The veteran US actor won multiple Academy Award and Emmy nominations for his film and TV roles during a 65-year career
• Alan Arkin: a life in pictures – gallery
Alan Arkin, the veteran US actor whose multi-decade career spanned the likes of Catch-22, Edward Scissorhands and Little Miss Sunshine (for which he won an Oscar), has died aged 89. His sons confirmed the news in a statement to People magazine, saying: “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.”
Born in 1934 in New York, Arkin was descended from Jewish immigrants to the US. After a spell with folk act the Tarriers (with whom he had a chart hit with The Banana Boat Song), Arkin made an impact as an actor on Broadway, winning a Tony for the lead role in Enter Laughing in 1963. He then secured his first major film role in war comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, for which he was nominated for a best actor Oscar. He followed that up with the villain role in the Audrey Hepburn thriller Wait Until Dark, and the lead in Carson McCullers adaptation The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, for which he received another best actor Oscar nomination.
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