Arkin dreamed of being an actor at the age of five, but it took a while for his career to take off. Before his emergence as an actor, he had his first success as a singer with the folk trio The Tarriers and the children's music group The Baby Sitters. As a musician, he scored a top ten hit with "The Banana Boat Song" in 1956. That lead to his film debut, singing the song with the group The Tarriers in Calypso Heat Wave (1957). Ultimately, Harry Belafonte's classic 1956 recording eclipsed their version.
Despite hopes that his film debut and recording success would provide a foundation for his career, he had a hard time getting other roles on stage or screen. People kept telling him he did not fit into any recognizable type. Finally, he accepted an offer from Paul Sills to join the original company at Second City in Chicago, his first professional stage job. He describes a typical 16-hour work day there, rehearsing during the day and performing at night, as some of the most exhilarating work he has ever done. Although they only performed in a small nightclub, word of mouth and reviews brought the Second City a national reputation. A year after he joined the troupe, they played a year on Broadway. The special includes rarely seen videos of his work with the improvisational troupe.
Second City provided an entrée to further Broadway work. Arkin won a Tony for his performance in Carl Reiner's play Enter Laughing, which made him a star in 1963. He followed it with another stage hit, Luv, in 1964. After seeing him in the latter play, Norman Jewison asked him to test for the a role in The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, which brought him his first Oscar® nomination. Arkin praises Jewison for creating a true ensemble by making the cast and crew feel like family.
In search of a change of pace, he played a villainous role in Wait Until Dark and the deaf protagonist in the adaptation of Carson McCullers' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968), which filmed in Selma, AL, six months after the famous march over voting rights. The film brought him a second Oscar® nomination, the New York Film Critics Award and letters from people who said his performance had helped them understand deaf family members. He had a similar inspirational effect with his performance as a Puerto Rican father in Popi (1969), with letter writers thanking him for helping dispel prejudice against Latinos.
Arkin never really went through a dry spell as an actor, moving effortlessly from leads to supporting roles. Under Osborne's questioning, he recalls his problems directing himself through a 15-minute monologue in Little Murders (1971), which he had directed on -stage, and the fun he had imitating some of his least favorite directors while playing the manic silent Western director in Hearts of the West (1975), which brought him a second New York Film Critics Award. He also speaks of joshing Peter Falk through his insecurities over the script of The In-Laws (1979), a slapstick comedy now considered a classic. He labels the former prize-fighter in the Canadian film Joshua Then and Now (1985) and speaks fondly od the young Johnny Depp's consideration for his fellow actors while making Edward Scissorhands (1990).
After two previous nominations, Arkin finally won the Oscar® for Little Miss Sunshine. He had to wait six months for the role because directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris thought he was too young and energetic to play the eccentric grandfather. He was nominated again the following year for Ben Affleck's Argo, for which he won the Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the film's ensemble.
Film clips in the special include Calypso Heatwave, The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, Wait Until Dark, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Catch-22 (1970), Little Murders, Hearts of the West, The In-Laws, Joshua Then and Now, Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and Little Miss Sunshine.
TCM has hosted the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood since 2010, re-creating the glamour and excitement of the days when films were viewed only in theatres. One of the festival's highlights is the array of talent from classic and contemporary Hollywood who come to speak of their own and other's films. The network has aired special hour-long interviews with the screen's greatest stars taped at the festival, with Robert Osborne speaking with such legends as Kim Novak and Peter O'Toole.
By Frank Miller
Producer: Anne Wilson
Director: Sean Cameron
Cinematography: Danny Toback
Cast: Alan Arkin, Robert Osborne (Themselves), Carl Reiner, Audrey Hepburn, Jeff Bridges, Peter Falk, Ed Harris, Abigail Breslin (Archival Footage)
