Alan Arkin (1934-2023)

Alan Arkin, 89, died June 29, 2023. Though best known as an actor and director, Arkin also wrote SF, including stories “Whiskaboom” (1955) and “People Soup” (1958) in Galaxy, “The Amazing Grandy” (2001) in F&SF, and novel The Clearing (1986).

Alan Wolf Arkin was born March 26, 1934 in Brooklyn NY, and moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was 11. He took acting classes at Los Angeles State College of Applied Arts and Sciences (later California State University, Los Angeles) before transferring to Bennington College in Vermont. He was active in the Vermont folk music community, and his first film role was in Calypso Heat Wave (1957), where he appeared with his band the Tarriers. After that, he focused on stage performance, including time with improv troupes in Chicago and eventually roles on Broadway. His first major movie role was in Cold War satire The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming (1966), and he went on to appear in scores of films. He was most famous for comedic roles in films Catch-22 (1970) and Little Miss Sunshine (2006); he won an Academy Award for the latter. He also wrote and directed for the stage and screen.

Arkin was married three times, to Jeremy Yaffe, Barbara Dana, and Suzanne Newlander; Newlander survives him, along with two sons from his first marriage and one from his second.

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