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Alan Arkin won his Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine
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Oscar-winning US actor Alan Arkin has died at the age of 89, his family have confirmed.
In a statement, his sons Adam, Matthew and Anthony said: “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.”
Arkin's film career stretched back to Fifties and was first nominated for an Best Actor Oscar in 1967 for Norman Jewison's The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming and again, in 1969, for his leading role in Robert Ellis Miller's The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. But it wasn't until Sundance breakout hit Little Miss Sunshine that he finally got his hands on a statuette, being named Best Supporting Actor for his role scene-stealing role as a foul-mouthed grandad. He was also Oscar-nominated for this supporting role in Ben Affleck's Argo.
More recently, Arkin received acclaim for Netflix show The Kominsky Method, for which he was twice Emmy-nominated. His co-star Paul Reiser, was among those paying tribute on Twitter, writing: A world without Alan Arkin is …not so great.
"I’ve loved this man from the moment he came on screen in The Russians Are Coming.. (Whitaker Walt!l) I was 8. Getting to know him - and getting a laugh out of him - is a highlight of my life. RIP dear friend."
This Is Spinal Tap star Michael McKean also paid tribute in a series of tweets, noting Arkin was "charming, hilarious, and armed with a flawless bullshit detector, he was pure pleasure to be with".
And Patton Oswalt wrote: "Did ANYONE have the range Alan Arkin had? Hilarious, sinister, insane, tragic. No mood he couldn’t live in. RIP."
Arkin was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 26, 1934 but spent his teenage years in Los Angeles. He started out as a musician before progressing through stage roles and into film.
He worked consistently down the decades, with other notable films including Freebie And The Bean, Edward Scissorhands, Glengarry Glen Ross and Grosse Point Blank.
On Twitter, Grosse Point Blank star John Cusack noted a quote that said: "At one point, Alan Arkin requested to do a last-minute rewrite of a scene, which made a handful of studio execs mighty uncomfortable. According to Cusack, he assured them, saying "Don't worry. That's Alan Arkin. Anything he's gonna do is gonna make this thing even better". Cusack added in his tweet: "This is true - he wanted to re-work the scene - a few people got their worried fear faces on - I looked at them kindly but as if they’d gone insane - I said you have Alan Arkin wanting to personalise and deepen this comedy we’re making - I wrote it - he can say whatever the fuck he wants - sit back watch and feel lucky - please."
Arkin was married three times, first to Jeremy Yaffe, with whom he shared son Adam, and then to actress Barbara Dana, with whom he had sons Matthew and Anthony. All three of his sons are also actors. He married his third wife Suzanne Newlander in 1999, who also survives him.
