THE PROLIFIC AMERICAN actor Eli Wallach, known by many for his role in the The Good, the Bad and the Ugly over a busy career spanning six decades, has died at the age of 98, US media reports said.
His death on Tuesday was confirmed by his daughter Katherine.
Character actor Wallach was also known for his role n the 1960s western The Magnificent Seven, in which he played a Mexican bandit.
He won a Tony Award in 1951 for his role in the Tennesse Williams play The Rose Tattoo.
Wallach was never nominated for an Oscar but in 2010 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him an honorary one, making him the oldest Oscar recipient ever.
The academy hailed him as “the quintessential chameleon, effortlessly inhabiting a wide range of characters, while putting his inimitable stamp on every role,” the Times reported.
At that awards ceremony, the Brooklyn, New York native noted: “As an actor I’ve played more bandits, thieves, warlords, molesters and mafioso than you could shake a stick at”.
His most recent films were Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer.
- Additional reporting by Christine Bohan
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