Jack Palance

Jack Palance Palance in 1953 Background information Born as: Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk Born Feb 18, 1919 Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, U.S. Died Nov 10, 2006 - at age 86 Montecito, California, U.S. natural causes Spouse(s): Virginia Baker (1949 - 1968) divorced Elaine Rogers (1987 - ) Occupation: Actor (1947–2004) Editor's note about articles in this category Military Service World War II Allegiance  : USA United States Army Air Forces Rank/Rate: 2nd Lieutenant Served: 1942–1944 Battles: European Theatre of Operations - WWII

Walter Jack Palance (born Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, for his roles in Sudden Fear (1952) and Shane (1953), and winning almost 40 years later for City Slickers (1991).

Born in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, the son of Ukrainian immigrants, Palance served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He attended Stanford University before pursuing a career in the theater, winning a Theatre World Award in 1951. He made his film acting debut in Elia Kazan's Panic in the Streets (1950), and earned Oscar nominations for Sudden Fear and Shane, his third and fourth-ever film roles. He also won an Emmy Award for a 1957 teleplay Requiem for a Heavyweight.

Subsequently, Palance played a variety of both supporting and leading film roles, often appearing in crime dramas and Westerns. Beginning in the late 1950s, he would work extensively in Europe, notably in a memorable turn as a charismatic-but-corrupting Hollywood mogul in Jean-Luc Godard's 1963 film Contempt. He played the title character in the 1973 television film Bram Stoker's Dracula, which influenced future depictions of the character. During the 1980s, he became familiar to a new generation of audiences by hosting the television series Ripley's Believe It or Not! (1982–86). His newfound popularity spurred a late-career revival, and he played high-profile villain roles in the blockbusters Young Guns (1988) and Tango & Cash (1989), and culminating in his Oscar and Golden Globe-winning turn as Curly in City Slickers.

Off-screen, he was involved in efforts in support of the Ukrainian American community and served as a chairman of the Hollywood Trident Foundation.

Early life

Palance was born Volodymyr Palahniuk on February 18, 1919, in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, to Anna (née Gramiak) and Ivan Palahniuk, an anthracite coal miner. His parents were Ukrainian Catholic immigrants; his father hailed from Ivane-Zolote in southwestern Ukraine (modern Ternopil Oblast), while his mother was from the Lviv Oblast. One of six children, he worked in the coal mines during his youth before turning professional as a boxer in the late 1930s.

Boxing under the name Jack Brazzo, Palahniuk lost his only recorded match in a four-round decision on points to future heavyweight contender Joe Baksi in a rough Pier-6 brawl. Other sources cite him winning 15 consecutive club fights, with 12 knockouts. Years later, he recounted: "Then I thought, 'You must be nuts to get your head beat in for $200.' The theater seemed a lot more appealing."

City Slickers

Palance was then cast as cowboy Curly Washburn in the 1991 comedy City Slickers, directed by Ron Underwood. He quipped:

I don't go to California much anymore. I live on a farm in Pennsylvania, about 100 miles from New York, so I can go into the city for dinner and a show when I want to. I also have a ranch about two hours from Los Angeles, but I don't go there very often at all...But I will always read a decent script when it is offered, and the script to City Slickers made sense. Curly (his character in the film) is the kind of man I would like to be. He is in control of himself, except for deciding the moment of his own death. Besides all that, I got paid pretty good money to make it.

Four decades after his film debut, Palance won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on March 30, 1992, for his performance as Curly.[36] Stepping onstage to accept the award, the 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 the age of 73, to perform one-armed push-ups.

The audience loved the moment, and host Crystal turned it into a running gag. At various points during the broadcast, Crystal announced that Palance was "backstage on the StairMaster, " had bungee-jumped off the Hollywood sign, had rendezvoused with the space shuttle in orbit, had fathered all the children in a production number, had been named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive, " and had won the New York primary election. At the end of the broadcast, Crystal expressed his hope to be back next year, but said, "I've just been informed Jack Palance will be hosting."

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

In 1993, during the Oscars' opening, a spoof of that highlight featured Palance appearing to drag an enormous Academy Award statuette, with Crystal again hosting, riding on its rear end. Halfway across the stage, Palance dropped to the ground as if exhausted but then performed several one-armed push-ups before regaining his feet and dragging the giant Oscar the rest of the way across the stage.

Final years

Palance's final films included Ebenezer (1998), a TV Western version of Charles Dickens's classic A Christmas Carol, with Palance as Scrooge; Treasure Island (1999); Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter's End (2000); and Prancer Returns (2001).

In 2004, Palance, then chairman of the Hollywood Trident Foundation ^↗, walked out of a Russian Film Festival in Hollywood. After his introduction, he stated, "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 Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia; however, he declined it.

In 2001, Palance returned to the recording studio as a special guest on his friend Laurie Z's album, Heart of the Holidays, to narrate the classic poem "The Night Before Christmas. " In 2002, he starred in the television movie Living with the Dead, alongside Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, and Diane Ladd. In 2004, he appeared in another television production, Back When We Were Grownups, once again directed by Ron Underwood, opposite Blythe Danner; this was his final performance.

Palance lived for several years around Tehachapi, California. He was married to his first wife, Virginia (née Baker), from 1949 to 1968. They had three children, one of whom is retired actress Holly Palance. On New Year's Day, 2003, Virginia was struck and killed by a car in Los Angeles. In May 1987, Palance married his second wife, Elaine Rogers. His death certificate listed his marital status as "Divorced".

Palance painted and sold landscape art, including a poem on the back of each piece. He was also the author of " The Forest of Love, " a collection of poems published in 1996 by Summerhouse Press.

Palance enjoyed raising cattle on his ranch in the Tehachapi Mountains. He gave up eating red meat after working there, commenting that he could no longer eat a cow.

Palance acknowledged his lifelong attachment to his Pennsylvania heritage and visited whenever possible. Shortly before his death, he sold his farm in Butler Township and auctioned his art collection.

Death

Palance passed away at the age of 87 from natural causes at his daughter Holly's home in Montecito, California, on November 10, 2006. Following his death, a memorial service took place at St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Hazelton, Pennsylvania.

Legacy

• 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.
• According to writer Mark Evanier, comic book creator Jack Kirby modeled his character Darkseid on the actor.
• The Lucky Luke 1956 comic Lucky Luke contre Phil Defer by Morris features a villain named Phil Defer, a caricature of Jack Palance.
• The song "And now we dance" by punk band The Vandals features the lyrics, "Come on and do one hand pushups just like Jack Palance."
• American comedian Bill Hicks incorporated a reference to Palance in one of his most famous routines, likening Palance's character in Shane to how he views the United States' role in international warfare.
• Novelist Donald E. Westlake stated that he sometimes imagined Palance as the model for the career-criminal character Parker he wrote in a series of novels under the name Richard Stark.
• In 2023, Palance was inducted into the Luzerne County Arts & Entertainment Hall of Fame. He was included among the inaugural class of inductees.

Filmography

Wikipedia article: Jack Palance Filmography

Television

Wikipedia article: Jack Palance Television

Stage

Wikipedia article: Jack Palance Stage

Awards and nominations

Wikipedia article: Jack Palance Awards and nominations

External links

• Jack Palance at the Internet Movie Database
• Jack Palance at the Internet Broadway Database

More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Jack_Palance ]

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