Academy Award-winning star Jack Palance has died, aged 87.
The veteran Western star - who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the role of Curly in comedy City Slickers - died of natural causes at his home in Montecito, California.
Born Vladimir Palaniuk in 1919, he had a career in boxing before branching out into acting, making his film debut in 1950, in Panic In The Streets.
He became famed for his hardman roles in films including Sudden Fear and Shane - which both garnered him Academy Award nominations.
Palance was tough off-screen as well as on, frequently dismissing his directors as useless.
He was also dismissive of the press, once saying: "Studio press agents make up anything they want to, and reporters go along with it.
"One flack created the legend that I had been blown up in an air crash during the war, and my face had to be put back together by way of plastic surgery. If it is a 'bionic face,' why didn't they do a better job of it?"
He worked steadily throughout a career spanning more than 50 years but returned to prominence in City Slickers in 1992, when he parodied his tough guy image.
On accepting his Academy Award from the host - City Slickers co-star Billy Crystal - he dropped to the stage and performed a series of one-armed push ups.
Afterwards, he said: "That's nothing really. As far as two-handed push-ups you can do that all night, and it doesn't make a difference whether she's there or not."
He leaves his second wife Elaine and five children.
