Allen Garfield (born Allen Goorwitz; November 22, 1939 – April 7, 2020) was an American film and television actor.

Early life

Garfield was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, the son of Alice ( née Lavroff) and Philip Goorwitz. He had one sister, Lois. A 1957 graduate of

Weequahic High School Weequahic High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in the Weequahic section of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The school is operated by the Newar ...

, he was a sports reporter and

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

boxer before becoming an actor. He attended

The Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded ...

in New York City, studying with both

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...

and Elia Kazan, and worked on stage before acting in film.

Career

Garfield appeared in over 100 films and television shows. He is known for having played nervous villains, corrupt businessmen and politicians. In addition he appeared in two

art film An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

s by German director Wim Wenders, '' Der Stand der Dinge'' and '' Bis ans Ende der Welt''.

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, dark humor, non-linear storylines, cameos, ensembl ...

studied with Garfield at the beginning his career as an actor. Garfield's lead roles included the 1971 film ''Cry Uncle!'', the 1978 film ''Skateboard'' with

Leif Garrett Leif Garrett (born Leif Per Nervik; November 8, 1961) is an American singer, actor, and television personality. He worked as a child actor, then in the 1970s became famous as a teen idol in music. He later received much publicity for his dru ...

and the 1982 film ''Get Crazy''. He appeared in the ''

Tales from the Darkside ''Tales from the Darkside'' is an American anthology horror TV series created by George A. Romero. Debuting in October 1983 with a pilot episode and then being picked up for syndication in September 1984, the show ran for 4 seasons through Ju ...

'' episode The Deal (1988).

Personal life and death

For a year after his father's death and in tribute to him, Allen used his family name, Goorwitz, for his screen credits. When Garfield suffered a stroke before filming his role in ''

The Ninth Gate ''The Ninth Gate'' is a 1999 neo-noir horror thriller film directed, produced, and co-written by Roman Polanski. An international co-production between the United States, Portugal, France, and Spain, the film is loosely based upon Arturo Pérez ...

'' (1999), director

Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a ( né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, tw ...

opted to use Garfield's

paralyzed Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 5 ...

face for his character rather than conceal it or recast the role. Garfield suffered another massive stroke in 2004 and thereafter was a long-term nursing care resident at The Motion Picture Home. Garfield died of complications related to COVID-19 and his previous strokes at the

Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and me ...

on April 7, 2020. He was 80 years old.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Allen Garfield
at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

'
Actors Studio audio collection
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Garfield, Allen 1939 births 2020 deaths Male actors from Newark, New Jersey American male film actors American male television actors Jewish American male actors Weequahic High School alumni Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)