Alan Arkin, a versatile and prolific American actor who thrived in both comic and dramatic roles and won an Oscar for playing a heroin-using grandfather in the 2006 film “Little Miss Sunshine,” has died at 89, his family said.
“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,” Arkin’s sons Adam, Matthew and Anthony wrote in a joint statement.
Arkin died at his home in Carlsbad, California, on Thursday, Variety reported.
Arkin appeared in scores of films, was nominated for an Academy Award four times and won a Tony Award, Broadway’s top honors, in 1963 for his first major stage role in Carl Reiner’s “Enter Laughing.”
His first major movie role also earned him an Oscar nomination – best actor for playing a Soviet sailor in the 1966 Cold War comedy “The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!”
Arkin was initially turned down for the “Little Miss Sunshine” role that ultimately won him a best-supporting-actor Oscar because the directors thought he was too healthy. The character was a foul-mouthed 80-year-old grandfather who was frail and shaky from years of drug abuse and bad behavior.
He appeared as a deaf-mute in the adaptation of Carson McCullers’ novel “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” in 1968, drawing his second Academy Award nomination for best actor.
Some of Arkin’s other films included “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution” in 1976, “The In-Laws” in 1979, “Edward Scissorhands” in 1990, “Glengarry Glen Ross” in 1992, “Grosse Pointe Blank” in 1997, “The Slums of Beverly Hills” in 1998, “Get Smart” in 2008, “Sunshine Cleaning” in 2008, “Stand Up Guys” in 2012 and “Going in Style” in 2017.
