Alan Arkin, the foul-mouthed grandfather and cocaine addict of “Little Miss Sunshine” dies – Corriere.it

Alan Arkin, versatile and prolific American actor actor of numerous comedy and dramatic roles, Oscar winner for the role of grandfather Edwin, who snorts coke in “Little Miss Sunshine” died June 29 at his home in Carlsbad, California. He was 89 years old. Arkin’s sons Adam, Matthew and Anthony confirmed his passing in a joint statement to People magazine: ‘Our father was a force of nature, a unique talent, both as an artist and as a man. A loving husband, father, great grandfather and great grandfather, he was adored and will be deeply missed.”

Appeared in dozens of films, Arkin was four-time Oscar nominee and won a Tony AwardBroadway’s top honor in 1963 for his first major stage role in Joseph Stein’s play Enter Laughing. Arkin’s first Best Supporting Actor nomination came for his performance in the Cold War comedy The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1967). The star had been initially refused for “Little Miss Sunshine”, a role that finally earned him the coveted statuette, because the directors thought he was too “healthy”. The character was a foul-mouthed, frail, wobbly 80-year-old grandfather for years of drug abuse and depravity.

His interpretation is memorable of a psychopathic killer in “Eyes of the Night” of 1967, alongside Audrey Hepburn. Of the film he revealed that he had hated the scenes in which her character terrorizes her and the actress: “I didn’t like being cruel to her – he revealed -. You made me very uncomfortable.’ The actor also appeared as a deaf mute in Carson’s adaptation of McCullers’ novel “The heart is a lonely hunter” in 1968, earning his second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In 1970, he starred in Joseph Heller’s film version of the novel “Catch-22.” Applause aroused his character in the 2012 thriller “Argon”, which tells the true story of a CIA mission to free six Americans from the embassy in Iran by disguising them as crew members from a fictional science fiction film. Directed by Ben Affleck, «Argo» won theOscars for the best movie.

Arkin has worked hard in the 1980s both in film and television. He won praise and Emmy nominations for the TV series “The Kominsky Method” opposite Michael Douglas which premiered in 2018. Arkin’s filmography includes among others “Sherlock Holmes: The Seven Percent Solution” (1976), “Edward Hands of scissor» (1990), «Americans» (1992), «The last contract» (1997), «The other side of Beverly Hills» (1998), «Smart Agent» (2008), «Sunshine Cleaning » (2008), «Men of their word» (2012) and «Unsuspectable suspects» (2017). Not all of the films he has starred in have been successful. For example, he revealed that he starred in “Freebie and the Bean” in 1974 because “I needed the bread”.

Alan Wolf Arkin was born on March 26, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York; when he was 11, his family moved to Los Angeles. His father, a painter and writer, lost his teaching job after being accused of being a communist during the years of McCarthyism. The actor was an original member of the Chicago comedy troupe Second City and sang in a folk group that wrote a hit version of the 1950s single “Banana Boat,” popularized by Harry Belafonte. Arkin has also worked as a film and theater director, has made many television appearances and has written several books.