Alan Arkin

American actor-director-writer, one of only five actors to receive an Academy Award nomination for his first screen appearance, which was in The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming! (1967). In a career spanning seven decades, he received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award (Best Supporting Actor in Little Miss Sunshine), a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for six Emmy Awards.

He was also Oscar-nominated for his role in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1969). Arkin appeared in well over 50 movie and television films. Some of his more recent roles included Edward Scissorhands (1990), Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and Magicians (1999). He directed, wrote and acted in Arigo (2000). A dramatic new series for Arkin, 100 Center Street made it's TV debut on 15 January 2001 at 9:00 PM.

Arkin was the son of a draftsman, the eldest of three kids, and said that he decided to be an actor at age five. After public high school, he dropped out of three colleges and wound up in Chicago’s Second City improvisational troupe before landing the role in Enter Laughing for which he won a Tony Award in 1963.

He gained national recognition in 1966’s The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming! for which he received an Oscar nomination and a 1967 Golden Globe award. In 1972 he authored the first of six children's books, Tony's Hard Work Day, and in 1975, a book about his involvement with Agni Yoga, Halfway Through the Door.

Arkin was married to Jeremy Yaffe from 1955-1960, and had two sons. He met his second wife, Barbara (a descendant of Longfellow and author Richard Henry Dana) in 1963 when he had just been cast for the lead role on Broadway for Enter Laughing and she was trying out for a part in the play. They were married from 1964 to 1994 and had a son in 1967. Though they appeared together in five films and three plays, she focused on writing. In 1996, Arkin married psychotherapist Suzanne Newlander.