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Oscar winner Alan Arkin, the memorable character actor best known for his work on “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Argo,” died in California this week, family members said Friday.
Arkin was 89 when he died Thursday in the San Diego County community of Carlsbad.
“Our father was a uniquely talented force of nature, both as an artist and a man. A loving husband, father, grand and great grandfather, he was adored and will be deeply missed,” according to a family statement to NBC News.
No cause of death was immediately disclosed.
Arkin was a four-time Oscar nominee, gaining best actor recognition for “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” in 1966 and “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” in 1968.
He gained supporting actor nominations for “Little Miss Sunshine” in 2006 and “Argo” in 2012.
That “Sunshine” win was an upset in a field that included Jackie Earle Haley for “Little Children,” Djimon Hounsou for “Blood Diamond,” Eddie Murphy for “Dreamgirls” and Mark Wahlberg for “The Departed.”
The dark comedy was an indie hit with Arkin playing the grandfather of an off-beat child beauty contestant played by Abigail Breslin. Arkin’s character dies about half-way through the movie.
“More than anything I am deeply moved by the opened-hearted appreciation that our small film has received which in these fragmented times speaks so openly of the possibility of innocence, growth and connection,” Arkin said after being handed his golden statue.
Some movie fans might know Arkin from “Argo,” playing a foul-mouthed movie executive who teams up with a CIA agent portrayed by Ben Affleck and a makeup artist depicted by John Goodman to stage the production of a phony movie to sneak into Iran.
“Argo” was based on the CIA’s actual rescue of several U.S. Embassy employees who hid inside the home of Canada’s ambassador during the Iranian hostage crisis.
Arkin got his start with the famed Second City comedy troupe, which launched him on a decades-long career. His first big role came in the Cold War comedy, “The Russians are Coming,” which included fellow comedians Carl Reiner and Jonathan Winters.
His unique brand of comedy took Arkin well into the 21st century, playing alongside Michael Douglas in the Netflix show “The Kominsky Method.”
Arkin could also play more dark and serious roles, such as “Glengarry Glen Ross” in 1992, about a dysfunctional real estate office. The famed movie co-starred Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon and Alec Baldwin.
That kind of range inspired actors like Michael McKean, who penned a multi-tweet tribute to Arkin.
“When I was a young actor people wanted to know if I wanted to be a serious actor or a funny one,” McKean tweeted after Arkin’s passing. “I’d answer ‘Which kind is Alan Arkin?’ and that shut them up.”
Alan Wolf Arkin was born in Brooklyn on March 26, 1934, the son of two school teachers who were caught up in the post-World War II red scare and often unemployed.
“We were dirt poor so I couldn’t afford to go to the movies often,” Arkin told The Associated Press in 1998. “But I went whenever I could and focused in on movies, as they were more important than anything in my life.”
Other notable Arkin roles included “Catch-22” in 1970, “the In-Laws” in 1979 and “The Slums of Beverly Hills” in 1998 and “Minions: The Rise of Gru” last year.
EGOT winner Viola Davis posted a clip of Arkin from “Sunshine” and posthumously told him, “you moved us, sir.”
“Your work inspired a generation of actors and reminded us how powerful our art can shift us,” Davis wrote.
Arkin’s passing stunned Sheryl Lee Ralph.
“I know we all die but some how I thought he’d live forever,” the “Abbott Elementary” actor wrote.
“Kominsky” co-star Michael Douglas said his time with Arkin was among his most memorable.
“Today we lost a wonderful actor whose intelligence, sense of comedy and consummate professionalism over the past 70 years has left an indelible mark on our industry,” Douglas wrote on Instagram.
“My experience of working with Alan were some of my most memorable. He will be deeply missed.”
Arkin is survived by three sons, Adam, Matthew and Anthony, who all followed in their father’s acting footsteps.
In a 2007 interviews following the release of “Sunshine,” Arkin said he embraced the quirky personalities that came with being known as one of Hollywood’s leading character actors.
“I used to think that my stuff had a lot of variety. But I realized that for the first 20 years or so, most of the characters I played were outsiders, strangers to their environment, foreigners in one way or another,” Arkin said.
“As I started to get more and more comfortable with myself, that started to shift. I got one of the nicest compliments I’ve ever gotten from someone a few days ago. They said that they thought my characters were very often the heart, the moral center of a film. I didn’t particularly understand it, but I liked it; it made me happy.”
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