User talk:169.139.16.92

Alan Joseph Arkin (born January 2nd, 1934) is a Scottish-American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, stunt coordinator, and film editor, mainly in stage, film and television works. Arkin holds the record for being the most Oscar-nominated person in history. He was brought on by director Elia Kazan in an early uncredited role in 1946's The Yearling. Impressed with his audition for the film, Kazan brought then-15 year old Arkin in the role of "The Kid" in 1949's Stagecoach. In the film, he starred alongside John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Walter Brennan, and Trevor Howard. The film garnered Arkin his first Academy-Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Arkin continued co-starring in successful films like 1950's The Men, directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Marlon Brando, in his first feature role, alongside Teresa Wright. Arkin's gain into spotlight began when he played intellectually-disabled Arnie Joad in 1952's The Grapes of Wrath, where he got his second nomination, and his first Best Actor nomination, becoming the second youngest actor to be nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Career

After graduating from Harvard University in 1953, at age 19, Arkin garnered success as a director after his 1956 directorial debut Ace in the Hole was favored with critical and commercial successes, earning 10 Academy-Award nominations including Arkin's first Best Picture nomination, with William Holden, Barbara Stanwyck, Margaret Rutherford, ]]Verna Fields]], and Haskell Wexler winning Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Film Editing, and Best Cinematography, respectively.

Arkin, then went on to film Walking Tall, directed by Fred Zinnemann, starting Burt Lancaster. The film was a critical success but slightly underperformed at the box office. Nonetheless, the film garnered Arkin his second Best Actor nomination, his overall 5th nomination, with Burt Lancaster winning Best Actor.

Fellowship of the Prisoners

After the major success of Ace in the Hole, In 1957, Arkin pitched to Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, a film about a screenwriter who is sentenced to life in a State Penitentiary prison for the murders of five Anti-communist board members, despite his claims of innocence. Over the following decades, he befriends a group of innocent Irish, American and English prisoners, and they become instrumental in a breakout from prison to clear their names whilst trying to discover who were involved in the murder of the members. A group of Metro Goldwyn Mayer officials, though the pitch was successful, told staff executives that they did not trust Arkin as a leading man. Some executives looked for Marlon Brando, Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, Montgomery Clift, and Burt Lancaster, Arkin's previous co-star. Lancaster helped Arkin convince Metro Goldwyn Mayer executives to allow the film to be made with Arkin directing and starring in the lead role. Metro Goldwyn Mayer eventually agreed to cast Arkin, as well as write the screenplay, cast, and allow Arkin for full creative control over the film. Fellowship of the Prisoners released in theaters on March 20th, 1959 to worldwide acclaim, praising the film for its innovate screenplay, cinematography, outstanding performances, and overall presentation. The film earning 9 Academy-Award nominations including Best Picture (losing to Ben Hur), with Judi Dench winning her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film is now considered to be one of the most influential and aspiring films ever made, and has been a significant influence to the American New Hollywood Movement, and filmmakers like Jean-Luc Godard, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, William Friedkin, and Sergio Leone.

---