History Creator / EliWallach

* ''Film/TheDeep'' - Adam Coffin
* ''Film/{{Girlfriends1978}}'' - Rabbi Gold

* ''Film/TheGhostWriter'' - Old Man

The son of two Jewish Polish immigrants, Wallach grew up in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity's Little Italy, although he spent four years away at the University of Texas. An alumnus of the Actors Studio Method school of acting, Wallach had a prestigious career on the stage, which he had a particular affinity for, although he had plenty of roles in film and television. He was best known to some for being in seven Western movies: ''Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960'', ''Film/HowTheWestWasWon'', ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', ''Film/AceHigh'', ''Film/MackennasGold'', ''Film/DontTurnTheOtherCheek'' and ''Film/TheWhiteTheYellowTheBlack''.

* ActualPacifist: He hated guns and had no use for them. While he did serve in WWII, it was a medic, not a soldier.
* AffectionateNickname: His neighborhood friends called him "Chink" because he looked like a Chinese boy when he smiled. Creator/MarilynMonroe called him "Teacake", presumably because she met him backstage when he was in ''Teahouse of the August Moon''.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Though he was never quite an A-Lister, his bigger name co-stars were sometimes intimidated by his acting talent and saw it as a threat to their coveted popularity. While making ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 The Magnificent Seven]]'', set reporter Erskine Johnson was convinced that he would walk away with the movie and that everyone but Creator/YulBrynner would have their work cut out to stop him. During the making of ''Film/TheMisfits'', Marilyn Monroe demanded that Arthur Miller cut scenes featuring his character Guido because he was afraid that his performance would outshine her own. Clint Eastwood quit making Spaghetti Westerns after he felt that Wallach had upstaged him in ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''. He couldn't upstage everyone, however: Creator/ZeroMostel got all the praise for ''Theatre/{{Rhinoceros}}'' while Wallach felt he struggled to hold his own as the star of the play and blew his voice out engaging in HamToHamCombat while rehearsing.

* BadassAdorable: He was cute, bright eyed, a notable nice guy and modest to the point of self-effacing, yet he was a fine athlete, enough to jump from the box seat onto the stage while performing in ''Theater/CaminoReal'', and an excellent dancer, swimmer and horseback rider. Not to mention almost dying no less than ''five'' times during the filming of ''The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.''
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Though he was a patient and modest man, he did have his limits. One time while making ''Film/TheMisfits'', the crew sprayed him with black oil instead of clear motor oil. Slowly taking his goggles off, he shot a DeathGlare at one of the crew, and nobody dared tease him after the rest of the shoot.
* BigApplesauce: He was a born and bred New Yorker and lived in the city all his life.
* BigLittleBrother: He grew up to be a bit taller than his older brother, Sam.
* ButtMonkey: During the making of ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', he was unluckier than anyone on set. He rode a mile on a horse with his hands tied together, got an accidental black eye from Mario Brega during rehearsal, and almost drank acid that he mistook for lemonade. Considering his character, it makes sense.
* CelebrityResemblance: A woman once spotted him at a supermarket and variously mistook him for Creator/GeorgeCScott, Creator/EGMarshall or Creator/MartinBalsam.

* CovertPervert: His college roommate at University of Texas once [[CaughtWithYourPantsDown caught him masturbating]]. He also recalled meeting an actress who was auditioning for ''Theatre/TheRoseTattoo'' and his eyes "naturally focused on her barely covered breasts".
* {{Determinator}}: Not even the Second World War could dissuade him from his dream of becoming an actor.
* DoesNotLikeGuns: He had no use for them because he was a pacifist.
* DreadfulMusician: Lampshaded in his autobiography: for all of his talents, he couldn't carry a note.

* GirlyRun: He was known to have a very dainty, delicate run, affectionately referred to as the "Wallach Frolic."
* HappilyMarried: To Anne Jackson, for sixty six years.
* HypocriticalHumor: Lampshaded in his autobiography. He always scoffed at scenes in movies where the wife announces her pregnancy and the husband asks, "Are you alright? When did this happen?" ("Happen? What the hell did he think they were doing in bed? Playing chess?"). Then when ''Anne'' announces her first pregnancy, he panics and says, "What do we do? What do we do? When did it happen?"
* TheMedic: He was a medical officer in World War II.
* NiceGuy: He was a warm and personable man, often described as having been a NiceJewishBoy.
-->"I always end up playing the evil one, and I wouldn't hurt a fly."
* NiceJewishBoy: He was one in real life.
* OddNameOut: He was the only one of his siblings whose name didn't begin with "S"; his siblings' names were Sam, Sylvia and Shirley.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He often looked younger than he actually was. He was 50 when he made ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'', but he looked at least ten years younger.
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Creator/MarilynMonroe, until they fell out making ''Film/TheMisfits''. However, she was known to have flirted with him.

* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Gender-flipped; he was the Energetic Guy to Anne Jackson's Savvy Girl. When he learned that Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger was getting $20 million for playing Mr. Freeze in ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', while he got only $350 for playing the same role in ''Series/Batman1966'', he complained furiously to Anne about it. Her only response: "Lift weights."
* TheTeetotaler: Downplayed. He did get wasted a couple of times but often drank in moderation, to the point that he needed help on how to act drunk when necessary.
* ThatRussianSquatDance: He impressed everyone with a ''Kazatsky'' at a theater company party once.

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfGerard'' - UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte

* ''Film/{{Girlfriends}}'' - Rabbi Gold

* CovertPervert: His college roommate at University of Texas once caught him on ADateWithRosiePalms. He also recalled meeting an actress who was auditioning for ''Theatre/TheRoseTattoo'' and his eyes "naturally focused on her barely covered breasts".