carpet fame.

The stage was always her refuge.

In the late 80s, he played Don Altobello in The Godfather Part III. Francis Ford Coppola needed someone who could eat a poisoned cannoli with the elegance of an old mob wolf. Wallach delivered a coldness that chilled the blood.

He kept taking small but intense roles well into his nineties. In 2010, he appeared in The Writer by Roman Polanski and in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. His presence on set intimidated younger actors due to his effortless ability to recall dialogue.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him an honorary Oscar in November 2010. It was a well-deserved recognition for a career that included more than 160 credits across film and television. He never won the competitive award, but his status as a cult actor was undisputed among specialist circles.

He died in New York on June 24, 2014, at the age of 98.