Alan Arkin was born on the 26th March 1934, in Brooklyn, New York City USA, and is an Academy Award- winning actor, director, producer, screenwriter, and musician, but probably best known for his roles in such movies as “Wait Until Dark” (1967), “Catch-22” (1970), and “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” (1968), “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006), and “Argo” (2012. Arkin’s career started in the late 1950s.
Have you ever wondered how rich Alan Arkin is, as of mid-2017? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Arkin’s net worth is as high as $15 million, an amount earned largely through his successful acting career..
Alan Arkin Net Worth $15 Million
Alan is the son of Beatrice, a teacher, and David I. Arkin, a painter, and writer, and was raised in a Jewish family. They moved to Los Angeles, California when Alan was 11, but soon after, his father lost his job as a set designer in Hollywood. Arkin went to the Los Angeles City College from 1951 to 1953, and then studied at Bennington College in Vermont.
Alan’s interest at that time was primarily in music, and he and two friends founded the folk group called The Tarriers, and they produced a hit “The Banana Boat Song” in 1956, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard magazine chart. In 1964, Arkin had his on-screen debut in an episode of a Primetime Emmy Award-nominated “East Side/West Side”. By the end of the ‘60s, Alan had played alongside Audrey Hepburn and Richard Crenna in the Oscar Award-nominated movie “Wait Until Dark” (1967), and starred as John Singer in Robert Ellis Miller’s “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” (1968), for which he received both Oscar and Golden Globe Awards nominations. In 1969, Arkin had a lead role in a comedy-drama called “Popi” and was again nominated for a Golden Globe Award. All these appearances increased Arkin’s net worth and popularity.
In the early ‘70s, Arkin appeared in numerous movies, including the BAFTA-nominated “Catch-22” (1970), while in 1971 he played in “Little Murders” (1971). He continued with the Golden Globe Award-nominated “Freebie and the Bean” (1974) starring James Caan and Loretta Swit, and alongside Jeff Bridges in “Hearts of the West” (1975). By the end of the ‘70s, Alan had parts in the Oscar Award-nominated “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution” (1976) with Vanessa Redgrave and Robert Duvall, and in “The In-Laws” (1979) alongside Peter Falk. In the meantime, Arkin starred in a Primetime Emmy Award-winning television movie called “The Defection of Simas Kudirka” (1978). Regardless, Alan struggled to get a significant role in the ‘80s as his career took a hit, but then he played Leon Feldhendler in a Golden Globe Award-winning movie “Escape from Sobibor” (1987) with Rutger Hauer.
Luckily for him, Arkin’s career revitalized in the early ‘90s as he took part in several influential films; he played alongside Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder and Dianne West in Tim Burton’s Academy Award-nominated “Edward Scissorhands” (1990),which grossed over $86 million worldwide and increased Arkin’s net worth significantly. The same year, Alan had a role in Sydney Pollack’s Oscar Award-nominated “Havana” starring Robert Redford and Lena Olin. In 1991 he played in “The Rocketeer” (1991), and then in the Oscar Award-nominated “Glengarry Glen Ross” (1992) starring Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, and Alec Baldwin. Arkin also worked in “Mother Night” (1996) with Nick Nolte, in “Grosse Pointe Blank” (1997) alongside John Cusack, Minnie Driver and Dan Aykroyd, and in the Oscar Award-nominated “Four Days in September” (1997). He ended the decade with parts in Oscar Award-nominated “Gattaca” (1997) starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law, and in “Jakob the Liar” (1999) with Robin Williams.
Arkin stayed busy in the 2000s and appeared in such movies as “Thirteen Conversations About One Thing” (2001) alongside John Turturro and Matthew McConaughey and in a Golden Globe Award-nominated “And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself” (2003) starring Antonio Banderas. However, his biggest achievement came in 2006 when he played Grandpa Edwin Hoover in “Little Miss Sunshine” with Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear. Alan won the Oscar Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and also earned more thanks to the movie’s commercial success. He didn’t stop there and continued with “Sunshine Cleaning” (2008) starring Amy Adams and Emily Blunt, and “Get Smart” (2008) starring Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway. Arkin ended the 2000’s with parts in “Marley & Me” (2008) alongside Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, and “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee” (2009) with Robin Wright.
In 2012, Arkin co-starred in Ben Affleck’s Oscar Award-winning “Argo” with Affleck, Bryan Cranston and John Goodman; the film made over $180 million worldwide, and Arkin’s wealth improved as a result. Also in 2012, he played alongside Al Pacino and Christopher Walken in the Golden Globe Award-nominated “Stand Up Guys” (2012). Most recently, Arkin appeared in “Million Dollar Arm” (2014) starring Jon Hamm, and in “Going in Style” (2017) with Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.
Alan Arkin is an established author and has written numerous books, including “Tony’s Hard Work Day” (1972), “The Lemming Condition” (1976), “The Clearing” (1986), and his memoir “An Improvised Life” (2011; all added somewhat to his net worth.
Regarding his personal life, Alan Arkin was married to Jeremy Yaffe from 1955 to 1961 and has two children with her. From 1964 to 1999, Arkin was married to Barbara Dana, with whom he has a child, while in 1999 he married Suzanne Newlander – Arkin currently lives with her in Carlsbad, California.
Academy Awards (Oscar)-Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (2007), Golden Globe Award - Best Actor - Comedy or Musical (1966), BAFTA Film Award (2007), Career Achievement Award (2007), Awards Circuit Community Awards - Best Cast Ensemble (2006), Career Achievement Award (2015, Boulder ...
Nominations
Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Primetime Emmy Awards, Saturn Award (1981, 1992), EDA Award, Critics Choice Awards, CableACE Awards (1994)
Movies
“Thirteen Conversations About One Thing” (2001), “And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself” (2003), “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006), “Sunshine Cleaning” (2008), “Get Smart” (2008), “Marley & Me” (2008), “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee” (2009)
I know that if I can't move people, then I have no business being an actor.
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I like pushing myself around in as many different styles as I can find.
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I like to jump categories--I don't like to stay in one place if I can help it.
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Everybody's career has ups and downs. I like to take chances, I don't like to stand still. And I don't give a damn what the market is interested in; I want to try things. Success has nothing to do with box office as far as I'm concerned. Success has to do with achieving your goals, your internal goals, and growing as a person. It would have been nice to have been connected with a couple more box office hits, but in the long run I don't think it makes you happier.
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[on making Wait Until Dark (1967)] It was the only heavy I'd ever played up until then, and I had a miserable time; I was crazy about Audrey Hepburn. I was just in awe of her. She was an extraordinary person in every way, and I just hated terrorizing her. It just wasn't fun for me.
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[about Abigail Breslin and her Oscar nomination] I hope she loses, frankly. No, I'm serious. I am not joking. What, next year she is going to get the Nobel Prize? It's enough. She has had enough attention. I love her and I love her family, and I feel enough is enough. She is a kid, she needs to have a childhood.
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[on why he thinks he won the Oscar in 2007] I haven't got a clue. I think it's my age. Everybody thinks I'm going to keel over in a year or two.
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I don't believe in competitions between artists. This is insane. Who has the authority to say someone is better?
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Well, I've always been a character actor. I've never been a leading man. It gave me an opportunity not to have to take my clothes off all the time.
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It's not enough for me to just be a personality and go up there and say lines nicely. I want to tell a story with a character.
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[on his character Harry Roat Jr. terrorizing Suzy Hendrix (Audrey Hepburn) in Wait Until Dark (1967)] I hated it. I just thought she was terrific. I had an enormous amount of regard for her. I didn't like being cruel to her. It made me very uncomfortable.
Was cast in the role of Judge Myron Kovitsky in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) when, initially, the producers couldn't pay a million dollars to Walter Matthau, the original choice for the role. When they reached an agreement, Matthau suddenly dropped out and Arkin was cast, to later on be paid $150.000. However, his character was rewritten from a Jewish magistrate to an African-American judge, which was played by Morgan Freeman.
Won Broadway's 1963 Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Play for Enter Laughing (1967), for which he also won a Theatre World Award. Ten years later, he was nominated for a 1973 Tony Award as Best Director (Dramatic) for The Sunshine Boys (1975).
Although he usually plays quirky, fatherly types these days, back in the '60s and '70s he was known as an edgy, intense actor. His darkest role is almost certainly Harry Roat in Wait Until Dark (1967), who was a vicious but intelligent psychopath who terrifies a seemingly defenseless blind woman (Audrey Hepburn).
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In the foreword for the Second City book, Arkin revealed that he was reluctant to head to Chicago. He says that his first paying job as an actor was in St. Louis, where he ran into a fellow who was starting up the Second City theater troupe in Chicago, and said that if Arkin were ever to come to Chicago, he would hire him. Arkin halfheartedly agreed, thinking that it was just a joke, and headed back to New York for another year as a struggling actor. Arkin called the man and asked if a position was still open. The man confirmed it and Arkin headed to Chicago, thinking that his life was over. But when he joined Second City, he said that he realized he was with a group of people who fostered the kind of acting that he was involved in, and protected him from the fear of the world.
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A founding member of the folk group The Tarriers, he co-wrote "The Banana Boat Song" (also known as "Day-o"), which later became a mega-hit for Harry Belafonte.
Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. pg. 24-25. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387.
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Two of his movies, Popi (1969) and Freebie and the Bean (1974), were later adapted into television series starring Hector Elizondo in the roles Arkin brought to the screen. Elizondo also co-starred in the television series Chicago Hope (1994) with Arkin's son, Adam Arkin.
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He was originally slated to play Saul Bloom in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven (2001); after dropping out of the production, he was replaced by Carl Reiner. Arkin won a 1963 Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Play as well as a Theatre World Award playing a character based on Carl Reiner in the Broadway production of Reiner's autobiographical novel Enter Laughing (1967).
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Wrote "The Lemming Condition," "Cassie Loves Beethoven" and "One Present for Flekman's."