Jack Palance

Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known 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).

Palance served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He briefly attended Stanford University before pursuing a career in the theatre. He made his film acting debut in '' Panic in the Streets'' (1950). Following his roles in ''Sudden Fear'' and ''Shane'', he starred as Count Dracula in the 1974 television film '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'', and played crime lord Yves Perret in '' Tango & Cash'' (1989). He was also the host of the ABC television series '' Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' (1982–1986).

Early life

Palance was born in Lattimer Mines, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna ( née Gramiak) and Ivan Palahniuk, an anthracite coal miner. His parents were Ukrainian immigrants, his father a native of Ivane-Zolote in southwestern Ukraine (modern Ternopil Oblast) and his mother from the Lviv Oblast. One of six children, he worked in coal mines during his youth before becoming a professional boxer in the late 1930s.

Boxing under the name Jack Brazzo, Palance lost his only recorded match, in a four-round decision on points, to future heavyweight contender Joe Baksi in a Pier-6 brawl (a colloquial term referring to an unsanctioned and particularly rough fight). 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."

College

Palance won a football scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill but left after two years, disgusted by commercialization of the sport.

World War II

With the outbreak of World War II, Palance's athletic career ended, and his career as a member of the United States Army Air Forces began. His face was said to have become disfigured while bailing out of a burning B-24 Liberator bomber during a training flight over Southern Arizona (where he was a student pilot). His distinctive cheekbones and deep-set eyes were said to have been the result of reconstructive surgery.

The story behind Palance's face was repeated numerous times (including in respected film reference works), but on his death, several obituaries quoted him saying that the entire story had been contrived: "Studio press agents make up anything they want to, and reporters go along with it. One flack created the legend that I had been blown up in an air crash during the war, and my face had to be put back together by way of plastic surgery. If it is a 'bionic face', why didn't they do a better job of it?"

Palance (Flight Officer Walter Polanski) was honorably discharged from the United States Army Air Forces in September 1945. Shamokin News Dispatch, September 22, 1945.

Early acting career

After the war, he attended Stanford University, leaving just one credit shy of graduating in order to pursue a career in the theatre.

During his university years, he worked as a short order cook, waiter, soda jerk, lifeguard at Jones Beach State Park, and photographer's model.

His last name was actually a derivative of his original name. In an episode of ''What's My Line?'', he described how no one could pronounce his last name, and how it was suggested that he be called ''Palanski''. From that he decided just to use ''Palance'' instead.

''A Streetcar Named Desire''

Palance made his Broadway debut in 1947 as a Russian soldier in ''The Big Two'', directed by Robert Montgomery.

His acting break came as Marlon Brando's understudy in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'', and he eventually replaced Brando on stage as Stanley Kowalski. (Anthony Quinn, however, gained the opportunity to tour the play.)

Palance appeared in two plays in 1948 with short runs, ''A Temporary Island'' and ''The Vigil''. He made his television debut in 1949.

Film career

Palance made his big-screen debut in '' Panic in the Streets'' (1950), directed by Elia Kazan, who had directed ''Streetcar'' on Broadway. He played a gangster, and was credited as "Walter (Jack) Palance".

That year he was featured in '' Halls of Montezuma'' (1951), about United States Marines during World War II. He returned to Broadway for ''Darkness at Noon'' (1951) by Sidney Kingsley, which was a minor hit.

Two Oscar nominations

Palance was second-billed in just his third film, opposite Joan Crawford in the thriller '' Sudden Fear'' (1952). His character is a former coal miner, as Palance's father had been. Palance received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

He was nominated in the same category the following year for his role as hired gunfighter Jack Wilson in ''Shane'' (1953). The film was a huge hit, and Palance was now an established film name.

Stardom

Palance played a villain in '' Second Chance'' opposite Robert Mitchum, and was an Indian in ''Arrowhead'' (both 1953). He got a chance to play a heroic role in '' Flight to Tangier'' (1953), a thriller.

He played the lead in '' Man in the Attic'' (1953), an adaptation of '' The Lodger''. He was Attila the Hun in ''Sign of the Pagan'' with Jeff Chandler, and Simon Magus in the Ancient World epic '' The Silver Chalice'' (both 1954) with Paul Newman.

He had the star part in '' I Died a Thousand Times'' (1955), a remake of '' High Sierra'', and was cast by Robert Aldrich in two star parts: ''The Big Knife'' (1955), from the play by Clifford Odets, as a Hollywood star; and '' Attack'' (1956), as a tough soldier in World War II.

In 1955 he had an operation for appendicitis.

Palance was in a Western, ''The Lonely Man'' (1957), playing the father of Anthony Perkins, and played a double role in '' House of Numbers'' (1957).

In 1957, Palance won an Emmy Award for best actor for his portrayal of Mountain McClintock in the '' Playhouse 90'' production of Rod Serling's '' Requiem for a Heavyweight''.

International star

Warwick Films hired Palance to play the hero in '' The Man Inside'' (1958), shot in Europe. He was reunited with Robert Aldrich and Jeff Chandler when they worked on ''Ten Seconds to Hell'' (1959), filmed in Germany, playing a bomb disposal expert.

He made '' Beyond All Limits'' (1959) in Mexico, and '' Austerlitz'' (1960) in France, then did a series of films in Italy: '' Revak the Rebel'', '' Sword of the Conqueror'', ''The Mongols'', '' The Last Judgment'', and ''Barabbas'' (all 1961), and '' Night Train to Milan'' and '' Warriors Five'' (both 1962).

Jean-Luc Godard persuaded Palance to take on the role of Hollywood producer Jeremy Prokosch in the nouvelle vague movie '' Le Mépris'' (1963) with Brigitte Bardot. Although the main dialogue was in French, Palance spoke mostly English.

Return to Hollywood

Palance returned to the U.S. to star in the TV series ''The Greatest Show on Earth'' (1963–64).

In 1964, his presence at a recently-integrated movie theatre in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, prompted a riot from segregationists who assumed Palance was there to promote civil rights.

He played a gangster in '' Once a Thief'' (1965) with Alain Delon. In the following year he appeared in the television film ''Alice Through the Looking Glass'', directed by Alan Handley, in which he played the Jabberwock, and had a featured role opposite Lee Marvin and Burt Lancaster in the Western adventure '' The Professionals''. Palance guest-starred in ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'', and the episodes were released as a film, '' The Spy in the Green Hat'' (1967).

He went to England to make '' Torture Garden'' (1967), and made '' Kill a Dragon'' (1968) in Hong Kong.

Palance provided narration for the 1967 documentary ''And Still Champion! The Story of Archie Moore''. He was in the TV film ''The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' produced by Dan Curtis, during the making of which he fell and injured himself.

In 1969, Palance recorded a country music album in Nashville, released on Warner Bros. Records. It featured his self-penned song "The Meanest Guy that Ever Lived". The album was re-released on CD in 2003 by the Water label (Water 119).

His films tended to be international co-productions by now: '' They Came to Rob Las Vegas'', '' The Mercenary'' (both 1968), ''The Desperados'', and '' Marquis de Sade: Justine'' (both 1969).

Palance had a part in the Hollywood blockbuster '' Che!'' (1969) playing Fidel Castro opposite Omar Sharif in the title role, but the film flopped. Palance went back to action films and Westerns: '' Battle of the Commandos'' (1970), '' The McMasters'' (1970) and '' Compañeros'' (1970).

He had another role in '' Monte Walsh'' (1970), from the author of ''Shane'', opposite Lee Marvin, but the film was a box-office disappointment. So too was '' The Horsemen'' (1971) with Sharif, directed by John Frankenheimer.

Palance supported Bud Spencer in '' It Can Be Done Amigo'' and Charles Bronson in ''Chato's Land'' (both 1972), and had the lead in '' Sting of the West'' (1972) and ''Brothers Blue'' (1973).

In Great Britain he appeared in a highly acclaimed TV film, '' Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1973), in the title role; it was directed by Dan Curtis. Three years earlier, comic book artist Gene Colan

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