“When I'm gone, I hope there's a theater in the next world where I can work.”
He was the son of Polish immigrants and grew up poor and Jewish in an Italian neighborhood of Brooklyn. His parents owned a candy store. After appearing in a school play at 15, he knew he would be an actor. He moved to Texas to attend the University of Texas in Austin. where he earned a B.A. and earned a Master's Degree in Education from CCNY. He won a scholarship to the reputable Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. He graduated in 1940 and acted in minor roles on stage before being drafted into the Army in 1941.
He spent five years in the Medical Corps of the Army during WWII, reaching the rank of captain. As a medical administrative officer, a duty that sent him to various locations like Hawaii, Casablanca and France. It was in France that he began showing his acting talent by performing in a show to entertain the recovering troops.
After being discharged from service in the Army, Wallach returned to New York and joined New York's Actors Studio. He was one of the early practitioners of method acting, studying at the Actors Studio with Marlon Brando, Patricia Neal, Montgomery Clift, and Kevin McCarthy.
Wallach made his Broadway debut in Skydrift in 1945, opposite 13-year-old Rita Moreno, also making her first New York appearance. The play bombed and closed within a week.
In 1946, he appeared in the Equity Library Theater’s production of This Property Is Condemned in New York where he met the leading lady, Anne Jackson, whom he later married Anne Jackson and worked together in several projects, including the movies “The Tiger Makes Out” (1967) and “Sam's Son” (1984), and the plays “The Tiger and The Typists” (1963) and “The Waltz of the Toreadors” (1973-1974).
Eli won a Tony for The Rose Tattoo in 1951 with Maureen Stapleton.
His first film was in 1956 in the Tennessee Williams drama Baby Doll.
Wallach's profile by the early 1960s was significant enough for him to share top billing with Steve McQueen and Yule Brynner in "The Magnificent Seven" and Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe in "The Misfits" (1961) which was the last film for both Monroe and Gable.
His next film, How the West Was Won, had him appearing alongside more legends including, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, and John Wayne. Eli won an Obie Award in 1963 for The Typists and the The Tiger, costarring his wife.
After a number of other television and movie roles, Wallach starred in another pivotal role for his career, as the Ugly in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, with Clint Eastwood starring as the Good, and Lee Van Cleef starring as the Bad.
He won an Emmy for the film The Poppy Is Also A Flower in 1967.
Eli was named “King of Brooklyn” (where he was born in 1915) at the Welcome Back to Brooklyn Festival. His wife was named “Queen of Brooklyn” at the same festival.
Wallach published an autobiography titled “The Good, the Bad and Me: In My Anecdotage.”
He was awarded an Honorary Oscar Awarded 11/13/2010; at the Governors Awards ceremony which was held at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center for lifetime achievement.
Good bye, sir…I hope you find that theater.