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The result would leave his face with the distinctive, haggard look that would often have him typecast in villainous roles throughout his career. In 1942 he crashed during a training flight, which caused severe burns to his face that required vast plastic surgery.
Jack palance professional#
Born the son of a coal miner where he also worked himself, Palance was a professional boxer and trained as a bomber pilot during World War II. He also received nominations for the films "Sudden Fear", (1952) and "Shane", (1953).
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Jack palance movie#
He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1991 movie "City Slickers". He also had a memorable performance in the Rod Serling drama "Requiem For A Heavyweight."Īctor.
Jack palance series#
He also had a successful television career, starring in the series "The Greatest Show on Earth" in the 1960s, "Bronk" in the 1970s, and as host of "Ripley's Believe It or Not" in the 1980s. After some stage experience (notably replacing Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in the original Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire"), Palance gave a memorable performance in his big screen debut in the 1950 film "Panic in the Streets". He is survived by his wife, Elaine Rogers two children by his first wife, Holly Palance and Brook Palance Wilding his brother, John sister, Anne Despiva and three grandchildren.Actor. Palance also won an Emmy Award, for a role on "Playhouse 90," in 1957. Palance was nominated for an Academy Award in 1952 after portraying the ardent lover who stalks a terrified Joan Crawford in "Sudden Fear." In 1953, the Academy nominated him again for his role as Jack Wilson, the swaggering gunslinger who bullies peace-loving Alan Ladd into a barroom duel in the Western classic "Shane." Palance also made guest appearances on numerous television shows, such as "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour," "Playhouse 90" and "Your Show of Shows." He went on to positive reviews in a film career that included "Young Guns" in 1988 and "Batman" in 1989.
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Palance's portrayal of Kowalski earned him a contract with 20th Century Fox, the IMDB says. His acting break came after the war as Marlon Brando's understudy in "Streetcar Named Desire." He replaced Brando on stage as Stanley Kowalski, a working class construction worker with a fierce temper in Tennessee Williams' classic play.Īccording to the Internet Movie Database, Brando asked the actor if he would work with him on a punching bag but wound up with a sore nose when Palance missed the bag and hit the superstar. Palance was wounded in World War II and received a Purple Heart. He was a professional heavyweight boxer in the early 1940s, but his career in the ring was halted by a stint in the military. His family was Ukrainian and his father was a coal miner.
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Palance was born Vladimir Palaniuk in Pennsylvania. "Most of them shouldn't even be directing traffic," he said. "Most of the stuff I do is garbage," he once told a reporter, adding that most of the directors he worked with were incompetent, too. Always the iconoclast, Palance had scorned most of his movie roles. It was a magic moment that epitomized the actor's 40 years in films. As far as two-handed push-ups, you can do that all night, and it doesn't make a difference whether she's there or not."
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The Academy Awards crowd laughed and applauded as he said, "That's nothing, really. The actor clutched his Oscar in one hand and dropped to the ground for a round of vigorous one-handed push-ups. Known for hard, grizzled roles in numerous Westerns during his six-decade career, Palance gained a second wind of fame when he won the best supporting actor Oscar for playing Curly in "City Slickers." ( Watch the "Shane" gunslinger turn into a comedy star - 1:31 ) He was 87, said spokesman Dick Guttman, and died of natural causes in his home in Montecito, California, surrounded by his family. LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) - Actor Jack Palance, who won an Oscar with his comedic self-parody in 1991's "City Slickers," died Friday.
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