 ProductLink |
|
 Jack Palance quite often exemplified evil incarnate on film, portraying some of the most intensely feral villains witnessed in 1950s westerns and melodrama. Enhanced by his tall, powerful build, icy voice, and piercing eyes, he earned two "Best Supporting Actor" nominations early in his career. It would take a grizzled, eccentric comic performance 40 years later, however, for him to finally grab the coveted statuette.Of Ukrainian descent, Palance was born Volodymyr Ivanovich Palahniuk (later taking Walter Jack Palance as his legal name) on February 18, 1919, in Lattimer Mines (Pennsylvania coal country), one of six children born to Anna (nee Gramiak) and Ivan Palahniuk. His father, an anthracite miner, died of black lung disease. Palance worked in the mines in his early years but averted the same fate as his father. Athletics was his ticket out of the mines when he won a football scholarship to the University of North Carolina. He subsequently dropped out to try his hand at professional boxing. Fighting under the name "Jack Brazzo", he won his first 15 fights, 12 by knockout, before losing a 4th round decision to future heavyweight contender Joe Baksi on December 17, 1940. With the outbreak of World War II, his boxing career ended and his military career began, serving in the Army Air Force as a bomber pilot. Wounded in combat and suffering severe injuries and burns, he received the Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. He resumed college studies as a journalist at Stanford University and became a sportswriter for the San Francisco Chronicle. He also worked for a radio station until he was bit by the acting bug.Palance made his stage debut in "The Big Two" in 1947 and immediately followed it understudying Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in the groundbreaking Broadway classic "A Streetcar Named Desire", a role he eventually took over. Following stage parts in "Temporary Island" (1948), "The Vigil" (1948), and "The Silver Tassle" (1949), Palance won a choice role in "Darkness of Noon" and a Theatre World Award for "Promising New Personality." This recognition helped him secure a 20th Century-Fox contract. The facial burns and resulting reconstructive surgery following the crash and burn of his WWII bomber plane actually worked to his advantage. Out of contention as a glossy romantic leading man, Palance instead became the archetypal villain equipped with an imposing glare, intimidating stance and killer-shark smile.He stood out among a powerhouse cast that included actors such as Richard Widmark, Zero Mostel and Paul Douglas in his movie debut in Elia Kazan's Panic in the Streets (1950), as a plague-carrying fugitive. He was soon on his way. Briefly billed as Walter Jack Palance before eliminating the first name, the actor made fine use of his former boxing skills and war experience for the film Halls of Montezuma (1951) as a boxing Marine in Richard Widmark's platoon. He followed this with the first of his back-to-back Oscar nods. In Sudden Fear (1952), only his third film, he played rich-and-famous playwright Joan Crawford's struggling actor/husband who plots to murder her and run off with gorgeous Gloria Grahame. Finding just the right degree of intensity and menace to pretty much steal the proceedings without chewing the scenery, he followed this with arguably his finest villain of the decade, that of sadistic gunslinger Jack Wilson who takes on Alan Ladd's titular hero, played by Shane (1953), in a classic showdown.Throughout the 1950s, Palance doled out strong leads and supports such as those in Man in the Attic (1953) (his first lead), The Big Knife (1955) and the war classic Attack (1956). Mixed in were a few routine to highly mediocre parts in Flight to Tangier (1953), Sign of the Pagan (1954) (as Attila the Hun), and the biblical bomb The Silver Chalice (1954). In between filmmaking were a host of television roles, none better than his down-and-out boxer in link=tt0049669], a rare sympathetic role that earned him an Emmy Award.Back and forth overseas in the 1960s and 1970s, Palance would dominate foreign pictures in a number of different genres -- sandal-and-spear spectacles, biblical epics, war stories and "spaghetti westerns." Such films included The Battle of Austerlitz (1960), The Mongols (1961), Barabbas (1961), Night Train to Milan (1962), Contempt (1963), The Mercenary (1968), Marquis de Sade's Justine (1969), The Desperados (1969), It Can Be Done Amigo (1972), Chato's Land (1972), Blood and Bullets (1976), Welcome to Blood City (1977). Back home, he played Fidel Castro in Che! (1969) while also appearing in Monte Walsh (1970), Oklahoma Crude (1973) and The Four Deuces (1975).On the made-for-television front, Jack played a number of nefarious nasties to perfection, ranging from Mr. Hyde (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968)) to Dracula in Dracula (1974) to Ebenezer Scrooge in a "Wild West" version of the Dickens classic Ebenezer (1998). He also played one of the Hatfields in The Hatfields and the McCoys (1975). Jack switched gears to star as a "nice guy" lieutenant in the single-season TV cop drama Bronk (1975). In later years, the actor mellowed with age, as exemplified by roles in Bagdad Cafe (1987), but could still display his bad side as he did as an evil rancher, crime boss or drug lord in, respectively, Young Guns (1988), Batman (1989) and Tango & Cash (1989). Into his twilight years he showed a penchant for brash, quirky comedy capped by his Oscar-winning role in City Slickers (1991) and its sequel. He ended his film career playing Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1999).Married twice, Jack's three children by his first wife/actress Virginia Baker -- Holly Palance, Brooke Palance, and Cody Palance -- each pursued an acting career and appeared with their father at one time or another. A man of few words off the set, he owned his own cattle ranch and displayed other creative sides as a exhibited painter and published poet. His last years were marred by both failing health and the death of son Cody from cancer in 1998. He later was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died, aged 86, at the Santa Barbara County home of his daughter, Holly Palance.
Bio:
Jack Palance quite often exemplified evil incarnate on film, portraying some of the most intensely feral villains witnessed in 1950s westerns and melodrama. Enhanced by his tall, powerful build, icy voice, and piercing eyes, he earned two "Best Supporting Actor" nominations early in his career. It would take a grizzled, eccentric comic performance 40 years later, however, for him to finally grab the coveted statuette.Of Ukrainian descent, Palance was born Volodymyr Ivanovich Palahniuk (later taking Walter Jack Palance as his legal name) on February 18, 1919, in Lattimer Mines (Pennsylvania coal country), one of six children born to Anna (nee Gramiak) and Ivan Palahniuk. His father, an anthracite miner, died of black lung disease. Palance worked in the mines in his early years but averted the same fate as his father. Athletics was his ticket out of the mines when he won a football scholarship to the University of North Carolina. He subsequently dropped out to try his hand at professional boxing. Fighting under the name "Jack Brazzo", he won his first 15 fights, 12 by knockout, before losing a 4th round decision to future heavyweight contender Joe Baksi on December 17, 1940. With the outbreak of World War II, his boxing career ended and his military career began, serving in the Army Air Force as a bomber pilot. Wounded in combat and suffering severe injuries and burns, he received the Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. He resumed college studies as a journalist at Stanford University and became a sportswriter for the San Francisco Chronicle. He also worked for a radio station until he was bit by the acting bug.Palance made his stage debut in "The Big Two" in 1947 and immediately followed it understudying Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in the groundbreaking Broadway classic "A Streetcar Named Desire", a role he eventually took over. Following stage parts in "Temporary Island" (1948), "The Vigil" (1948), and "The Silver Tassle" (1949), Palance won a choice role in "Darkness of Noon" and a Theatre World Award for "Promising New Personality." This recognition helped him secure a 20th Century-Fox contract. The facial burns and resulting reconstructive surgery following the crash and burn of his WWII bomber plane actually worked to his advantage. Out of contention as a glossy romantic leading man, Palance instead became the archetypal villain equipped with an imposing glare, intimidating stance and killer-shark smile.He stood out among a powerhouse cast that included actors such as Richard Widmark, Zero Mostel and Paul Douglas in his movie debut in Elia Kazan's Panic in the Streets (1950), as a plague-carrying fugitive. He was soon on his way. Briefly billed as Walter Jack Palance before eliminating the first name, the actor made fine use of his former boxing skills and war experience for the film Halls of Montezuma (1951) as a boxing Marine in Richard Widmark's platoon. He followed this with the first of his back-to-back Oscar nods. In Sudden Fear (1952), only his third film, he played rich-and-famous playwright Joan Crawford's struggling actor/husband who plots to murder her and run off with gorgeous Gloria Grahame. Finding just the right degree of intensity and menace to pretty much steal the proceedings without chewing the scenery, he followed this with arguably his finest villain of the decade, that of sadistic gunslinger Jack Wilson who takes on Alan Ladd's titular hero, played by Shane (1953), in a classic showdown.Throughout the 1950s, Palance doled out strong leads and supports such as those in Man in the Attic (1953) (his first lead), The Big Knife (1955) and the war classic Attack (1956). Mixed in were a few routine to highly mediocre parts in Flight to Tangier (1953), Sign of the Pagan (1954) (as Attila the Hun), and the biblical bomb The Silver Chalice (1954). In between filmmaking were a host of television roles, none better than his down-and-out boxer in link=tt0049669], a rare sympathetic role that earned him an Emmy Award.Back and forth overseas in the 1960s and 1970s, Palance would dominate foreign pictures in a number of different genres -- sandal-and-spear spectacles, biblical epics, war stories and "spaghetti westerns." Such films included The Battle of Austerlitz (1960), The Mongols (1961), Barabbas (1961), Night Train to Milan (1962), Contempt (1963), The Mercenary (1968), Marquis de Sade's Justine (1969), The Desperados (1969), It Can Be Done Amigo (1972), Chato's Land (1972), Blood and Bullets (1976), Welcome to Blood City (1977). Back home, he played Fidel Castro in Che! (1969) while also appearing in Monte Walsh (1970), Oklahoma Crude (1973) and The Four Deuces (1975).On the made-for-television front, Jack played a number of nefarious nasties to perfection, ranging from Mr. Hyde (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968)) to Dracula in Dracula (1974) to Ebenezer Scrooge in a "Wild West" version of the Dickens classic Ebenezer (1998). He also played one of the Hatfields in The Hatfields and the McCoys (1975). Jack switched gears to star as a "nice guy" lieutenant in the single-season TV cop drama Bronk (1975). In later years, the actor mellowed with age, as exemplified by roles in Bagdad Cafe (1987), but could still display his bad side as he did as an evil rancher, crime boss or drug lord in, respectively, Young Guns (1988), Batman (1989) and Tango & Cash (1989). Into his twilight years he showed a penchant for brash, quirky comedy capped by his Oscar-winning role in City Slickers (1991) and its sequel. He ended his film career playing Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1999).Married twice, Jack's three children by his first wife/actress Virginia Baker -- Holly Palance, Brooke Palance, and Cody Palance -- each pursued an acting career and appeared with their father at one time or another. A man of few words off the set, he owned his own cattle ranch and displayed other creative sides as a exhibited painter and published poet. His last years were marred by both failing health and the death of son Cody from cancer in 1998. He later was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died, aged 86, at the Santa Barbara County home of his daughter, Holly Palance.
Tivia:
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Palance was a professional boxer in the heavyweight class, fighting under the name Jack Brazzo. He won his first 15 fights, then enlisted in the military when World War II broke out. After the war, he took up acting and never resumed his boxing career.While an understudy to Marlon Brando in the Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire", Brando, who was into athletics, rigged up a punching bag in the theater's boiler room and invited Jack to work out with him. One night, Jack threw a hard punch that missed the bag and landed square on Brando's nose. The star had to be hospitalized and understudy Palance created his own big break by going on for Brando. Jack's reviews as Stanley Kowalski helped get him a 20th Century-Fox contract.Palance, a boxer before he became an actor, was born Volodymyr Palahniuk of Ukrainian, Polish and Estonian descent. One of six children born to an anthracite coal miner who would die from black lung disease, and his wife (Ivan and Anna [n��e Gramiak] Palahniuk), Palance reportedly spoke six languages : Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French and English.Was infamous in Hollywood for his Method-style acting, in a time when Marlon Brando was one of its few practitioners. Once, while filming a fight scene with Burt Lancaster, Palance actually punched the unsuspecting Lancaster in the face. Lancaster responded in kind, by socking Palance in the gut, causing him to vomit.According to Billy Crystal, Charles Bronson turned down the role of Curly Washburn in City Slickers (1991) in an unseemly way which he revealed in his 2013 book, "Still Foolin' Em". Palance ended up receiving an Academy Award for this role.Was a vegetarian but maintained a 1000-acre cattle ranch in California's Tehachapi Mountains and a 500-acre farm in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. His ranch brand was an "H" with a "B" and a "C" woven around it, the initials of the first names of his children, Holly, Brooke and Cody.During his struggling days, he worked as a short order cook, waiter, soda jerk, lifeguard at Jones Beach, and a photographer's model.Director Elia Kazan promised to cast him as Marlon Brando's brother in Viva Zapata! (1952), but then changed his mind and cast Anthony Quinn instead. Quinn won a Best Supporting Oscar for the film and Palance never spoke to Kazan again.According to a website honoring movie celebrities that flew in B-24s, Palance burned his face severely while bailing out of a B-24 which was on fire during a training flight in Tucson in 1942 (that would probably have been the Davis-Monthan Army Air Corps base at that time) and after several surgeries was discharged in 1944. He is described as a "pilot in training".Received a special tribute as part of the Annual Memorial tribute at The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007).Richard Widmark, on working with the powerfully built and imposing former boxer [Palance] on the latter's film debut in Panic in the Streets (1950), called Palance " . . . the toughest guy I ever met. He was the only actor I've ever been physically afraid of". In that film, a scene called for Palance to hit Widmark on the head with a gun. The actors rehearsed it with a rubber gun, but when the cameras rolled Palance substituted a real gun. The other actor, who wasn't expecting it, was knocked out for 20 minutes and later said of the incident, "Why did he switch? Who knows?" A 1986 interview recalled how Palance got into the mood of his character in the same film offscreen by beating on Zero Mostel, who played Palance's character's flunky. A black-and-blue Mostel had to go to the hospital after his first week on the film set where "[t]hey had to soak him in epsom pads.".Was Stephen King's choice of preference for the (similarly named, coincidentally or not) role of Jack Torrance in The Shining (1980).Attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but did not graduate. Later received his Bachelor's degree in Drama from Stanford University in Stanford, California in 1949.Once fell asleep in his square during a taping of The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965).While accepting his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for City Slickers (1991) at the 64th Annual Academy Awards telecast (in 1992) he commented on the casting directors thinking they can make a younger guy look older, while they wouldn't know that an old guy did this at nights: he then flopped down on the floor and began doing a series of one-handed push-ups, stood up, spoke calmly further, even adding a slightly risqu�� joke. Afterwards, when asked about the stunt, he simply said, "I didn't know what the hell else to do." A year later, when he provided the voice of Rothbart in The Swan Princess (1994), his character is featured doing one-handed push-ups.He pronounced his last name "PAL-unse" not "pah-LAHNSE" as some people believe.Claimed on at least one occasion that he never watched any of his own movies.An avid painter and poet, Palance studied acting with Michael Chekhov in Hollywood..Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (1992).Shortly before his death in 2006, he put his farmhouse near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and its contents up for sale. Thousands of items were auctioned off and more than $700,000 was raised.He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.On a nationally televised talk show, Palance addressed the oft repeated story about how he supposedly had such damage done to his face that plastic surgery gave him the face we all know. He said, "I know I'm no beauty, but these are the Estonian features I was born with.".Declined the role of Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), which went to Christopher Lee.The comic book villain Phil Defer (Phil Wire in the English version) from Lucky Luke contre Phil Defer (1956) is based on Palance's famous evil gunslinger Jack Wilson from Shane (1953).Legally adopted the name Walter Jack Palance, according to his Santa Barbara, California-issued death certificate (#3200642002390).Desperately wanted the role of Kid Sheleen in Cat Ballou (1965), which he was never offered.Was forced to decline the role of General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) due to scheduling conflicts over his work in City Slickers (1991). He went on to receive the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for City Slickers (1991). Christopher Plummer was eventually cast as Chang.Had a reputation for displaying a quick temper on set and would intimidate other actors on the set, according to eyewitnesses. Richard Widmark, on working with Palance on the latter's movie debut in Panic in the Streets (1950), called Palance " . . . the toughest guy I ever met. He was the only actor I've ever been physically afraid of".Father of Brooke Palance, Holly Palance and Cody Palance. Former father-in-law of Roger Spottiswoode. Father-in-law of Michael Wilding Jr.. Grandfather of Lily, Spencer, and Tarquin Palance. His siblings included Ivan Palance, John Palance, and Anne Palance.His physical likeness reportedly inspired the appearance of DC Comics' supervillain Darkseid who regularly fought Superman.He had two roles in common with his Tales of the Haunted (1981) co-star Christopher Lee: (1) Lee played Count Dracula in ten films from Horror of Dracula (1958) to Dracula and Son (1976) while Palance played him in Dracula (1974) and (2) Palance played Dr. Edward Hyde / Mr. Henry Jekyll in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968) while Lee played renamed versions of the character(s), Dr. Charles Marlowe and Mr. Edward Blake, in I, Monster (1971).During the early phases of pre-production for The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), 20th Century-Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck suggested Palance for the role of the robot Gort. The role was eventually filled by a much taller non-actor.On February 12, 2019, he was honored with a sketch of the day caricature on the Greg Joens website.Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) (Actors Branch).He had two roles in common with his The McMasters (1970) co-star John Carradine: (1) Carradine played Count Dracula in House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966) and Nocturna (1979) while Palance played him in Dracula (1974) and (2) Carradine played Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (1947) while Palance played him in Ebenezer (1998). |
| Name: |
Jack Palance |
Type: |
Actor,Director,Second Unit Director or Assistant Director (IMDB) |
| Area: |
All World |
Platform: |
IMDB |
| Category: |
|
Business scope: |
Actor,Director,Second Unit Director or Assistant Director |
| Products for sale: |
Actor,Director,Second Unit Director or Assistant Director |
| Model rank: |
1096 |
| Last update: |
2024-07-01 04:44:53 |
| Height: |
6' 3?' (1.92 m) |
| Biography: |
Jack Palance quite often exemplified evil incarnate on film, portraying some of the most intensely feral villains witnessed in 1950s westerns and melodrama. Enhanced by his tall, powerful build, icy voice, and piercing eyes, he earned two \"Best Supp |
| Trivia: |
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Palance was a professional boxer in the heavyweight class, fighting under the name Jack Brazzo. He won his first 15 fights, then enlisted in the military when World War II broke out. After the war, he took up acting and never resumed his boxing career.While an understudy to Marlon Brando in the Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire", Brando, who was into athletics, rigged up a punching bag in the theater's boiler room and invited Jack to work out with him. One night, Jack threw a hard punch that missed the bag and landed square on Brando's nose. The star had to be hospitalized and understudy Palance created his own big break by going on for Brando. Jack's reviews as Stanley Kowalski helped get him a 20th Century-Fox contract.Palance, a boxer before he became an actor, was born Volodymyr Palahniuk of Ukrainian, Polish and Estonian descent. One of six children born to an anthracite coal miner who would die from black lung disease, and his wife (Ivan and Anna [n��e Gramiak] Palahniuk), Palance reportedly spoke six languages : Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, Spanish, French and English.Was infamous in Hollywood for his Method-style acting, in a time when Marlon Brando was one of its few practitioners. Once, while filming a fight scene with Burt Lancaster, Palance actually punched the unsuspecting Lancaster in the face. Lancaster responded in kind, by socking Palance in the gut, causing him to vomit.According to Billy Crystal, Charles Bronson turned down the role of Curly Washburn in City Slickers (1991) in an unseemly way which he revealed in his 2013 book, "Still Foolin' Em". Palance ended up receiving an Academy Award for this role.Was a vegetarian but maintained a 1000-acre cattle ranch in California's Tehachapi Mountains and a 500-acre farm in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. His ranch brand was an "H" with a "B" and a "C" woven around it, the initials of the first names of his children, Holly, Brooke and Cody.During his struggling days, he worked as a short order cook, waiter, soda jerk, lifeguard at Jones Beach, and a photographer's model.Director Elia Kazan promised to cast him as Marlon Brando's brother in Viva Zapata! (1952), but then changed his mind and cast Anthony Quinn instead. Quinn won a Best Supporting Oscar for the film and Palance never spoke to Kazan again.According to a website honoring movie celebrities that flew in B-24s, Palance burned his face severely while bailing out of a B-24 which was on fire during a training flight in Tucson in 1942 (that would probably have been the Davis-Monthan Army Air Corps base at that time) and after several surgeries was discharged in 1944. He is described as a "pilot in training".Received a special tribute as part of the Annual Memorial tribute at The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007).Richard Widmark, on working with the powerfully built and imposing former boxer [Palance] on the latter's film debut in Panic in the Streets (1950), called Palance " . . . the toughest guy I ever met. He was the only actor I've ever been physically afraid of". In that film, a scene called for Palance to hit Widmark on the head with a gun. The actors rehearsed it with a rubber gun, but when the cameras rolled Palance substituted a real gun. The other actor, who wasn't expecting it, was knocked out for 20 minutes and later said of the incident, "Why did he switch? Who knows?" A 1986 interview recalled how Palance got into the mood of his character in the same film offscreen by beating on Zero Mostel, who played Palance's character's flunky. A black-and-blue Mostel had to go to the hospital after his first week on the film set where "[t]hey had to soak him in epsom pads.".Was Stephen King's choice of preference for the (similarly named, coincidentally or not) role of Jack Torrance in The Shining (1980).Attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but did not graduate. Later received his Bachelor's degree in Drama from Stanford University in Stanford, California in 1949.Once fell asleep in his square during a taping of The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) (1965).While accepting his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for City Slickers (1991) at the 64th Annual Academy Awards telecast (in 1992) he commented on the casting directors thinking they can make a younger guy look older, while they wouldn't know that an old guy did this at nights: he then flopped down on the floor and began doing a series of one-handed push-ups, stood up, spoke calmly further, even adding a slightly risqu�� joke. Afterwards, when asked about the stunt, he simply said, "I didn't know what the hell else to do." A year later, when he provided the voice of Rothbart in The Swan Princess (1994), his character is featured doing one-handed push-ups.He pronounced his last name "PAL-unse" not "pah-LAHNSE" as some people believe.Claimed on at least one occasion that he never watched any of his own movies.An avid painter and poet, Palance studied acting with Michael Chekhov in Hollywood..Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (1992).Shortly before his death in 2006, he put his farmhouse near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and its contents up for sale. Thousands of items were auctioned off and more than $700,000 was raised.He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.On a nationally televised talk show, Palance addressed the oft repeated story about how he supposedly had such damage done to his face that plastic surgery gave him the face we all know. He said, "I know I'm no beauty, but these are the Estonian features I was born with.".Declined the role of Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), which went to Christopher Lee.The comic book villain Phil Defer (Phil Wire in the English version) from Lucky Luke contre Phil Defer (1956) is based on Palance's famous evil gunslinger Jack Wilson from Shane (1953).Legally adopted the name Walter Jack Palance, according to his Santa Barbara, California-issued death certificate (#3200642002390).Desperately wanted the role of Kid Sheleen in Cat Ballou (1965), which he was never offered.Was forced to decline the role of General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) due to scheduling conflicts over his work in City Slickers (1991). He went on to receive the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for City Slickers (1991). Christopher Plummer was eventually cast as Chang.Had a reputation for displaying a quick temper on set and would intimidate other actors on the set, according to eyewitnesses. Richard Widmark, on working with Palance on the latter's movie debut in Panic in the Streets (1950), called Palance " . . . the toughest guy I ever met. He was the only actor I've ever been physically afraid of".Father of Brooke Palance, Holly Palance and Cody Palance. Former father-in-law of Roger Spottiswoode. Father-in-law of Michael Wilding Jr.. Grandfather of Lily, Spencer, and Tarquin Palance. His siblings included Ivan Palance, John Palance, and Anne Palance.His physical likeness reportedly inspired the appearance of DC Comics' supervillain Darkseid who regularly fought Superman.He had two roles in common with his Tales of the Haunted (1981) co-star Christopher Lee: (1) Lee played Count Dracula in ten films from Horror of Dracula (1958) to Dracula and Son (1976) while Palance played him in Dracula (1974) and (2) Palance played Dr. Edward Hyde / Mr. Henry Jekyll in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968) while Lee played renamed versions of the character(s), Dr. Charles Marlowe and Mr. Edward Blake, in I, Monster (1971).During the early phases of pre-production for The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), 20th Century-Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck suggested Palance for the role of the robot Gort. The role was eventually filled by a much taller non-actor.On February 12, 2019, he was honored with a sketch of the day caricature on the Greg Joens website.Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) (Actors Branch).He had two roles in common with his The McMasters (1970) co-star John Carradine: (1) Carradine played Count Dracula in House of Frankenstein (1944), House of Dracula (1945), Billy the Kid Versus Dracula (1966) and Nocturna (1979) while Palance played him in Dracula (1974) and (2) Carradine played Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (1947) while Palance played him in Ebenezer (1998). |
| Trademarks: |
Deep rumbly authoritative voice
Often played menacing, sinister villains
Machiavellian eyebrows
Intense acting manner
Towering height and muscular frame |
| Quotes: |
The only two things you can truly depend upon are gravity and greed.
<br />
<hr>
I'm amazed people read this crap about us--about me most of all.
<br />
<hr>
One of the most important reasons for living is to do something--live outside of yourself and put together an idea, an idea that you want to explore and then complete. Awaken your creative sensitivities!
<br />
<hr>
[on his aircraft accident in World War II when his bomber crashed and burned, in which he received severe head injuries and required major facial reconstruction] There are some moments you never get over. That was one of them.
<br />
<hr>
[In 1994] I used to be 6' 4". Now that I'm old, I slouch. So I'm 6' 3". |
| Job title: |
Actor,Director,Second Unit Director or Assistant Director |
| Others works: |
(1998) TV commercial: Arby's roast beef restaurants
(1995) TV commercial: Taco Bell
(1996) TV commercial: Ford pickup trucks
(1996) Book of poems: "The Forest of Love" (Summerhouse Press)
Paints and sells landscape art, with a poem incl |
| Spouse: |
Elaine Rochelle Rogers (May 6, 1987 - November 10, 2006) (his death)Virginia Baker (April 21, 1949 - June 5, 1968) (divorced, 3 children) |
| Children: |
Brooke PalanceHolly PalanceCody Palance |
| Parents: |
Ivan Palahniuk
Anna Palahniuk |
|
