The 89-year-old Tony and Academy Award-winning actor, Alan Arkin has unfortunately passed away. On June 29, 2023, exactly three years after the passing of his “The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!” co-star, Carl Reiner. Arkin peacefully passed away at his residence in San Marcos, California. He had a history of heart issues, according to certain media accounts.
His sons Adam, Matthew, and Anthony spoke on behalf of the family and exclusively announced his death to PEOPLE magazine. “Our father was a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man. A loving husband, father, grand and great grandfather, he was adored and will be deeply missed,” said the two sons, who greatly admired their father.
Most recently, Arkin co-starred in “The Kominsky Method” for Netflix with Michael Douglas, garnering nominations for the 2019 and 2020 Emmy Awards as well as the 2020 and 2021 Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Arkin portrayed Edwin Hoover, the grandfather of the dysfunctional family, in Little Miss Sunshine (2006). He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role, which was on the screen for just 14 minutes.
Arkin received his fourth Oscar nomination for his remarkable performance in the 2012 Ben Affleck-directed political drama “Argo,” in which he portrayed the seasoned producer, Lester Siegel. He successfully won over audiences with his stinging wit and delivery of lines. Adam Arkin, his son, is a renowned actor and director who has starred in hit TV series like Sons of Anarchy, Chicago Hope, and 8 Simple Rules. He is 66 years old currently.
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Early life and education
Alan Arkin was born on March 26, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York, but, when he was a little child, his family relocated to Los Angeles. “That ‘is why I don’t live there now,” Arkin joked in a 1979 interview with PEOPLE magazine while sitting at home in Chappaqua, New York.
After graduating from high school, Arkin attended a number of different institutions, dropping out of at least three of them, including Vermont’s Bennington College, which identifies him as a 1955 graduate. “They might have thrown me out. I don’t remember.” In 1979 Arkin spoke to a media publication about his undergraduate experiences, in an article on him and his second wife, Barbara Dana.
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With a folk band called the Tarriers, Arkin had a brief career in music after graduating from college. He sang and played guitar in the group. “The Banana Boat Song” became a top-5 record which was released by the brief-lived group in 1957. But Arkin, who had studied acting since he was a little child, left the group and started working to make a name for himself in the industry.
According to a history on the organization’s website, Arkin moved to Chicago in 1960 and joined the Second City improvisational comedy group as a pioneer member. “Second City saved my life. It literally saved my life. I have a feeling it’s true for a lot of other people, too,” Arkin stated.
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Professional Career and Accolades
Arkin made his Broadway debut in 1961 in “From the Second City” after performing for a while on the Second City stage in Chicago. He then followed it up with a Tony-winning performance in 1963’s “Enter Laughing.” Following his Broadway debut, Arkin went on to star in several television and motion picture roles. In 1967, for his part in the comedy “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming,” he won his first of four career Oscar nominations.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968), which garnered him his second Oscar nomination, Catch-22 (1970), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) are just a few of the films that Arkin went on to star in over the course of the following 50+ years of his career. Arkin was nominated for six Emmy Awards in addition to his work in theatre and film, most recently for The Kominsky Method. He left before the third season of the series in the year 2021.
“I’m like a horse going down the trail. Acting is so ingrained in my physiognomy and the channels of my brain that I find myself missing aspects of the business. But I don’t need it anymore. I should probably get over it,” he stated in an article with The Guardian in 2020.
Arkin is survived by his second wife, Dana, his wife, Suzanne Newlander, and their three children, boys Adam and Matthew Arkin and daughter Anthony Dana Arkin, whom he also had with his first wife, Jeremy Yaffe.
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