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Posted on 06/27/2018 3:55:30 PM PDT by eastforker
Additional Information Last Known Activity Service in the Army in World War II; spent five years in the Medical Corps of the Army, reaching the rank of captain. As a medical administrative officer, a duty that sent him to various locations like Hawaii, Casablanca and France. It was in France that he began showing his acting talent by performing in a show to entertain the recovering troops.
Wallach served as a staff sergeant in Hawaii in a military hospital in the United States Army in World War II. He was soon sent to Officer Candidate School (OCS) in Abilene, Texas to train as a medical administrative officer. He graduated as a Second Lieutenant and was sent to Madison Barracks in upstate New York. He was promptly shipped to Casablanca and, later in the war, to France. It was there that a superior discovered his acting history and asked him to form a show for the patients. He and other members from his unit wrote a play called Is This the Army?, which was inspired by Irving Berlin's This is the Army. In the comedic play, Wallach and the other men clowned around as various dictators, with Wallach portraying Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany.
(Excerpt) Read more at army.togetherweserved.com ...
One of these scenes..
“I’m looking for the owner of that horse. He’s tall, blonde, he smokes a cigar, and he’s a pig!”
One of the greats. They don’t make them like that anymore.
Yes, great actor, great performance, great movie.
Compare to what passes as entertainment today.
Another great western: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
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Add the Searchers to that list and you have my 3 favorite westerns. Eli was great as Tuco. What’s sad is that they would never cast him in that role in today’s Hollywood. Can’t have an Anglo playing a Mexican. It violates all the liberal casting rules.
There are two kinds of spurs, my friend. Those that come in through the door, and those that come in through the window.
“I like big fat men like you. When they fall, they make more noise, and sometimes they never get up.”
Blondie!!!
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I’m a HUGE Eli Wallach fan. I read his book over a long camping trip in Shenandoah National Park.
He tells some good stories about his Army time, and his relationships with other actors was amazing:
Marilyn Monroe babysat his kids when he and his wife were on Broadway.
He was a landlord to Marlon Brando and had to strong-arm him to pay his rent.
Racing across the desert in a MB 300SL with Clark Gable.
I read all that also. When putting together these threads, I usually select the best source with the most info. Maybe I should combine everything.
And he came on to Marilyn Monroe in THE MISFITS, and Carol Baker in BABY DOLL.
Eli also claimed to never have taken a drink in his life. He had John Huston coach him on how to play a drunk in the Misfits. Stayed married to one woman his whole life.
A wonderful man, and a fantastic actor to play men the very opposite of his personal character.
And think of it. Tuco never had a drink, and was a moral man.
A Few Dollars more...
John Huston was great.
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