Actor
Eli Wallach
Born 7 December 1915 · Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA — died 24 June 2014
Eli Wallach (1915–2014) was an American actor from Brooklyn who moved between stage, television and film across a career of more than six decades. A leading Method-trained performer, he is best remembered as the scheming bandit Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and as a memorable screen villain and character player.
Key films
Baby Doll (1956)
His film debut, as a scheming rival in a Tennessee Williams story; it won him a BAFTA for best newcomer.
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
He played Calvera, the bandit leader menacing a Mexican village, and became a defining western villain.
The Misfits (1961)
He appeared alongside Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift in John Huston's last film for them all.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)On Cinespective
His best-known role: the wily outlaw Tuco in Sergio Leone's epic spaghetti western.
The Godfather Part III (1990)
He played the scheming Don Altobello in the late-career sequel to Francis Ford Coppola's crime saga.
Key awards
- 1957 BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer (Baby Doll)
- 2010 Honorary Academy Award (Governors Awards)
On Cinespective
Full filmography · 158
- 1956Baby Doll · as Silva VacarroActor
- 1957The Lark · as DauphinActor
- 1958The Lineup · as DancerActor
- 1958The Gift of the Magi · as NarratorActor
- 1958The Plot to Kill Stalin · as PoskrebyshevActor
- 1959I, Don Quixote · as Sancho Panza / Cervantes' ManservantActor
- 1959For Whom the Bell Tolls · as RafaelActor
- 1960The Magnificent Seven · as CalveraActor
- 1960Seven Thieves · as PonchoActor
- 1960Lullaby · as Johnny HortonActor
- 1961The Misfits · as GuidoActor
- 1962How the West Was Won · as Charlie GantActor
- 1962Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man · as JohnActor
- 1963The Victors · as Sgt. CraigActor
- 1963Act One · as Warren StoneActor
- 1964The Moon-Spinners · as StratosActor
- 1964Kisses for My President · as Raphael Valdez Jr.Actor
- 1965Lord Jim · as The GeneralActor
- 1965Genghis Khan · as Shah of KhwarezmActor
- 1966The Good, the Bad and the Ugly · as Tuco RamirezActor
- 1966How to Steal a Million · as Davis LelandActor
- 1966The Poppy Is Also a Flower · as 'Happy' LocarnoActor
- 1967The Tiger Makes Out · as Ben HarrisActor
- 1967The Owl Who Gave a Hoot · as Mr. Owl (voice)Actor
- 1968Ace High · as CacopoulosActor
- 1968A Lovely Way to Die · as Tennessee FredericksActor
- 1968How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life · as Harry HunterActor
- 1969The Brain · as Frankie Scannapieco, Godfather of the Italian MafiaActor
- 1969Mackenna's Gold · as Ben BakerActor
- 1970The People Next Door · as Arthur MasonActor
- 1970The Adventures of Gerard · as Napoleon BonaparteActor
- 1970The Angel Levine · as Delicatessen ClerkActor
- 1970Zig Zag · as Mario GambrettiActor
- 1970The Reason Why · as CharlesActor
- 1971Don't Turn the Other Cheek · as Maz LozoyaActor
- 1971Romance of a Horsethief · as KifkeActor
- 1971Paradise Lost · as Leo GordonActor
- 1971The Typists · as Paul CunninghamActor
- 1973A Cold Night's Death · as Frank EnariActor
- 1973Cinderella Liberty · as Lynn ForshayActor
- 1973Stateline Motel · as JoeActor
- 1974Crazy Joe · as Don VittorioActor
- 1974Indict and Convict · as DeWitt FosterActor
- 1974Houston, We've Got a Problem · as Narrator (voice)Actor
- 1975The White, The Yellow, and The Black · as Sheriff Edward Gideon / aka Black JackActor
- 1975Eye of the Cat · as CesareActor
- 1976Plot of Fear · as Peter StruwwelActor
- 1976Independence · as Benjamin FranklinActor
- 1977The Deep · as Adam CoffinActor
- 1977The Sentinel · as Detective GatzActor
- 1977The Domino Principle · as Gen. ReserActor
- 1977Nasty Habits · as MonsignorActor
- 1978Girlfriends · as Rabbi GoldActor
- 1978Circle of Iron · as Man-in-OilActor
- 1978Little Italy · as Don Gerolamo GiarraActor
- 1978Movie Movie · as Vince Marlow / PopActor
- 1979Winter Kills · as Joe DiamondActor
- 1979Firepower · as Sal HymanActor
- 1980The Hunter · as Ritchie BlumenthalActor
- 1980Fugitive Family · as Olan VacioActor
- 1980Memoirs of a Movie Palace: The Kings of Flatbush · as Self - Narrator (voice)Actor
- 1980GuriActor
- 1981The Salamander · as General LeporelloActor
- 1981The Pride of Jesse Hallam · as Sal GalucciActor
- 1981Skokie · as Bert SilvermanActor
- 1982The Executioner's Song · as Vern DamicoActor
- 1982The Wall · as Mauritzi AptActor
- 1984Sam's Son · as Sam OrowitzActor
- 1984Anatomy of an Illness · as Dr. William HitzigActor
- 1985Embassy · as Joe VergaActor
- 1985Murder: By Reason of Insanity · as Dr. HuffmanActor
- 1986Tough Guys · as Leon B. LittleActor
- 1986Rocket to the Moon · as Mr. PrinceActor
- 1986Something in Common · as Norman VossActor
- 1987Nuts · as Dr. Herbert A. MorrisonActor
- 1987Hollywood Uncensored · as SelfActor
- 1987The Impossible Spy · as YacovActor
- 1987Eve and Marilyn · as Self (archive photo)Actor
- 1987Spark Among the Ashes: A Bar Mitzvah in Poland · as Narrator (voice)Actor
- 1987Hollywood's Favorite Heavy: Businessmen on Prime Time TV · as Self - HostActor
- 1988Hello Actors Studio · as SelfActor
- 1988Funny · as SelfActor
- 1988An Empire of Reason · as Anti-Federalist SpokesmanActor
- 1990The Godfather Part III · as Don AltobelloActor
- 1990The Two Jakes · as Cotton WeinbergerActor
- 1990The Godfather Family: A Look Inside · as Self / Don AltobelloActor
- 1990Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret · as SelfActor
- 1991Coney Island · as Self - ActorActor
- 1991Terezin Diary · as NarratorActor
- 1992The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980 · as Don AltobelloActor
- 1992Night and the City · as PeckActor
- 1992Article 99 · as Sam AbramsActor
- 1992Mistress · as George LieberhofActor
- 1992The Donner Party · as voiceActor
- 1992Lincoln · as William Crook (voice)Actor
- 1992Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story · as Bill PresserActor
- 1992Legacy of Lies · as Moses ResnickActor
- 1992Nonsense and Lullabyes: Poems · as (voice)Actor
- 1992Nonsense and Lullabyes: Nursery Rhymes · as (voice)Actor
- 1994Marilyn Monroe: The Mortal Goddess · as SelfActor
- 1994It's Alive: The True Story of Frankenstein · as NarratorActor
- 1994Martha Graham: The Dancer Revealed · as SelfActor
- 1994The Man Who Drew Bug-Eyed Monsters · as Self - Narrator (voice)Actor
- 1995Two Much · as SheldonActor
- 1995Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey · as NarratorActor
- 1995Yul Brynner: The Man Who Was King · as SelfActor
- 1995James Dean: A Portrait · as SelfActor
- 1996The Associate · as Donald FallonActor
- 1996The Search for Dracula · as NarratorActor
- 1996Honey Sweet Love · as Don SiroActor
- 1996O. Henry's Christmas · as Behrman ("The Last Leaf")Actor
- 1996Clark Gable: Tall, Dark, and Handsome · as SelfActor
- 1997The Trial of Adolf Eichmann · as Pinchas Freudiger / David Ben-Gurion (voices)Actor
- 1997Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years · as SelfActor
- 1998Naked City: Justice with a Bullet · as DelucaActor
- 2000Keeping the Faith · as Rabbi Ben LewisActor
- 2000Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows · as SelfActor
- 2000The Bookfair Murders · as Erich SchmidtActor
- 2000Guns for Hire: The Making of 'The Magnificent Seven' · as SelfActor
- 2000Uninvited · as Alan StrasserActor
- 2002Cinerama Adventure · as SelfActor
- 2002Monday Night Mayhem · as Leonard GoldensonActor
- 2002Making 'The Misfits' · as SelfActor
- 2003Mystic River · as Mr. Loonie (uncredited)Actor
- 2003Horatio's Drive: America's First Road Trip · as Other Voices (voice)Actor
- 2003Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There · as SelfActor
- 2003Rita · as SelfActor
- 2003The Education of Gore Vidal · as SelfActor
- 2003Time Machine: When Cowboys Were King · as Self / NarratorActor
- 2004Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson · as Other Voices (voice)Actor
- 2004King of the Corner · as Sol SpivakActor
- 2004The Easter Egg Adventure · as Narrator (voice)Actor
- 2004Leone's West · as SelfActor
- 2004Por un puñado de sueños · as Self - IntervieweeActor
- 2004Reconstructing 'The Good, The Bad And The Ugly' · as SelfActor
- 2005The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation · as FatherActor
- 2005Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool · as SelfActor
- 2005A Taste Of Jupiter · as ArturoActor
- 2005James Dean: Sense Memories · as SelfActor
- 2006The Holiday · as ArthurActor
- 2006The Hoax · as Noah DietrichActor
- 2006Sergio Leone: The Way I See Things · as SelfActor
- 2006The Real James Dean · as SelfActor
- 2006The Linen Book: Lost Images From 'The Magnificent Seven' · as SelfActor
- 2006Baby Doll: See No Evil · as SelfActor
- 2007Mama's Boy · as Seymour WarburtonActor
- 2007Brando · as SelfActor
- 2008New York, I Love You · as AbeActor
- 2008Vote and Die: Liszt for President · as Joe NightingaleActor
- 2008Il falso bugiardo · as Self (archive footage)Actor
- 2009The Toe Tactic · as MaestroActor
- 2009In the Name of Democracy · as NarratorActor
- 2010The Ghost Writer · as Old manActor
- 2010Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps · as Julie SteinhardtActor
- 2010Ahead of Time: The Extraordinary Journey of Ruth Gruber · as Mordechai Rossman (voice)Actor
- 2014Showing Up · as SelfActor
- 2015The Train · as AndreActor
- 2022Rat Pack · as Self (archive footage)Actor
Filmography data from TMDB. The profile text is a draft written for Cinespective.