Veteran character actor Eli Wallach has passed away. He was a prolific performer, but perhaps best known for classic westerns such as The Magnificent Seven (in which he played Calvera, his co-stars included the likes of Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn) and playing opposite Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (in which he played the 'ugly' Tuco).
His career embraced the stage (he won a Tony Award for his role in Tennesee Williams' The Rose Tattoo on Broadway in 1951) and the fledgling years of the television industry before moving to the big screen and as well as the westerns mentioned above he would be awarded with a Golden Globe and BAFTA for his big-screen debut in the adaptation of another Williams' work, 1956's Baby Doll, then an Emmy for Poppies are also Flowers and was nominated many times. He provided the voice for Mr Freeze in the 1960s tv series of Batman and went on to appear in a range of television shows ranging from Kojak and Murder She Wrote through to more contemporary shows such as Nurse Jackie and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
On the cinema screen he also appeared in the likes of The Misfits, The Godfather Part III, Mystic River, The Two Jakes and with Steve McQueen again in The Hunter (1980)
He was working steadily through to 2011, as popular an actor as ever, when he received a long-overdue honourary Oscar. He passed away at the age of 98 after a full and much acclaimed career and s survived by his wife, three children, five grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
