Alan Arkin

An extremely versatile character actor who easily oscillated between comedy and drama, Alan Arkin struggled for several years as a theater actor until the early 1960s when he caught his first break by joining the famed comedy troupe, The Second City. With his career officially started, he made a huge impression with an Oscar-nominated performance in Norman Jewison's raucous Cold War comedy, "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming" (1966), a film that put Arkin on the map for good. He made several more comedies over the next few years, and received high praise for his performance in "The In-Laws" (1979). Following a notable turn in "Edward Scissorhands" (1990), he delivered a standout performance as a meek salesman in "Glengarry Glen Ross" (1992). Arkin went on to a greater diversity of roles with "Jerky Boys: The Movie" (1995), "Grosse Point Blank" (1997), "Four Days in September" (1997), "The Slums of Beverly Hills" (1998) and "The Pentagon Papers" (FX, 2003). He received deserved accolades for his hilarious, but touching performance as a drug-addled, foul-mouthed septuagenarian in the surprise hit "Little Miss Sunshine" (2007), a role that finally earned him a long-awaited Academy Award. Whether in broad comedies, indie films or studio blockbusters, Arkin proved himself to be one of Hollywood's more versatile and in-demand actors.