Oscar-winning star Alan Arkin has died at the age of 89 after a successful career in Hollywood and on Broadway, his sons confirmed 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,” a joint statement provided to the outlet by Arkin’s family members said.
Matthew Arkin said that his father, who had heart ailments, died at his home in San Marcos, California, the New York Times reported.
Arkin’s career started to take off after he was cast for the 1963 Broadway comedy “Enter Laughing,” which won him a Tony award.
Alan Arkin, the versatile actor who won an Oscar for 'Little Miss Sunshine' after making a career of disappearing into characters with turns that could be comic, chilling or charming, has died at 89 https://t.co/QVSSuiXsi9 pic.twitter.com/9FRPrAZi9X
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 30, 2023
In 1966, Arkin made the move from stage to screen, telling The Daily News in 1967 that, “I never had any doubts about making it in movies. I just knew I had to, because there was no alternative.”
He got his first Oscar nomination for his role in the 1966 war comedy, “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.”
Over the next several decades, Arkin would appear on both the big and small screen in more than 100 movies and films, including projects like “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” in 1968 (for which he was nominated for another Oscar), “Catch-22” in 1970, “Edward Scissorhands” in 1990 and “Glengarry Glen Ross” in 1992.
Younger fans will most likely remember him as the grandfather of a dysfunctional family in the 2006 movie “Little Miss Sunshine.” The role won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, despite only appearing on screen for a total of 14 minutes, People magazine noted.
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Arkin scored another Academy Award nomination in the Ben Affleck-directed 2012 film “Argo” about the Iran hostages. In the movie, he played veteran movie producer who makes a bogus film to save the hostages, THR noted.
He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 26, 1934, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was a child.
Arkin is survived by his third wife Suzanne Newlander, whom he married in 1996, his three sons from previous marriages along with grandchildren Molly, Emmet, Atticus and Abigail, and a great-grandson, Elliott.