Alan Arkin

Alan Arkin first married Jeremy Yaffe in 1955. They have two sons: Adam and Matthew Arkin. The marriage ended in a divorce in 1961.

He next married actress-screenwriter Barbara Dana in 1964. They have son Anthony (Tony) Dana Arkin. The couple got their divorce sometime in the middle of 1990s.

In 1996, Arkin married psychotherapist, Suzanne Newlander. They live in Carlsbad, California. His three sons have now been established as television, film and stage actors.

Alan Wolf Arkin was born on March 26, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York City. His father, David I. Arkin, was a painter, writer and lyricist of considerable repute. His mother, Beatrice (nee Wortis), was a teacher.

Alan started taking acting lessons from the age of 10. When Alan was eleven years old, his family shifted to Los Angeles. There he was admitted to Franklin High School. Concurrently, he continued his training in different acting schools.

From 1951 to 1953, Alan studied drama at Los Angeles City College. After graduation, he entered Bennington College in Vermont for further studies and passed out from there in 1954. .

Alan Arkin began his career as a struggling actor playing small roles on stage and television, sustaining himself by doing odd jobs. However, his focus at that time was on singing and he formed a vocal-group specializing in folk music called ‘The Terrier’. He was guitarist and the lead singer of the group.

In 1956, they reworked on the traditional calypso song, ‘The Banana Boat’. The song, with another title, 'Hill and Gully Rider', became a big hit, reaching #4 at the Billboard. The following year, the group appeared in film called ‘Calypso Heat Wave’, where they sang ‘The Banana Boat Song’ and ‘Choucoune’.

In 1958, he left the group to join a children’s folk song group called The Babysitters. In the same year, he made his Off-Broadway debut as a singer in ‘Heloise’.

In 1959, he joined the Compass Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri. However, he did not stay with them for long. Very soon, he moved to Chicago to become one of the founding members of The Second City, an improvisational comedy group.

In 1961, Arkin went back to New York to make his Broadway debut with a musical titled ‘From the Second City’. He wrote the lyrics and also did the sketches.

’Little Miss Sunshine’, released in 2006, is one of Arkin’s best film. His role as crude and heroin-addicted Grandfather, Edwin, not only earned him great acclaim, but at 72, he became the sixth oldest person to win an Oscar.

’Argo’, released in 2012 is another of his best works. The film was not only critically acclaimed, but Arkin’s acting was especially commended. As Lester Siegel, Arkin received three awards and twelve nominations.

Arkin has also written a number of books. Among them are ‘Tony's Hard Work Day’ (1972), ‘The Lemming Condition’ (1976), ‘Halfway Through the Door: An Actor's Journey Toward Self’ (1979) , ‘The Clearing’ (1986) and last but not the least, his memoir, ‘An Improvised Life’, released in March 2011.