Martin Balsam

The supporting actor who held the frame together

Martin Balsam never needed his name in neon lights to make audiences believe the movie was serious. His face was that of a Bronx neighbor who could be an honest accountant or a detective with too much curiosity.

He was born in the Bronx in 1919.

In 1947 he was part of the first wave of the Actors Studio alongside names like Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. But his style was different, because he didn't pursue exaggerated inner anguish but absolute precision in every gesture.

Before reaching Hollywood, he worked in radio and New York theater, honing an instinct that made him nearly infallible. In 1957 he played the jury foreman in 12 Angry Men, and his restraint balanced the tension of that confined room.

Alfred Hitchcock called him in 1960 to play detective Arbogast in Psycho, because his face conveyed an almost vulnerable ordinariness. That fall down the stairs of the Bates mansion was filmed with an innovative technique that Balsam carried out without complaint.

And that ordinariness was his greatest professional tool.

The Oscar and the Conquest of the Seventies

In 1966 he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in The Apartment. He wasn't the film's lead, but his presence overshadowed the main names through a naturalness that few achieved in that era.

He played men of moral authority in films such as Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1961 or Seven Days in May in 1964. As a result, casting directors always had him at the top of their trusted lists.

During the 1970s he worked on projects that defined American suspense and political thriller cinema. In 1974 he filmed The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and in 1976 he joined the cast of All the President's Men.

But his career wasn't confined to the borders of the United States.

Balsam felt a special connection to Italy, and there he found a creative haven during his final years in the profession. He took part in numerous Italian crime films, where his restraint fit perfectly with the raw style of European screenplays.

In 1991, he made a cameo in the remake of Cape Fear directed by Martin Scorsese, a nod to his role in the original 1962 version. It was one of his last notable roles before he stepped away from the industry's spotlight.

He died of a heart attack in Rome on February 13, 1996.