Top 20 Jacks. No.9- Jack Palance
Of Ukranian descent, Palance was born in Pennsylvania, the son of a coal miner. In the late 1930s he started a professional boxing career. Fighting under the name Jack Brazzo, Palance reportedly compiled a record of 15 consecutive victories with 12 knockouts before losing a decision to future heavyweight contender Joe Baksi.
With the outbreak of World War II, Palance’s boxing career ended and his military career began. Palance’s rugged face, which took many beatings in the boxing ring, was disfigured when he bailed out of his burning B-24. Plastic surgeons repaired the obvious damage but left him with a distinctive, somewhat gaunt look. After much reconstructive surgery, he was discharged in 1944.
Palance graduated from Stanford and made his Broadway debut in 1947, followed three years later by his screen debut. He was quickly recognized for his skill as a character actor, receiving a nomination for only his third film role, as Lester Blaine. The following year, Palance was nominated again, for his role as the evil gunfighter Wilson. Several other Western roles followed, but he would also play such varied roles as Dracual and Attila The Hun.
Palance’s first wife was Virginia Baker (1949-1966). They had three children: Holly (born 1950), Brooke (born 1952) and Cody (1955-1998). An actor in his own right, Cody Palance appeared alongside his father in the film Young Guns, and was 42 when he died from melanoma in 1998. His father now hosts The Cody Palance Memorial Golf Classic to raise awareness, and funds, for a cancer center.
Since May 1987, he has been married to Elaine Rogers.
Palance paints and sells landscape art, with a poem included on the back of each picture. He is also the author of The Forest of Love, a book of poems, published October 1, 1996, by Summerhouse Press.
Palance quotes:
On tabloid stories: “I’m amazed people read this crap about us – about me most of all.”
“The only two things you can truly depend upon are gravity and greed.”
[tags]jack palance,westerns,melanomas,young guns,dracula,movie greats, obituary[/tags]
