RIP Alan Arkin

Uncanny, cos' I just had a conversation last night with Mein Amerikanishe Freund about Catch 22, and mentioned Alan Arkin who played Yossarian in Mike Nichols' 1970 adaptation of Joseph Heller master work. And then next day I find out from Variety that Alan Arkin died, age 89. He was born in 1934, same year as my mom...He had a voice and style, instantly recognisable. Kind of a sarcastic tone and malitious smile. A great versatile actor, he did about 100 films. 

Arkin was considered more of a comedic actor and I know him from The In-Laws (directed by Arthur Hiller) which I saw with my parents at Astra cinema in Brasov in  1979 or 1980 (film came out in 1979 in the US), brilliant action comedy. But he was a brilliant psychopath in Blake Edwards' thriller Wait Until Dark (1967), where he terrorized blind Audrey Hepburn. Next year he was playing inspector Clouseau in the same titled Inspector Clouseau film, directed by Bud Yorkin and co-written by Edwards but the film was a flop (and not really funny, but hey, better than the Steve Martin crappy remakes) and Peter Sellers came back to the character in 1975, with Edwards directing it.

He wasn't initially an actor, but a folk singer in a group called The Terriers. He recorded with them in 1955. Then he was a singer on Broadway. He also directed TV and the  cult film Little Murders in 1971, a very black nihilistic comedy starring Elliott Gould, based on a play by Jules Feiffer Arkin directed on stage in 1969.  

He won an Oscar (and a BAFTA) for Little Miss Sunshine (supporting) but he deserved one for Argo.  He played last the psychiatrist (as in Grosse Point Blank) in the Netflix series The Kominsky Method (for which he was nominated for 2 Emmys).

I think I will revisit The Russsians are Coming, The Russsians are Coming (1966), where he was nominated for the first time for an Oscar (out of four noms) and won a Golden Globe.