Jack Palance 1919 - 2006

Veteran character actor and old favourite of mine Jack Palance has died peacefully aged 87 today.

Oscar nominated twice in the 50’s, Palance eventually won an Oscar for best supporting actor in 1992’s comedy City Slickers.

I enjoyed him most in the schlocky dramas of Robert Aldrich like Ten Seconds To Hell, Attack! and The Big Knife but of course he became widely recognised and a little typecast after he shot to stardom playing the evil Jack Wilson in Shane in 1953.

Pish buddy One Neck often remarks upon his bizarre performance in Tango & Cash – Palance himself often remarked that most of the roles offered to him were “garbage” and that most directors he’d worked with “…couldn’t direct traffic”.

Ukrainian by descent, he is survived by two daughters and his second wife.

I’ll always remember him as an intense and engaging performer, whose physical energy and emotional power made him never less than a pleasure to watch - except maybe in Hawk the Slayer…